Punjab Newsline | Washington
US President Donald Trump has extended for another year the $100,000 fee imposed on employers hiring foreign workers through the H-1B visa program, according to an announcement made by the White House on Friday.
Trump said the fee, first introduced in 2025, had resulted in a 92 per cent drop in H-1B registrations by large IT outsourcing companies. He argued that continuing the measure would help protect America's economic and national security interests while improving employment opportunities for US workers and graduates.
“The one-year extension will ensure that employers hire foreign workers only when they are highly skilled and genuinely needed, in line with the original purpose of the program,” Trump said.
The order, which was due to expire this month, does not apply to foreign nationals already living in the United States on student visas who later transition to H-1B status. It also does not affect renewals of existing H-1B visas. However, the policy has been challenged in court and is currently the subject of litigation in two federal courts.
The renewed directive gives the US Labour Secretary 30 days to begin reviewing previously submitted labour condition applications through the Wage and Hour Division. The review will assess whether additional action is required against employers sponsoring workers under the H-1B program.
In a separate proclamation, Trump also ordered stricter scrutiny of H-1B visa applications and called for greater coordination among federal agencies involved in overseeing the program.
A White House fact sheet stated that the measures are designed to strengthen oversight and ensure closer examination of applications that could potentially lead to the displacement of American workers.
The decision is expected to have a significant impact on Indian professionals, who remain the largest beneficiaries of the H-1B visa program. According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), 399,402 H-1B petitions were approved in 2024, with Indian-origin beneficiaries accounting for 71 per cent of the total approvals.
More than 70 per cent of all H-1B visa recipients are Indians. Recent estimates based on US Census data suggest that over 5.2 million people of Indian origin currently live in the United States, making them one of the communities most affected by changes to the H-1B program.
