A special visa program, the H-1B program that allows companies to hire foreign workers to replace Americans in those same duties at much lower salaries, is facing a bombshell from President Donald Trump.
He plans to impose a $100,000 fee on all such visa applications.
The program was created on the idea that there were not enough American workers with specific tech skills to fill the jobs that were open.
Under the plan, companies must “advertise” job openings, and then when no one responds to their sometimes extremely obscure announcements, they are allowed to hire foreigners for those positions.
Tech companies like Microsoft and others are known to have taken advantage repeatedly of such manipulations.
But Trump has announced plans to sign an executive order that is adding a $100,000 fee to all applications.
Currently, fees for the program start about $2,000 per visa, and generally don’t go much higher.
President Trump is expected to overhaul the H-1B Visa program with a new $100,000 application fee.
The current H-1B Visa fee is typically around $2,000-$5,000.
Follow: @AFpost pic.twitter.com/lfdqXrxEBX
— AF Post (@AFpost) September 19, 2025
According to the New York Post, the White House confirmed the plan.
“The move marks the latest crackdown by the administration on migrants coming into the U.S. for job opportunities, and is likely intended to limit visa applicants to those from higher financial brackets,” the Post said.
“The administration views the current H-1B visa program — which admits hundreds of thousands of workers into the U.S. each year — as a way for companies to exploit lower-wage employees, ultimately impacting U.S. salaries,” it said.
Of concern is that U.S. students could avoid science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields because of the flood of foreigners being brought into the U.S. in those fields.
Such a transfer of power through employment is considered by many to be a national security threat.
The government, meanwhile, has confirmed that some 70% of H-1B visa recipients are from India, which has made an industry of moving tech jobs from America to its own shores.
In addition to the new cash fee, the president also apparently has plans to order the nation’s secretary of labor to begin making a rule that would revise the prevailing-wage requirements of the program.
Bloomberg News said it’s all intended to limit the use of special visas to harm the wages of Americans.
The stocks for Indian IT corporations that rely on the visa advantage plummeted when the news was released.
Significant drop in stocks for Indian IT firms that dominate the H-1B visa field directly after the news the Trump admin will impose a $100k fee for the work visas pic.twitter.com/BvHyvy7iAf
— Lee Fang (@lhfang) September 19, 2025
There also are other visa programs, like the OPT program providing for U.S.-based work for students, that also are the subject of investigations.
You’re not ready for this H-1B visa chart.
While the US tightens rules, hikes fees, and slams the system as a “scam”…
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These 11 companies increased their H-1B approvals in 2025:Here’s a thread that will break your brain: pic.twitter.com/LNy5hkQDrE
— Amanda Goodall (@thejobchick) September 10, 2025