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12 minute read
Executive Order at a Glance: A $100,000 H‑1B Visa Fee
In a sweeping move on September 19, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order (via a presidential proclamation) imposing a $100,000 annual fee for H-1B work visas. In practical terms, this means U.S. employers (or the visa holders themselves) must pay an extra $100K per year for each H-1B worker’s visa – a staggering increase from the current application costs, which normally total only a few thousand dollars in government fees.
The order’s stated goal is to “put American workers first” by discouraging what it views as abuse of the H‑1B program that drives down wages
The order’s stated goal is to “put American workers first” by discouraging what it views as abuse of the H‑1B program that drives down wages
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Key details: The new fee requirement took effect at 12:01 a.m. ET on Sunday, Sept 21, 2025
Initially, the broad language of the proclamation caused confusion and panic: many immigration lawyers feared it applied immediately to all H‑1B holders, even those currently in the U.S., and advised visa holders abroad to rush back before the Sunday deadline.
In response, the White House quickly clarified that existing H-1B visa holders and ongoing renewals are exempt – the $100K fee will only apply to new H‑1B applicants, starting with the next visa lottery cycle. In other words, current H-1B workers won’t be charged upon re-entry to the U.S., easing one major concern. The fee will first hit petitions in the upcoming annual H‑1B lottery for new visa.
Timeline of Recent Events:
- Sept 19, 2025: Trump signs the proclamation mandating a $100K per year fee for H-1B visas. Tech companies scramble to interpret the order.
- Sept 20, 2025: Reports of panic among visa holders and employers. Some firms instruct H-1B employees traveling abroad to return immediately before the fee kicks in. By evening, a White House official clarifies the fee “will only apply to new applicants, not existing holders or renewals,” to quell fears.
- Sept 21, 2025: The new fee rule becomes effective for incoming H-1B cases going forward. Companies and immigration lawyers brace for implementation details still to come.
Notably, the proclamation also allows national interest exceptions – in theory, the government can waive the fee for certain critical workers, companies, or even entire industries deemed vital to national interests. It’s a 12-month measure (absent extension)
essentially a one-year trial of this steep visa surcharge. How exactly the fee is to be collected or enforced remains to be fully detailed by agencies, leaving many questions unanswered.
essentially a one-year trial of this steep visa surcharge. How exactly the fee is to be collected or enforced remains to be fully detailed by agencies, leaving many questions unanswered.
Who Will Be Hit the Hardest?
The impact of a $100K-per-visa annual fee will reverberate across the tech ecosystem. Here’s a look at who stands to feel it most:
- Big Tech Companies: Large technology firms are the primary users of H‑1B visas and will shoulder enormous new costs. For example, in just the first half of 2025, Amazon (including AWS) received over 12,000 H‑1B approvals, while Microsoft and Meta each had 5,000+ approvals. At $100K a year per visa, that would equate to over $1.2 billion annually for Amazon alone and around $500 million for companies like Microsoft or Meta – a massive new expense. Even for cash-rich tech giants, billions in extra costs could affect budgets and hiring. Many of these firms rely on H-1B talent for critical roles in software engineering, AI, and research, so they face an uncomfortable choice between paying the fee or losing out on skilled workers.
- IT Consulting & Outsourcing Firms: Companies that specialize in IT services and outsourcing (often heavy H‑1B users) are also in the crosshairs. Firms like Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Wipro, and Cognizant hire thousands of H‑1B workers to deploy at client sites. Investors immediately recognized the risk – shares of Cognizant fell nearly 5% on the news, and U.S.-listed shares of Infosys and Wipro dropped 2–5%. These companies operate on thinner margins than Big Tech, so a six-figure fee per employee could sharply erode their profitability or force major changes to their business models.
- Startups and Small Tech Firms: Perhaps the most vulnerable are startups and smaller companies. Many startups depend on specialized foreign talent (AI engineers, data scientists, etc.) but operate on limited budgets. This fee “could add millions of dollars in costs for companies, which could hit smaller tech firms and start-ups particularly hard.” Unlike the Googles and Amazons, a startup can’t easily absorb an extra $100K per employee. For example, a 50-person startup that planned to sponsor 5 new H‑1B hires would need to budget $500,000 per year in visa fees – likely a non-starter. Such companies may have to freeze international hiring, shift roles overseas, or divert funds from other critical investments to cover the fees. The result could be stymied growth and innovation in the startup sector.
- Foreign Talent (Especially from India): On the other side of the visa equation are the high-skilled foreign workers themselves – the engineers, developers, and analysts who come to fill U.S. roles. They will face fewer opportunities if employers pull back on sponsorship. Indian nationals, in particular, dominate the H-1B program (about 71% of H‑1B beneficiaries last year were from India, with China a distant second at 11.7%. A policy that dissuades H‑1B hiring disproportionately impacts Indian tech talent. Existing H-1B workers also experienced anxiety as the policy rolled out. Companies like Microsoft, JPMorgan, and Amazon urgently advised their H-1B employees to remain in the U.S. or return quickly before the effective date, fearing the fee might be charged at the border
One internal memo warned visa holders abroad to get back by Saturday night and told those in the U.S. to “avoid international travel until the government issues clear guidance.” While current visa holders have since been assured they’re exempt from the fee, the episode underscores how even established foreign professionals were rattled by the sudden change. Going forward, many would-be visa applicants might think twice about building a career in the U.S. under such costly terms.
How the Fee Changes Hiring: A Real-World Scenario
To grasp the practical effect, consider this use case: TechStart, a hypothetical 100-employee AI startup in Silicon Valley, has big dreams but a tight budget. This year, TechStart hoped to hire 3 machine learning specialists from abroad on H-1B visas, because it couldn’t find enough local PhD talent in a cutting-edge niche. Under the old system, the total cost to sponsor each H-1B (government filing fees, lawyer fees, etc.) might be on the order of $5,000–$10,000 – a significant sum, but justifiable for the skills they’d bring. Under the new executive order, however, TechStart is looking at $300,000 per year in government fees for those 3 hires ($100K each per annum). Over a standard 3-year H-1B term, that’s $900,000 in fees – on top of salaries and other expenses. This is essentially a new “talent tax” that for a small company could equal a couple of senior engineers’ salaries or a large chunk of its R&D budget.
Faced with this dilemma, TechStart has a few options, none ideal: It can try to pass on these costs (perhaps by demanding even higher performance or output from those hires); or it might scrap the plans to hire foreign talent altogether, leaving critical roles unfilled; or perhaps it shifts the work to a subsidiary or contractors overseas (e.g. build an R&D hub in Canada or India) where the talent is available without the U.S. fee. In any case, the outcome means fewer high-skilled jobs being done within the United States. This simple scenario illustrates the chilling effect the policy could have, especially outside the tech titans. It’s a scenario many real companies are now grappling with: one immigration law expert noted some firms were even advising foreign staff “do not leave [the U.S.]” until there’s more clarity. The long-term implications depend on how companies adapt – and whether this fee stays in place or is overturned.
U.S. Labor and Innovation Landscape: What Happens if This Stands?
If the $100K visa fee endures, it could significantly reshape the U.S. labor market and innovation ecosystem. In the short term, the U.S. government might collect a windfall of fees from those companies that have no choice but to pay up. But in the long term, many experts are sounding alarms. By raising a huge barrier to skilled immigration, the U.S. risks “taxing away its innovation edge, trading dynamism for short-sighted protectionism,” as one analyst put it. Here are a few key areas of concern and outlook if the policy holds:
- Tech Talent Pipeline: America has long relied on a global talent pipeline for STEM fields. Many of the engineers and scientists driving innovation in Silicon Valley and beyond first came to the U.S. on student visas and then H-1Bs. Imposing hefty fees will likely deter some of the “world’s smartest talent” from coming. Venture capitalists warn that if the U.S. ceases to attract the best and brightest, it will “drastically reduce its ability to innovate and grow the economy.”
In other words, today’s foreign grad student or startup founder might choose Canada, Europe, or elsewhere instead of the U.S., if opportunities here are curtailed. Countries like Canada and the U.K. are actively courting tech workers with fast-track visas; a policy that makes U.S. visas prohibitively expensive could become a gift to America’s competitors in the global talent hunt. - Brain Drain or Offshoring: For companies unwilling or unable to pay the fee but still needing specialized skills, one likely response is to move more work abroad. We could see a rise in offshore development centers or increased use of remote foreign contractors. This means the jobs associated with innovation (and the economic benefits of employing those workers) might simply relocate outside the U.S. – “hampering America’s position in the high-stakes artificial intelligence race with China,” for example. The irony is that a measure intended to protect U.S. jobs could end up hollowing out certain high-tech jobs from the U.S. altogether if projects follow the talent overseas.
- Wage and Employment Effects: The rationale behind Trump’s order is that forcing companies to pay such a premium will make them think twice about hiring foreign workers, ideally opening opportunities for Americans. There could indeed be pressure to raise wages for certain tech roles to attract U.S. workers if foreign labor is less accessible. The White House cited cases of abuse where companies allegedly used H-1Bs to undercut salaries – such as a major tech firm that had 5,000+ H‑1B approvals in FY2025 while laying off over 15,000 U.S. employees the same year. Supporters argue that a steep fee will curb these practices by making it economically unattractive to hire a cheaper H-1B over an American. We may see some increase in recruiting and training domestic candidates as a result. However, it’s not guaranteed that unemployed U.S. tech workers are readily available or located where the jobs are – a mismatch could remain.
- Legal and Policy Battles: This executive action may yet face legal challenges and political pushback. Immigration policy experts note that Congress sets visa fee structures, and an attempt to impose a $100K surcharge via executive power could be challenged in court. The outcome of any litigation (or a future change in administration) could modify or overturn the fee. Businesses and industry groups are likely lobbying intensely behind the scenes. In the meantime, uncertainty itself can have a chilling effect: companies might pause hiring or expansion plans awaiting clarity. So the labor market impact might be felt even if the fee is later rolled back.
The AI Era: Current vs. Future Talent Dynamics
This visa fee bombshell lands at a pivotal moment: the dawn of a new AI revolution in tech. The demand for AI and data science talent is skyrocketing – and currently, a significant portion of that talent in the U.S. is foreign-born. Many graduate students in advanced AI research programs, for instance, are international students who traditionally would stay in the U.S. after graduation (often via H-1B) to drive innovation at companies or startups. Today’s reality: the U.S. tech workforce is deeply international; even giants like Google and Microsoft were founded or led by immigrants. Tomorrow’s concern: if policies like the $100K fee persist, the U.S. could face a future talent crunch just when it needs talent most.
The dynamics can be summed up as current vs. future pipeline: Currently, U.S. companies can tap a global pool of experts – that’s one reason the U.S. leads in many tech sectors. But in the future, if skilled immigration is throttled, the burden falls on domestic talent supply. Can American universities and training programs produce enough AI engineers, data analysts, and software developers to keep pace? If not, the advantage may shift elsewhere. A stark warning came from Menlo Ventures partner Deedy Das, who said adding such fees “creates [a] disincentive to attract the world’s smartest talent” and could cause the U.S. to “drastically” lose innovative capacity. The stakes are high: whoever leads in areas like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and biotech will shape the global economy in years to come.
It’s worth noting that even before this policy, the U.S. was not fully utilizing all its homegrown talent in tech. Paradoxically, the Trump administration’s own fact sheet highlighted that recent U.S. graduates in computer science faced higher unemployment rates (6–7%) than some other majors, suggesting a disconnect between the jobs available and Americans able to fill them. If companies truly cannot fill roles with local hires, simply shutting out foreign talent could slow projects or push innovation elsewhere. On the other hand, if the barrier forces systemic changes – like investing more in STEM education, incentivizing students to enter tech, or retraining workers – it could, optimistically, produce a more robust domestic talent base in the long run. In the near term, however, the sudden change tilts the balance dramatically toward fewer foreign experts in the U.S. workforce.
Bridging the Gap: From H‑1Bs to Homegrown Talent
If the era of easy H-1B hiring is ending (even temporarily), the onus is on both industry and educators to bridge the talent gap with homegrown skills. Many companies will need to double-down on training U.S. citizens and permanent residents in high-demand tech skills. This is where organizations like Colaberry – a data science, analytics, and AI bootcamp – come into play. Colaberry and similar programs aim to quickly upskill American workers (often those with little or no prior tech experience) into job-ready data analysts, BI developers, and machine learning practitioners. In a world with fewer imported engineers, such accelerated training pipelines become crucial.
Colaberry’s approach is intensive and practical. Participants undergo rigorous training in tools like SQL, Power BI, Python, and machine learning, often working on real-world projects in the program. “We focus… we help you with the training. We do a lot of mentoring,” says one Colaberry instructor, noting they have dozens of mentors who graduated the program and now coach new students. Internships are built into the bootcamp; “everybody goes through an internship when you get to the end of the program… working with a business to build a dashboard or an ETL solution,” one training video explains. The result is that graduates have actual project experience to show – “you’re going to showcase that project on your resume” – making them much more attractive to employers than a typical entry-level candidate straight out of school.
Perhaps most importantly, these bootcamps open doors to non-traditional talent: people who might not have a four-year CS degree (or any degree at all), but have the aptitude and work ethic to excel in tech given the right training. They effectively enlarge the domestic talent pool to include career switchers, recent high school grads, military veterans, and others who can quickly step into junior tech roles. In the context of the H-1B changes, this is a critical function. If companies can’t readily hire that 25-year-old software developer from abroad, maybe they can hire a motivated 25-year-old American who just finished an intensive coding bootcamp. It’s about growing our own tech workforce.
Success Story: From High School to a $70K Data Job
To see how this can play out in real life, consider Craig’s story. Craig B. graduated high school in 2021 in Texas. While many of his friends headed off to college for four-year degrees, Craig took a different path: he enrolled in Colaberry’s data analytics bootcamp. Within months, he had learned the ropes of business intelligence tools – he specialized in Microsoft Power BI – and built a portfolio of projects. By March the following year, at just 19 years old, Craig landed his first job as a Power BI developer. Now 20, he’s working full-time in the tech industry, earning about $70,000 a year – income his college-going peers can only dream of until they graduate.
“I’m 20... you [know] making a lot more than most 20-year-olds. It’s pretty good, man. I mean, I still have my parents, so like all that paycheck money is just kind of going to stuff I want,” Craig says, describing his new lifestyle. Instead of accumulating student debt, he’s accumulating savings (and admittedly splurging on a few fun things – “I’m going to go see Drake in September. Those tickets were not cheap!” he laughs). Meanwhile, his high school classmates are attending lectures and studying for exams, still years away from the job market. Craig’s head start in the workforce not only puts him financially ahead, but he’s also gaining valuable real-world experience that can accelerate his career.
Craig’s case might sound extraordinary, but it’s increasingly attainable through alternative education paths. Programs like Colaberry emphasize that you don’t need a traditional degree to break into tech. Bootcamp grads are taught to solve real business problems and often get matched to roles through the program’s employer network. In Craig’s cohort, for example, many had no prior tech background, yet several landed jobs in under a year – some coming from entirely different fields. The bootcamp model, in effect, turns untapped domestic talent into the skilled workers U.S. companies are looking for. As one Colaberry mentor put it to new students: “When you start the program do not give up... just think about the end goal.” The end goal, in this context, is not just a certificate – it’s gainful employment in tech.
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A New Balance: Adapting to the Talent Shake-Up
The H-1B visa fee hike underscores a broader inflection point in the U.S. tech ecosystem. On one hand, it has stoked anxiety in industries that have long depended on global talent pools. On the other, it has galvanized efforts to better utilize the talent at home. We may well be entering a period where companies invest more in training Americans – partnering with bootcamps, funding scholarships, or creating in-house apprentice programs – rather than leaning heavily on importing labor. For companies like Colaberry, whose mission is to equip U.S. residents with cutting-edge skills, demand for their graduates could surge as firms seek local hires ready to plug into roles that might otherwise go unfilled.
It’s too early to say whether Trump’s $100K visa fee will achieve its proponents’ goals or if it will be rolled back due to economic pressures or legal challenges. What is clear is that the status quo has been disrupted. The American tech sector is being pushed to rethink how and where it finds its talent. In the immediate term, we’re seeing confusion and precaution – tech giants freezing travel for visa holders, startups re-evaluating hiring roadmaps, foreign students uncertain about their future in the U.S. Longer term, we’ll see adaptation: either through policy correction or through the tech community finding new equilibrium by cultivating a stronger domestic talent pipeline.
In the midst of this uncertainty, the rise of AI and digital transformation isn’t slowing down. The need for skilled workers is only growing. If the U.S. wants to maintain its innovative edge, it will have to find a way to meet that need – whether by paying a premium for international experts or by training a new generation of homegrown tech professionals. Most likely, it will require a bit of both. The coming years will test the resilience of America’s tech workforce and the resourcefulness of its companies. For now, one thing is sure: a fresh graduate like Craig, armed with the right skills, is more valuable than ever. And there are thousands of “Craigs” out there who, given the opportunity, can help keep American innovation thriving – with or without an H-1B visa.
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