Trump imposes $100K fee on H-1B visas in new immigration action

https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/19/politics/trump-h1b-visa-fee

President Donald Trump signed an executive action on Friday to impose a 
$100,000 application fee for H-1B visas — in an effort to curb what the 
administration says is overuse of the program.

“We need great workers, and this pretty much ensures that that’s what’s 
going to happen,” Trump said from the Oval Office, where officials 
detailed how the measure would incentivize companies to employ American 
workers while still providing a pathway to hire highly skilled foreign 
workers in specialized fields.

The proclamation will restrict entry under the program unless accompanied 
by the payment, a White House official said ahead of the signing.

In a separate order, Trump also directed the creation of a “gold card” 
immigration pathway that he said would fast-track visas for certain 
immigrants in exchange for a hefty fee. The policy will expedite visas for 
foreigners who pay the US $1 million, while allowing a company to pay $2 
million to speed up the process for a foreign worker that it sponsors.

The moves mark the latest in a series of efforts from the administration 
to crack down on immigration and place sharp new limits on the types of 
foreigners allowed into the country. They threaten to significantly impact 
industries that depend heavily on H-1B workers.

The H-1B visa is a work visa that’s valid for three years and can be 
renewed for another three years. Economists have argued the program allows 
US companies to maintain competitiveness and grow their business, creating 
more jobs in the US.

Trump’s stance on the program has fluctuated, and the issue has sharply 
divided his supporters at times.

The president restricted access to foreign worker visas during his first 
term and has targeted the H-1B program in past remarks – but during the 
2024 campaign, he signaled openness to giving some foreign-born workers 
legal status if they graduated from a US university.

Trump also defended the program last December, telling the New York Post 
that he’s “a believer in H-1B.”

“I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. 
That’s why we have them,” Trump told the news outlet at the time.

Trump’s remarks came after entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, 
whom Trump initially tapped to lead the Department of Government 
Efficiency, defended the program, igniting sharp criticism from MAGA 
loyalists hoping to restrict immigration.

65,000 H-1B visas are granted annually, with another 20,000 reserved just 
for people who hold advanced degrees from US higher education 
institutions. Demand for the visa often exceeds the supply, triggering a 
lottery system.

Many companies use H-1B visas to help fill their workforces. But tech is 
the sector most commonly associated with H-1Bs. Tech firms big and small 
say they need the H-1B program to hire trained talent that they can’t find 
at home.

Trump has previously opposed the H-1B visa program as part of his platform 
to encourage US companies to prioritize American labor over hiring foreign 
workers. During his 2016 campaign, Trump accused US companies of using H-
1B visas “for the explicit purpose of substituting for American workers at 
lower pay.”

In 2020, Trump restricted access to H-1B visas on several occasions, part 
of his administration’s effort to curb legal immigration while responding 
to the changing economic conditions brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The so-called gold card program that Trump also unveiled is also designed 
to overhaul the nation’s posture toward foreign workers, aiming to tip the 
balance of immigrants toward entrepreneurs and high earners.

A brainchild of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the program will speed 
entry for foreigners who can afford the $1 million fee — or get their 
employer to pay twice as much to sponsor them. In the Oval Office on 
Friday, Lutnick criticized the existing green card process for immigrants 
seeking to live and work permanently in the US, arguing it resulted in the 
country taking in the “bottom quartile” of workers from abroad.

“We’re going to only take extraordinary people at the very top,” Lutnick 
said of the gold card program.

This headline and story have been updated with additional developments.


-- 
November 5, 2024 - Congratulations President Donald Trump.  We look 
forward to America being great again.

We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that 
stupid people won't be offended.

Every day is an IQ test. Some pass, some, not so much.

Thank you for cleaning up the disasters of the 2008-2017, 2020-2024 Obama 
/ Biden / Harris fiascos, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the 
The World According To Garp.  Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood 
queer liberal democrat donors.