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U.S. President Donald Trump plans to impose a new $100,000 application fee for H-1B worker visas, a White House official said, potentially dealing a big blow to the technology sector that relies heavily on skilled workers from India and China.
As part of his broader immigration crackdown, the Republican president was expected to sign a proclamation as early as Friday restricting entry under the H-1B visa program unless the application fee is paid, the official said.
The H-1B program has become critical for technology and staffing companies who rely on foreign workers to fill a variety of technical roles. Amazon had over 10,000 H-1B visas approved in the first half of 2025, while Microsoft and Meta Platforms had over 5,000 H-1B visa approvals each, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Roughly two-thirds of jobs secured through the visa program are computer-related, according to U.S. government figures, but employers also use the visa to bring in engineers, educators and healthcare workers.
Filing fees currently start at $215 but can be several thousand dollars more, depending on the circumstances.
Bloomberg News earlier reported Trump’s intention to sign the order regarding H-1B visa applications.
Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp, an IT services company that relies extensively on H-1B visa holders, fell over 5% on Friday.
Critics of the visas, including many American technology workers, argue companies use H-1B visa workers to suppress wages, passing over Americans for jobs for which they may otherwise be qualified.
India was the largest beneficiary of H-1B visas last year, accounting for 71% of approved beneficiaries, while China was a distant second at 11.7%, according to government data.
The H-1B visas are approved for a period of three to six years.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington, Dheeraj Kumar in Bengaluru, and Aditya Soni and Greg Bensinger in San Francisco; additional reporting by Andy Sullivan in Washington; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
