U.S. President Donald Trump recently signed an announcement to raise the cost of enterprises paying for H-1B visa applicants from thousands to $100,000, saying the move was aimed at ensuring that the U.S. introduced high-skilled talent that can not be replaced by Americans.

The sudden surge in visa fees has caused chaos, many H-1B visa holders have been forced to cancel their travel plans, and some companies have sent emergency notifications to their employees, advising them to return to the United States and not leave before the new policy comes into effect.

¡°We have two difficult choices.¡±

Trump signed the announcement in the White House on 19 January. Since taking office in January this year, Trump has launched extensive immigration restrictions, including restrictions on some legal immigration channels. This increase in the H-1B visa fee is considered by the outside world to be the most concerned initiative by the Trump administration so far in the adjustment of the temporary work visa system.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Lutnik said on Monday that the company needs to make a decision: is the person to hire worth paying the government $100,000 a year? if it is not worth it, let him go home, and the company should hire Americans.

Within hours of the announcement, there was much discussion on social media about the scope of the policy, and people expressed disappointment over the ¡°reduced attractiveness of the United States.¡± Many foreigners working in the United States said they had to shorten their holidays because of fears that they could not re-entry after the new rules came into force.

"We're stuck in a dilemma: stay with our families or stay in the U.S.," an engineer at a big tech company told Reuters at the San Francisco airport. The engineer said that multiple Indian passengers asked to get off the plane after receiving the news, causing flights to be delayed.

White House press secretary Levitt explained on social media that $100,000 is not an annual fee, but only a one-off fee for visa applications. She also added that the fee does not apply for visa renewal applications, nor does it relate to existing visa holders. Visa holders currently living outside the United States do not have to pay the fee when returning to the United States.

Tech companies are most affected

An H-1B visa is a temporary work visa in the United States that is a non-immigrant visa and is usually valid for three years, which can be extended to six years. This visa allows American companies to hire foreign professional and technical personnel to fill job vacancies in China where it is difficult to find suitable talents. It is mainly used by American technology companies to attract highly educated foreign talents.

According to American media analysis, the new visa policy will affect technology giants such as Amazon, Microsoft and Google. These companies have been relying on the H-1B visa program to hire foreign professional and technical personnel such as software development engineers. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services report shows that 64% of H-1B visa applications approved in fiscal year 2024 are concentrated in computer-related positions. The second largest number of approvals is the construction, engineering and surveying industry, accounting for 10%; The third is education-related positions, accounting for 6%.

According to data from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Amazon is the largest sponsoring employer of H-1B visas, and the number of visas approved by the company in fiscal year 2024 exceeds 9,000. Google, Microsoft, Apple and other technology giants also have a large number of H-1B visas approved.

The BBC quoted some American lawyers as saying that for some small and start-up companies, the high price of $100,000 may deal them a "fatal blow", and they will be unable to hire foreigners, which will "inhibit the competitiveness of the United States in all industries, especially in the field of science and technology".

Indian Silicon Valley entrepreneur Vivek Ramashvili believes that the U.S. technology industry is heavily dependent on foreign engineers and professionals, the U.S. needs to recruit the world¡¯s top talent to win the competition, and without highly skilled foreign immigrants, the U.S. is destined to decline.

The biggest beneficiaries are worried

According to U.S. government data, India is the largest beneficiary of H-1B visas in 2024, accounting for up to 71% of the approved number.In the wake of the new U.S. visa regime, the Indian government said it was examining the ¡°full impact¡± of the measure and asked its overseas agencies to provide all possible assistance to Indian citizens facing emergency travel.

Some industry insiders pointed out that the new visa policy of the United States means that the Indian IT industry, with a scale of more than 280 billion US dollars, will have to thoroughly adjust its decades-old strategy of sending skilled technicians to the United States for rotation.

The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NSA) of India, a major tech industry organization, expressed its concern over the rapid implementation of U.S. policy, saying it ¡°creates huge uncertainty for, professionals and students around the world.¡±

The Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on the 20th that the flow of talents has promoted the "scientific and technological development, innovation and economic growth" of India and the United States, and expressed concern that the measure of charging $100,000 will "cause interference to (Indian) families", thus causing "humanitarian consequences". I hope the US side can properly handle these issues. (Reporter: Lu Yu, Dong Yalei, Xiong Maoling, Xu Jianmei)