The Trump administration’s hefty new H-1B visa fees are already triggering high-level discussions in Silicon Valley and beyond about moving jobs overseas, ironically, the opposite of what the policy intended.
While the government has already clarified that the $100,000 fee applies only to new H-1B applicants, and not current holders, the rollout and its hefty cost are causing companies to pause recruitment, adjust budgets, and rethink workforce plans, according to a Reuters interview with founders, venture capitalists, and immigration lawyers who work with tech firms.
“I have had several conversations with corporate clients … where they have said this new fee is simply unworkable in the US, and it’s time for us to start looking for other countries where we can have highly skilled talent,” said Chris Thomas, an immigration attorney at Colorado-based Holland & Hart. “And these are large companies, some of them household names, Fortune 100 type companies, that are saying, we just simply cannot continue.”
High H-1B visa fees push US companies to expand in India
Accenture has proposed a new campus in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, aiming to eventually add around 12,000 jobs in the country, where it already has its largest workforce, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
“We probably have to reduce the number of H-1B visa workers we can hire,” said Sam Liang, co-founder and CEO of AI transcription start-up Otter. “Some companies may have to outsource some of their workforce. Hire maybe in India or other countries just to walk around this H-1B problem.” According to Reuters, companies were already considering expansion in India before the Trump administration’s new $100,000 H-1B visa fee disrupted hiring plans.
About 141,000 new H-1B applications were approved in 2024, according to Pew Research. Although Congress caps new visas at 65,000 annually, total approvals are higher because petitions from universities and other categories are excluded from the cap. Most new approvals go to computer-related jobs.
The Trump administration and critics of the H-1B program argue that it has been used to suppress wages. By curbing it, more jobs would be available to American tech workers, the administration said. Previously, the visa cost employers just a $2,000. With the $100,000 fee, hiring talent in countries like India, where wages are lower and Big Tech often builds innovation hubs instead of back offices, becomes more attractive, experts told Reuters.
Bad for startups
Experts warn the policy could reduce the number of talented immigrants who go on to start new firms. A 2022 report from the National Foundation for American Policy found that more than half of US startups valued at $1 billion or more had at least one immigrant founder.
Several lawyers said startups are hoping lawsuits will challenge the cost, adding that the administration overstepped by imposing costs beyond what Congress approved. They hope courts will scale back the order. “If not, we will see a pullback from the smartest people around the world,” said Bilal Zuberi, founder of Silicon Valley-based Red Glass Ventures, who started his career in the U.S. on an H-1B visa.
Netflix co-founder and Democratic donor Reed Hastings, who has followed H-1B politics for decades, argued on X that the new fees would eliminate the lottery system and reserve visas for “very high value jobs” with greater certainty.