After US President Donald Trump's sudden announcement regarding the H-1B visa, it has been said that Indians holding the particular visa do not need to rush back to America by Sunday (September 21). The fee amount is a one-time fee that applies only to the petition and is only applicable on new visas, not renewals or current visa holders. It will first apply in the next upcoming lottery cycle. It does not apply to 2025 lottery winners.
Trump slaps $100,000 fee on H-1B visas
US President Donald Trump on Friday (Sep 19) signed a proclamation hiking the annual fee for H-1B visas to $100,000. The ruling is likely to impact Indians at large, as the majority of them are H-1B visa holders.
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The H-1B program allows American companies to bring in highly skilled foreign workers, many of them from countries like India. Now, every visa application will cost employers $100,000 a year on top of existing filing fees and salaries. "They (US-based companies) need workers, we need great workers. This proclamation ensures that America will now get good workers," said Trump as he signed the proclamation in the Oval Office on Friday.
Companies on board with the $100,000 visa fee?
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick claimed that "all the big companies are on board" with the plan and insisted that this would mean more jobs for Americans. "They have to pay the government $100,000, then they have to pay the employee. So it's just not economic. If you're going to train somebody, you're going to train one of the recent graduates from one of the great universities across our land, train Americans, stop bringing in people to take our jobs," he added.
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‘Enough already. We’re full’
Donald Trump's close ally, Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated on September 10 in Utah, said just days before he was killed that America does not need more visas for Indians. His controversial remark has surfaced on social media in which he said America was “full" and it was time to put “our own people first".
Via multiple posts and podcasts, Kirk had shown he had a controversial take on immigration from India, which is mostly that of skilled professionals, particularly in the tech sector.
“America does not need more visas for people from India. Perhaps no form of legal immigration has so displaced American workers as those from India. Enough already. We’re full. Let’s finally put our own people first," Kirk wrote on X on September 2.

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