Trump administration to impose a $100,000 charge for H-1B visas, however now says it will be a one-time cost

President Donald Trump has signed a brand new govt order, which provides a $100,000 charge to H-1B visa purposes. However in line with White Home Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, it will not be an annual charge because the administration initially stated it could be. In the course of the signing on the Oval Workplace on Friday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stated a number of instances that the charge can be utilized per 12 months. In a follow-up X post on Saturday, nevertheless, Leavitt wrote “to be clear,” the charge will not be annual however “one-time charge that applies solely to the petition.”

The New York Times reported on Friday that the Secretary of Homeland Safety will prohibit approval for visa purposes of people who find themselves “at present outdoors the US” until accompanied by the charge, although the rule “permits case-by-case exemptions if [it’s] within the nationwide curiosity.” This new requirement will solely apply to new visa candidates, a White Home official instructed The Instances, and it’ll possible face authorized challenges. If it does get carried out, although, it might deal an enormous blow to the tech trade.

In her publish, although, Leavitt stated, “Those that already maintain H-1B visas and are at present outdoors of the nation proper now will NOT be charged $100,000 to re-enter. H-1B visa holders can go away and re-enter the nation to the identical extent as they usually would; no matter potential they’ve to do this will not be impacted by yesterday’s proclamation.” She additionally wrote, “This is applicable solely to new visas, not renewals, and never present visa holders. It is going to first apply within the subsequent upcoming lottery cycle.”

Whereas a number of sectors within the US use this system to carry expert employees into the nation, a few of its largest beneficiaries are within the tech sector. In keeping with the US Citizen and Immigration Services, Amazon has probably the most quantity (over 10,000) of employees on the H-1B visa. Microsoft, Meta, Apple and Google are additionally within the high ten listing of employers that introduced over H-1B employees, with between 4,000 and 5,500 workers on the visa. Walmart, Intel, IBM and NVIDIA have a substantial variety of H-1B employees, as properly. As TechCrunch has famous, Elon Musk, who was near the president, came visiting to the US on the H-1B, as did Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger.

Within the White House’s announcement, the administration defined that some employers have abused the H-1B visa to “artificially suppress wages,” making a disadvantageous marketplace for People. “Data know-how (IT) corporations specifically have prominently manipulated the H-1B system, considerably harming American employees in computer-related fields,” the announcement learn.

Trump has additionally signed an order for a brand new visa program referred to as the “Gold Card,” which the administration says will prioritize “the admission of aliens who will affirmatively profit the Nation, together with profitable entrepreneurs, traders, and businessmen and girls.” It is an expedited immigrant visa program, accessible to anyone who can afford the “requisite reward” the federal government asks for. Particularly, the reward made to the US Division of Commerce have to be “$1 million for a person donating on his or her personal behalf and $2 million for a company or related entity donating on behalf of a person.”

Replace, September 21, 2025 10:11AM ET: This text has been up to date to mirror new data from White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt strolling again the administration’s preliminary declare that the charge can be utilized per 12 months. Leavitt now says it won’t be annual.