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U.S. H-1B visa

Last week, with a stroke of a pen, US President Trump significantly increased the H-1B visa fee to $100,000. The visa policy was suddenly tightened without warning, which shattered the dreams of many young engineers and scientists with the "American Dream".

After the United States announced the relevant news, public opinion began to focus on China's policy trends. They found that just a month ago, China also introduced a new visa policy: on August 14th, the Decision of the State Council on Amending the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of Entry and Exit of Foreigners was officially announced. One of the modifications is to add a K-word visa to the general visa category, which is applicable to foreign young scientific and technological talents who enter the country. The new regulations will be officially implemented on October 1st this year.

¡°While Trump has significantly increased the cost of employing foreign tech workers in U.S. companies, China is launching plans to actively embrace such talents.¡±The New York Times on the 26th, as part of the overall strategy to attract the top tech talents, China is trying to use the new K-word visa to facilitate top tech graduates to study or conduct business activities in China.

Although it is unclear how much the new Chinese policy will have an impact on the global talent competition pattern, this initiative alone will help shape China's "more open" international image, and the United States appears to be increasingly closed.

What is obvious to all is that "the Trump administration is suppressing universities, cutting federal research funds, and questioning scientific authority; China has invested heavily in research and development, and has successfully attracted some top American scientists to work in China."

¡°Silicon Valley is becoming more and more immersed in the ¡®America¡¯s priority¡¯ culture,¡± said George Chen, a partner at Washington-based and science and technology policy consultancy The Asia Group, ¡°who are worried about seeing the K visa news for foreign tech practitioners who are no longer popular in the United States, may think, ¡®At least I have more options.¡¯¡±

On September 19, 2025, in Washington, D.C., US President Trump signed an announcement raising the cost of corporate payments for H-1B visa applicants to $ 100,000.

The New York Times reported that China has attached great importance to science and engineering (STEM) education for many years, and with its huge population base, it has now become the country with the largest number of science and engineering graduates in the world. Therefore, the talent recruitment of Chinese technology companies and universities has long been dominated by local talents. In key areas such as semiconductors and biotechnology that still lag behind the United States, in addition to continuously improving its own capabilities, China also hopes to attract more foreigners to help catch up.

However, like the United States, foreigners traveling to China for work or business often face a tricky visa application process.In recent years, the Chinese government has been working hard to simplify the process, and the introduction of the K visa will allow holders to stay longer, multiple entrances, without the need to provide a business invitation letter.

Angus Chen, head of a science and technology enterprise in Shenzhen, said that the new Chinese visa has helped two categories of people the most: one is a start-up that has limited resources and cannot apply for a traditional work visa; and the other is foreign students who want to stay in China for employment.

For Chinese tech giants such as Alibaba and Huawei, the new visa policy makes it easier for them to temporarily invite foreign consultants to work in China.

George Chen of Asia Group also said that K visa can allow those interested in China's science and technology field to go to China to "test the waters".

¡°A lot of people want to come to China, but there may be concerns,¡± he explained, ¡°I think that this interest will only grow as Chinese tech companies grow stronger and capital grows stronger.¡±

As the main ¡°victim¡± of the H-1B visa policy amendment ¨C India ¨C also turned attention to China¡¯s coming into force K visa.

India's New Delhi TV on Monday that "in Trump's H-1B visa chaos, China has opened its doors to global talents through K visa", this latest move is part of China's efforts to simplify visa rules in recent years to promote international exchanges.

Today India more sharply assessed Trump's new rules as "suicidal policies", criticized it for short-term profits damaging its long-term capabilities, pushing global STEM talents into China's arms, while China, which invested in long-term capacity building, "again seized the opportunity."

"We made a loss-making business," said Deepa Ollapally, a research professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University in the United States, when talking about the Trump administration's new visa regulations.

On September 19th, local time, Trump signed an announcement to significantly increase the fees paid by enterprises for H-1B visa applicants to $100,000. He claims that this move is aimed at ensuring that the United States is introducing highly skilled talents who cannot be replaced by Americans.

The H-1B visa is usually issued for three years and can be renewed for another three years, allowing U.S. technology companies to hire millions of skilled foreign workers to fill the talent gap. Foreign students who graduate from U.S. universities often use selective internship training programs to gain work experience and then apply for H-1B. The visa has become a key bridge for long-term employment, and for many, it is the way to dream of a green card.

According to U.S. government data, India was the largest beneficiary of H-1B visas last year, accounting for 71% of approved beneficiaries. Official data from India show that 1.3 million Indian students are studying abroad in 2023, with the largest destination being the United States (46,000), followed by Canada, the UK and Australia.

It is worth mentioning that among the Indian immigrants who stayed in the U.S. using a H-1B visa, a number of U.S. corporate executives, including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna, and Google's parent company Alphabet CEO Sandal Pichai.

Several educational consultants, professors and students told Reuters that many young Indians are reconsidering their plans to deepen and develop their careers in the United States following policy changes and are looking to other migrant-friendly destinations such as Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

In contrast, Germany, China, South Korea and other countries are actively attracting foreign talents.

Image from the White House / News Agency

On September 20th, the day after Trump drastically raised the H-1B visa fee, Chinese cities such as Jinan and Nanjing held a series of large job fairs for overseas talents.

On the same day, the 17th China Students' International Exchange and Cooperation Conference and Youth Talent Exchange (Recruitment) Conference in Nanjing opened in the Nanjing International Expo Center, becoming the "employment hotspot" in the autumn.

On the same day, Jiangnan held a high-level talent recruitment conference. During this four-year "old event", the Shandong International Exhibition Centre has 15 special recruitment districts, more than 2,100 "employee clubs" and 2,70,000 high-quality jobs.

There are many more such examples.

The New York Times mentioned that in April this year, in the main teaching building of the University of West Lake in China, an exhibition area exhibited portraits of several world-class scientists.

¡°These membership scientists are all introduced to the school from overseas,¡± the U.S. media noted, ¡°At present, China is committed to attracting the top scientific and technological talents in order to replace the leading position of the United States in the field of global scientific and technological development.¡±

At the regular press conference of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs held on September 22nd, on issues related to China's policies to attract foreign talents, spokesman Guo Jiakun said that in the era of globalization, the transnational flow of talents has promoted global technological progress and economic development. China welcomes outstanding talents from all walks of life and fields to come to China, take root in China, jointly promote the continuous progress of human society, and achieve the development of personal careers.

The Observer Network.