U.S. President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Friday, September 19, imposing a \$100,000 fee on all H-1B visa applications, according to a White House official.
The order represents the administration’s latest effort to tighten restrictions on foreign workers entering the U.S. for employment and is seen as a way to limit applicants to those from higher financial brackets.
Under the new policy, applicants will be barred from entering through the H-1B program unless the fee is paid, the official said.
The administration has long argued that the H-1B program — which allows hundreds of thousands of skilled workers into the U.S. each year — enables companies to undercut wages, negatively affecting American workers.
This move could hit the tech sector particularly hard, as it relies heavily on skilled labour from countries such as India and China.
“This creates a disincentive to attract the world’s brightest talent to the U.S.,” said Deedy Das, partner at Menlo Ventures, in a post on X. “If the U.S. stops drawing the best minds, its capacity for innovation and economic growth will drastically shrink.”
While major tech companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta may absorb the additional cost, smaller firms and start-ups could face greater strain.
Government figures show that nearly two-thirds of H-1B jobs are computer-related, though the program is also used to recruit engineers, healthcare professionals, and educators.
India accounted for 71% of H-1B beneficiaries last year, followed by China with 11.7%. In the first half of 2025 alone, Amazon had over 10,000 visas approved, while Microsoft and Meta each secured more than 5,000 approvals.
