Trump Signs Proclamation Adding $100k Fee to H-1B Visa Applications

President Donald Trump issued a proclamation accusing U.S. companies of sidelining skilled American graduates in favor of cheaper, mixed-skill, imported visa workers.

“The H-1B nonimmigrant visa program…. has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labor,” said Trump’s proclamation...

The proclamation, titled “Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers,” directed agencies to begin fixing the nation’s shredded professional sector by charging a $100,000 fee for the arrival of each foreigner hired via the H-1B program. It also directed federal agencies to reduce fraud and exclude foreign workers from the career-starting jobs needed by talented U.S. graduates...

“This is only for the new H-1Bs coming from outside the country,” said Rehul Reddy, a Texas-based lawyer who works with many companies that employ visa workers. “If somebody is already in the United States, if they are filing for a [three-year] extension of H-1B status, this proclamation is not applicable,” he said.

The vast majority of H-1Bs extend their status every three years, creating a massive workforce of at least 700,000 H-1Bs in jobs that would otherwise go to American graduates...

“The wording of the H-1B fee proclamation is very vague,” said immigration lawyer Leon Fresco. “But it appears… this $100,000 fee will not apply to foreign students at U.S. universities who are changing their status” from F-1 student visas to H-1B or J-1 visas...

Infinity Is the Wrong Number of Immigrants - Common-sense immigration policy begins with a willingness to look at hard data instead of propaganda from self-interested lobbyists. When you do, the message is clear. By Michael Lind, Tablet, 17 September 2025.