E-Paper
H-1B fee shock: Trump’s $100,000 fee crushes visa demand at major IT firms as new six figure charge adds pressure
Following a new $100,000 fee on H-1B visas, major IT companies drastically reduced their lottery entries, with Infosys and Tata reporting record declines.
Prefer HTon Google
Demand for the H-1B visa fell sharply among some of the program’s biggest users after the Trump administration introduced a $100,000 fee for certain new foreign workers, with major IT companies cutting or abandoning their entries in the annual visa lottery.
According to data from the US Department of Homeland Security, H-1B lottery entries dropped by 85% to 100% at companies most affected by the fee imposed on workers entering the US from abroad.
The decline was particularly steep among major IT staffing and consulting companies. Infosys cut its lottery entries by more than 8,100 this year, a 91% fall from the previous year, while Tata Consultancy Services reduced entries by more than 5,600, or 95%.
Cognizant Technology Solutions, which had submitted 3,752 entries the previous year, did not enter the lottery this year.
IBM also reduced its entries by more than 2,700, almost eliminating its previous-year volume, according to the DHS data.
New H-1B fee could hit wider group
The sharp drop comes as the Trump administration considers an even broader six-figure charge.
A proposed $103,265 fee would apply to some H-1B workers who were exempt from the earlier $100,000 charge, including recent US college graduates.
The administration has said the proposed fee is intended to help cover about $8.7 billion in immigration-related costs identified by DHS across federal agencies.
However, immigration policy experts and economists cited by Bloomberg Law have questioned whether employers would continue seeking H-1B workers at the same level if the fee becomes mandatory.
The H-1B program is already heavily oversubscribed. US employers have traditionally sought far more workers than the annual cap of 85,000 visas.
But analysts said the latest fee could change that equation.
An analysis by the Institute for Progress estimated that the proposed charge could reduce H-1B demand by between 63% and 91%, depending on how employers respond. Most of its models also projected that demand could fall below the annual visa cap.
Also read: Deportation before Green Card? US judges urged to curb delays as immigration court crackdown deepens
IT companies face growing scrutiny
The decline in H-1B applications comes as major technology and staffing companies face increased scrutiny from the Trump administration over their use of foreign workers.
The Department of Labor's inspector general has been investigating alleged fraud and other employment practices involving H-1B and permanent labor certification programs.
Cognizant, one of the largest users of the H-1B program in previous years, has also faced scrutiny. The Labor Department recently suspended the company's PERM filings, which are a key step in the employment-based green card process, amid an investigation into alleged fraud.
The proposed $103,265 fee is currently undergoing the regulatory process, with the public comment period scheduled to close on September 24.
If adopted, the charge could mark another major shift in the economics of H-1B hiring, potentially turning a program that has long been oversubscribed into one where employers reconsider whether sponsoring a foreign worker is financially viable.
