H-1B visa shock: Trump admin proposes hiking fee to over $100,000 - The Times of India

**Washington, D.C. –** The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has unveiled a draft regulation that would raise the filing fee for H‑1B specialty‑occupation visas to **$103,265**, a figure more than 40 times the current $2,460 charge. The proposal, released in a Federal Register notice on Tuesday, is framed as a “protective measure” intended to curb perceived abuse of the program and to ensure that U.S. workers are given priority in a tight labor market. Under the draft, the fee would apply to each petition filed by an employer, effectively turning the H‑1B into a premium‑priced commodity for foreign talent.

The announcement has sent shockwaves through the technology sector, particularly among Indian professionals who account for a large share of H‑1B beneficiaries. **NASSCOM**, the Indian software‑services lobby, issued an immediate statement calling the fee “prohibitively high” and warning that it would “decimate the pipeline of skilled talent that fuels both the U.S. and Indian economies.” Major U.S. tech firms, while acknowledging the need for immigration reform, have expressed concern that the cost could force companies to shift hiring to other visa categories or to offshore operations altogether. For individual applicants, the fee translates to roughly **₹8 crore**, a sum that far exceeds the average annual earnings of most mid‑level engineers, effectively eliminating the possibility of H‑1B sponsorship for all but the most affluent employers.

The fee hike arrives amid a broader tightening of U.S. immigration policy. In the same week, DHS announced a wave of revocations for B‑1/B‑2 tourist visas and signaled stricter scrutiny of other work‑visa programs. Legal scholars predict that the $103,265 charge will face immediate challenges in federal court on grounds that it violates statutory caps and the principle of “reasonable” fees. Congress is also expected to weigh in, with several bipartisan members warning that such a drastic increase could erode the United States’ competitive edge in high‑tech innovation. Until the proposal is finalized—subject to a 60‑day public comment period—the tech industry and prospective Indian H‑1B applicants brace for a potentially transformative shift in the landscape of U.S. skilled‑worker immigration.