"The Trump administration's hefty new visa fees for H-1B workers have prompted high-level talks inside companies in Silicon Valley and beyond on the possibility of moving more jobs overseas - precisely the outcome the policy was meant to stop. U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday announced the change to the visa program that has long been a recruitment pathway for tech firms and encouraged international students to pursue postgraduate courses in the United States."
"About 141,000 new applications for H-1B were approved in 2024, according to Pew Research. Though Congress caps new visas at 65,000 a year, total approvals run higher because petitions from universities and some other categories are excluded from the cap. Computer-related jobs accounted for a majority of the new approvals, the Pew data showed."
""I have had several conversations with corporate clients ... where they have said this new fee is simply unworkable in the U.S., and it's time for us to start looking for other countries where we can have highly skilled talent," said Chris Thomas, an immigration attorney at Colorado-based law firm Holland & Hart. "And these are large companies, some of them household names, Fortune 100 type companies, that are saying, we just simply cannot continue.""
A new $100,000 levy on H-1B visas for new applicants has created rollout confusion and sharp cost concerns. Companies are pausing recruitment, adjusting budgets and rethinking workforce plans. High-level internal discussions in Silicon Valley and large corporations include the possibility of moving skilled roles overseas. About 141,000 new H-1B approvals occurred in 2024, while Congress caps new visas at 65,000 with exemptions for universities and certain categories; most approvals were for computer-related jobs. Immigration lawyers report clients calling the fee unworkable and exploring other countries for talent, while critics argue the policy aims to open jobs for U.S. workers.
Read at Fast Company
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]