Trump Administration Announces Major H-1B Visa Overhaul: $100,000 Fee and System Reform Coming by 2026

Lutnick emphasized that highly educated doctors and educators should be permitted entry into the country.

Washington:

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has announced that "a significant number of changes" will be implemented in the H-1B visa process before February 2026, when the new $100,000 fee takes effect. He described the concept of bringing "inexpensive" tech consultants into the country with their families as "just wrong."

The Trump administration recently announced a one-time fee of $100,000 for new H-1B work visas, a policy that will impact Indian professionals seeking employment in the United States on these temporary visas.

Standing beside US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office during the H-1B proclamation signing, Lutnick had initially stated that the $100,000 would be an annual fee for all H-1B visas, including both renewals and first-time applications.

Following widespread concern and confusion, the Trump administration clarified that the new fee requirement will not apply to current visa holders and is a one-time payment only applicable to new petitions.

"This procedure and process goes into effect in February of 2026, so my guess is going to be, there are going to be a significant number of changes between now and 2026," Lutnick stated in a Sunday interview with NewsNation.

Lutnick remarked that with the $100,000 application fee, "at least it shouldn't be overrun with these people. But I think you're going to see a real thoughtful change going forward. And that's what I expect will happen." He added, "There's going to be a variety of changes; they're talking about changes - how to get the lottery, should it still be a lottery? But that will all be resolved by February."

He confirmed that "as of right now," there will be a one-time fee of $100,000 for entry. "There was a lottery. The H-1B is a lottery," he said, noting that in recent conversations with leaders of two major global tech companies, "they said doing a lottery for skilled workers coming into America is 'bizarre'."

Lutnick questioned the logic of selecting skilled workers through a lottery system: "That just doesn't make any sense." He mentioned there is consensus that the H-1B process, established in 1990 and "sort of butchered along the way," requires reform. He highlighted that these visas are 7-10 times "oversubscribed," with 74 percent allocated to tech consulting.

"H-1B visas are for tech consultants? Like, somehow, that's like important that tech consultants are onshore versus offshore. They're all in other countries anyway," he stated, noting that only about four percent of these visas were assigned to educators and doctors.

He emphasized that the H-1B lottery needs to be "fixed" and that the US should reserve "highly-skilled jobs" for the "most highly-skilled people."

Lutnick advocated that doctors and educators with advanced degrees should be permitted entry, but companies seeking engineers should employ only those commanding higher salaries.

"The idea of having tech consultants and trainees who are inexpensive should be eliminated. I have a strong opinion that way. I think the President's right with me on those same topics...I am completely on the view that this idea that inexpensive tech consultants should be coming into this country and bringing their families, I find it just wrong, and so it sits wrong with me," Lutnick stated.

This month, the US Department of Labor launched 'Project Firewall,' an H-1B enforcement initiative designed to protect the rights, wages, and job opportunities of highly skilled American workers.

This initiative aims to ensure employers prioritize qualified Americans in their hiring practices and hold employers accountable for any abuse of the H-1B visa process.

"Launching Project Firewall will help us ensure no employers are abusing H-1B visas at the expense of our workforce," US Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer said in a statement.

"By rooting out fraud and abuse, the Department of Labor and our federal partners will ensure that highly skilled jobs go to Americans first."

Through Project Firewall, the department will conduct employer investigations to maximize H-1B program compliance. To achieve this goal, the Secretary of Labor will "personally certify the initiation of investigations" for the first time in the department's history.

Violations may result in collecting back wages owed to affected workers, assessing civil monetary penalties, and/or barring future use of the H-1B program for a specified period.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)