Trump’s H-1B Visa Fee Sparks Backlash as White House Clarifies

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White House insists the steep fee targets only new H-1B petitions, but critics see it as part of Trump’s broader immigration crackdown that risks undermining America’s tech future.

By S JHA

MUMBAI, September 21, 2025 —When US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation this week requiring a $100,000 payment for new H-1B visa petitions, confusion quickly gave way to panic across the tech industry and among thousands of foreign professionals. For a program that has long been the lifeline of Silicon Valley and the bridge between India’s IT talent and America’s innovation economy, the measure looked like a sledgehammer.

Now, the White House is walking back some of the alarm. Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt clarified that:

The fee is not annual, but a one-time charge applied only at the petition stage.
Current H-1B visa holders are unaffected. They can leave and re-enter the US as before without paying the fee.
The rule does not apply to renewals, only to new applications, starting with the next lottery cycle.

The clarification may soothe fears of families rushing back to the US before the deadline, but it does not change the underlying thrust of Trump’s order.

The White House Rationale

According to a White House fact sheet, the proclamation is designed to “curb abuses” of the H-1B program that allegedly displace American workers and threaten national security. It directs the Departments of Homeland Security, State, and Labor to:

Deny entry for petitions without proof of payment,
Audit employers for compliance,
Raise prevailing wage levels,
And prioritize higher-paid, “high-skill” H-1B workers in future allocations.

The document cites statistics to justify the crackdown:

H-1B workers now account for over 65% of IT jobs, up from 32% in 2003.
Unemployment among US computer science graduates has climbed to 6.1%, more than double that of art history majors.
Several major tech firms have reportedly laid off thousands of American workers while securing thousands of H-1B approvals—with some employees even forced to train their replacements.

For Trump, the issue is political gold: framed as a matter of “protecting American jobs” while stoking fears of foreign labour replacing domestic talent.

The Bigger Picture

But the White House argument misses the larger truth: America’s tech dominance has been built on immigrant talent, with Indians alone holding more than 70% of H-1B visas annually. For every anecdote of abuse, there are countless examples of skilled workers leading breakthroughs in AI, biotech, and advanced computing—fields the US cannot afford to lose ground in.

By slapping a six-figure surcharge on new petitions, Trump is not just raising costs for companies—he is sending a message to the world’s best and brightest: Look elsewhere.

And while Leavitt’s clarification provides temporary relief for current visa holders, the policy direction is unmistakable. This is less about “fixing” a program and more about reshaping America’s immigration identity.

If the US decides to wall itself off from global talent under the guise of protectionism, the very innovation Trump claims to defend may migrate to more welcoming shores. For India, China, and Europe, that may be an opportunity. For America, it risks being a self-inflicted wound.