Trump Renews USD 1,00,000 Fee On H-1B Visas, Tightens Scrutiny

WASHINGTON, Sept 19: US President Donald Trump has extended for another year the $100,000 fee imposed on employers bringing foreign workers to the United States on H-1B visas, the White House said.

In a presidential proclamation issued on Friday, Trump said the fee introduced in 2025 had resulted in a 92 per cent decline in H-1B registrations by large IT outsourcing companies.

“An extension of the 2025 Proclamation will continue to protect the economic and national security interests of the United States, improve labour market access for American workers and graduates, and ensure that employers recruit only the most highly-skilled and essential alien workers when needed in line with the original intent of the program,” Trump said.

Indians remain the largest beneficiary group of the US H-1B visa programme.

The $100,000 fee introduced in 2025 has faced legal challenges and is currently being considered by two federal courts. The earlier order was due to expire this month.

The fee did not apply to visas issued to foreign nationals already in the US on student visas, who account for a significant share of new H-1B recipients, or to renewals of existing visas.

The latest order also gives the Secretary of Labour 30 days to begin reviewing data from previously submitted labour condition applications to determine whether further action against sponsoring employers is warranted.

In a separate proclamation, Trump ordered tighter scrutiny of H-1B applications through enhanced coordination among federal agencies.

The order directs the Secretaries of State, Labour and Homeland Security to consider an employer’s recent or planned layoffs of similarly situated US workers while assessing H-1B applications.

Trump said the H-1B programme was created to bring uniquely skilled and highly specialised foreign workers into the US economy, but alleged that some employers, third-party placement groups and outsourcing firms had misused the programme to undercut or displace US workers. (Agencies)