H-1B Visa Fee Hike May Make The Great American Dream Too Expensive To Achieve

The significant increase would primarily impact those seeking middle or entry-level positions (Representational)

New Delhi:

President Donald Trump's dramatic increase of H-1B non-immigrant visa fees to USD 100,000 is expected to significantly impact thousands of Indian students pursuing the American dream.

This substantial fee hike will likely curtail low and mid-level H-1B hiring, focus approvals on high-value senior positions, and compel both employers and employees to explore alternative immigration pathways or completely restructure their staffing approaches.

The immediate consequences are already evident in travel advisories and market responses; while the long-term effects will transform sourcing strategies across technology sectors, professional services, and higher education institutions.

The increased fees will predominantly affect professionals seeking entry or mid-level positions, where early career median salaries typically range between USD 65,000-80,000 annually, and mid-career compensation falls between USD 100,000-122,000 per year.

These figures come directly from the document referenced in the President's 'Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers' executive order.

For executives in senior positions, employers may willingly absorb the increased fees—potentially sharing some costs with the employee. However, the pathway for emerging talents to become future leaders like Satya Nadella or Sundar Pichai appears increasingly restricted.

Indian nationals represent the largest demographic with approximately 70 percent of H-1B approvals, while China ranks a distant second. Other countries account for significantly smaller percentages.

Various reports indicate the current H-1B workforce in the United States numbers between 440,000-446,000 individuals, with one assessment projecting approximately 442,000 H-1B holders for fiscal year 2025.

This visa category is predominantly utilized by computer-related and information technology professionals, including software engineers, data scientists, systems analysts, artificial intelligence specialists, and machine learning engineers.

Major technology corporations and Indian service providers are the primary visa sponsors.

Meanwhile, the extremely wealthy can access the Gold Card visa program, which according to an Executive Order signed by the President on September 19, "facilitates expedited immigration for aliens who make significant financial gifts to the United States."

This program offers accelerated immigrant visa processing for individuals "donating" USD 1 million personally or USD 2 million when funded by a corporation or similar entity on behalf of an individual, as specified in the order.

The 'Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers' order, announced the same day, cites research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to support its position.

According to this research, "among college graduates ages 22 to 27, computer science and computer engineering majors are facing some of the highest unemployment rates in the country at 6.1 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively—more than double the unemployment rates of recent biology and art history graduates."

The Reserve Bank report further reveals higher unemployment rates in anthropology (9.4 percent) and physics (7.8 percent), with computer engineering ranking third in this assessment.

Within this analysis, computer engineering placed seventh highest in unemployment overall.

Simultaneously, computer science and computer engineering fields are experiencing underemployment rates of 16.5 and 17 percent respectively, according to published statistics.

The US labor market in these two specialized areas is undergoing rapid structural transformation driven by generative AI adoption, hiring recalibrations, widespread layoffs, and now geographic redistribution of talent.

Meanwhile, information systems and management sectors show a 5.6 percent unemployment rate with a 28.5 percent underemployment rate, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's documentation.

Historically, American companies have sought skilled professionals offshore while outsourcing manufacturing and frontline support roles to overseas companies—predominantly in Asia.

This strategy increased domestic demand for higher-value functions like design, management, and advanced manufacturing engineering, while reducing production and service costs, resulting in lower consumer prices and enhanced corporate profitability.

However, these benefits came at the expense of domestic employment opportunities in the affected industries.