The American workforce has a new challenge: Trump’s $100K fee on H-1B visas

By Auzinea Bacon, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump’s latest effort to overhaul America’s legal immigration system — raising the annual fee on H-1B visa applicants from $215 to $100,000 — could deal a major blow to some US industries that rely on skilled foreign workers.

During a signing at the Oval Office Friday, Trump argued that America needs “great workers” and that the newly imposed fee “pretty much ensures that that’s what’s going to happen.” Administration officials also claimed the hefty fee would incentivize companies to hire American workers.

“The company needs to decide … is the person valuable enough to have a $100,000-a-year payment to the government, or they should head home and go hire an American?” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said at the signing. “That’s the point of immigration: Hire Americans and make sure the people coming in are the top, top people.”

Of the 85,000 H-1B visas granted annually, another 20,000 are reserved for people with advanced degrees from American higher education institutions.

But Trump’s allies have been divided on how to tackle the visa program.

Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk, whom Trump chose to lead the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, have defended companies that use the work visa and depend on foreign workers to operate. Steve Bannon, a top strategist in Trump’s first term, blasted H-1B visas on his “War Room” podcast in December 2024 as a “scam” by Silicon Valley titans, who are about “taking American jobs and bringing over what essentially become indentured servants at lower wages.”

Here’s what the new policy means for businesses and workers.

How will visa holders be affected?

The $100,000 visa fee, which takes effect Sunday at 12:01 a.m. ET, will apply only to new H-1B applications, according to the White House. The rule expires a year later, on September 21, 2026, unless it’s extended.

“This is NOT an annual fee. It’s a one-time fee that applies only to the petition,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted to X on Saturday, adding that it does not apply to renewals or current visa holders.

Google and Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, advised visa holders to reconsider international travel plans and to consider returns to the United States by Saturday night, if necessary, according to emails viewed by CNN.

But Leavitt clarified Saturday afternoon that any current H-1B holders who are outside the United States will not be charged $100,000 to reenter.

Which industries will be impacted?

Most H-1B petitions approved during fiscal 2024 — which spanned from October 1, 2023, to September 30, 2024 — were for computer-related roles (64%), according to a US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) report.

The next largest occupation was in the field of architecture, engineering and surveying (10%). The third-most-approved petitions were for education-related jobs (6%), according to USCIS.

The “largest detailed industry sector” for approved H-1B visas was related to custom computer programming (25%). Professional, scientific and technical services was the No. 1 industry among employers (48%), while manufacturing (11%) was the second-most popular.

Which companies could be most impacted?

According to the USCIS data hub, Amazon is the largest H-1B sponsor. The online retailing giant was approved for more than 9,000 H-1B visas during fiscal 2024.

Tech giants also rely on the H-1B program, with Google sponsoring 5,364 approved H-1B visas in fiscal 2024, followed by Meta (4,844), Microsoft (4,725) and Apple (3,873).

What does this mean for job competition?

Small businesses and startups are more likely to balk at that $100,000 fee than companies like Amazon, Meta, Apple and Alphabet, the parent company of Google. The four companies have a combined capitalization of about $11.1 trillion.

The fee could also mean foreign-born workers would be denied entry-level positions, as the $100,000 cost would be too much of a burden to pay for a lower-waged worker.

Recent college graduates, who are experiencing the worst market for new grads since the Covid-19 pandemic, could stand to gain from job openings if the openings remain in America. That’s particularly good news for computer science and tech-related graduates, who are entering the market amid rounds of layoffs and plummeting opportunities.

What will companies do?

During his 2016 campaign, Trump accused US companies of using H-1B visas “for the explicit purpose of substituting for American workers at lower pay.”

But the USCIS reported that, of approved H-1B petitions, the median annual compensation was $120,000. Companies will likely continue to offer higher-paying salaries to the best talent pool of foreign workers. But restrictions could make companies shift hiring initiatives abroad to countries like India, China and Canada, according to the American Immigration Council.

How are job seekers affected?

Placing limits on H-1B holders doesn’t guarantee Americans will be hired in the impacted sectors. When immigration slowed during the pandemic and following the first Trump administration’s temporary ban on some immigrant visas, it led to record-high job openings.

Economists warned at the time that the worker shortage couldn’t be solved without ramping up immigration.

“Businesses are having to turn down work because they simply can’t find the workers to do it,” Neil Bradley, chief policy officer at the US Chamber of Commerce, told CNN in 2021.

Could the policy face legal hurdles?

The new fee on visas is likely to be challenged in US courts.

“To be clear, the president has literally zero legal authority to impose a $100,000 fee on visas,” said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, on X. “The only authority Congress has ever given the executive branch here is to charge fees to recover the cost of processing the application.”

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CNN’s Alejandra Jaramillo, Adam Cancryn, Matt Egan and Yong Xiong contributed to this report.