2 biggest tech firms' CEOs called H-1B visa system ‘bizarre’, claims Trump aide

Lutnick said that the current H-1B lottery system “does not make any sense”, and hinted that talks are underway on whether it should continue or not.

Updated on: Oct 1, 2025, 10:22:07 IST

By HT News Desk

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United States commerce secretary Howard Lutnick has said that heads of two top tech companies said to him that the existing H-1B visa lottery system for skilled workers was “bizarre”. The top Trump aide's remarks came as he hinted at more changes to the H-1B visa allocation rules.

US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick said that he had spoken to the heads of two of the top five tech companies globally. (AP)

Lutnick said that the lottery “does not make any sense”, and hinted that talks are underway on whether it should be there or not. “I mean why when you’re trying to take in skilled workers would you do it by a lottery?” the commerce secretary asked.

He further said that he had spoken to the heads of two of the top five tech companies globally. “….They said doing a lottery for skilled workers coming into America is bizarre. So everyone agrees that the process that was set up in the 1990 and sort of butchered along the way needs to change,” Lutnick added.

Lutnick had, on Monday, said that he “guesses” that by the time the hiked H-1B application fee of $100,000 comes into effect, there might be a “significant number of changes” to the visa system.

Also Read | Trump's H-1B visa curbs may push US firms to shift high-end work to India's global capability centres, say experts

“This procedure and process goes into effect in February 2026. My guess is going to be there are going to be a significant number of changes between now and 2026,” he said, adding that as of now, the amount required to apply for H-1B would be a one-time fee of $100,000.

Lutnick said there would be “thoughtful” changes to the visa system, while suggesting what those could be. “They’re talking about the changes. How to get the lottery? Should it still be a lottery? But that will all be resolved by February,” he said.

He further expressed his disapproval for employing “inexpensive tech consultants” for US firms in an interview with NewsNation, and said that he hopes more doctors and educators would move to America through the process. He said that if engineers are hired through the program, they should be the “highly-paid” ones.

“I think we should only give jobs, highly skilled jobs to the most highly skilled people,” the commerce secretary said.

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