American Tech Giants like Amazon, Microsoft and Apple are known for hiring best tech minds from India. These companies used the H-1B Visa programme to hire talented individuals at a lesser cost to company than American employees. However, the latest decision by US President Trump to levy an increased fees of 100,000$ a year on H-1B Visas, has sent shockwaves through the Tech Industry.
A recent YouGov poll from October revealed that 14.6% of registered voters consider this issue to be the most critical in the upcoming election—a notable increase from just 2.1% in 2012. This signifies that skilled immigration through the H-1B Visa route will be scrutinised and debated to curb the influx of Indians and prioritize Americans for jobs in the Tech Industry. President Trump has alleged “systemic abuse” of the H-1B visa system, particularly by IT outsourcing firms. The US President declared that the misuse of the H-1B program was a “national security threat.”
The H-1B visa program permits American employers to hire foreign workers for positions requiring specialised skills and at least a bachelor’s degree, as outlined by the U.S. Department of Labour. To secure an H1-B visa for foreign employees, the US tech companies will now have to pay $100,000 to the government. The move is particularly damaging for the Indian diaspora in the US, who constitute nearly 70% of the H-1B visa-holders.
But the question arises which Tech companies hire most number of foreign employees. Moreover, who will now have to pay a fortune to secure H-1B visas?
As per the US federal data, here is a list of top 5 companies that sponsor the highest number of H-1B visas:
- Amazon.com Services LLC- 10,044 H1-B visa holders
- Tata Consultancy Services LLC- 5,505 visa holders
- Microsoft Corporation- 5,189 visa holders
- Meta Platforms- 5123 visa holders
- Apple Inc- 4,202 visa holders
More Trouble for H-1B holders in future?
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), in July, had said that it has received enough petitions to reach the congressionally mandated 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap and the 20,000 H-1B visa US advanced degree exemption, known as the master’s cap, for fiscal year 2026.
As Trump signed the proclamation ‘Restriction on entry of certain nonimmigrant workers’, the move will restrict entry into the United States of individuals as nonimmigrants unless their H-1B petitions are accompanied or supplemented by a payment of USD 100,000.