Trump extends push for $100,000 H-1B visas by another year
Trump, who has pursued an aggressive immigration crackdown, has criticized the program and wants to permanently raise the fee.
President Donald Trump has extended an executive order imposing a US$100,000 fee for H-1B non-immigrant visas by an additional year, according to the White House. These visas allow US employers to hire skilled foreign workers, primarily from the technology sector, to work in the United States for several years. The H-1B program, established by Congress in 1990, is crucial for tech companies seeking to recruit from countries like India and China.
However, Trump has long criticized the program and aims to permanently raise the fee from its current range of US$2,000 to US$5,000, though this attempt has faced legal challenges. A recent federal judge deemed the higher fee illegal and blocked its collection, prompting another court to review a challenge by the US Chamber of Commerce, the largest US business lobbying group.
Despite criticism that companies may exploit the visas to hire lower-paid foreign workers, business groups and companies argue that the H-1B program helps recruit highly skilled professionals and addresses a shortage of qualified US workers in certain industries. Changes in the scrutiny and processing of these visas have affected companies' hiring and expansion plans, with some major users like Alphabet moving to expand operations in India.
Written by urgent.news from New Straits Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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