"While the White House announced its plan for the $100,000 fee on Friday with a hasty Sunday implementation, it didn't clarify until Saturday that the new fee won't apply to existing visas. By that point, firms including Amazon, Google and Microsoft had advised foreign national employees to remain in the US or return immediately. Ultimately, the new fee will apply to H-1Bs when they are first granted, and not to existing visas or any future renewals."
"H-1B visas let companies sponsor skilled foreign workers in specialty occupations that require educational or professional experience, making them particularly popular in tech: Some 60% of H-1B workers since 2012 were sponsored for computer-related work, according to Pew. With 10,000 approved beneficiaries in the 2025 fiscal year, e-commerce giant Amazon is the number one H-1B employer, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Under the new fee regime, bringing in that many employees for the first time would cost $1 billion."
The White House announced a $100,000 fee on newly granted skilled foreign-worker visas, replacing prior fees of $2,000 to $5,000 and triggering immediate confusion. Several H-1B holders altered travel plans amid unclear guidance. Major tech firms initially urged foreign employees to stay or return to the US before clarification that existing visas and renewals are exempt. H-1B visas predominantly support computer-related roles, with Amazon the top sponsor at 10,000 beneficiaries in fiscal 2025. The new fee could cost some employers about $1 billion for initial grants and may push firms to rethink overseas hiring strategies.
Read at The Daily Upside
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