Trump slaps $100K fee on H-1B visas, rolls out ‘Gold Card’ residency path in new immigration action

“If you’re going to train somebody, you’re going to train one of the recent graduates from one of the great universities across our land. Train Americans. Stop bringing in people to take our jobs,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said while defending the fee.

H-1B visas, valid for three years and renewable once, are capped at 65,000 annually, with another 20,000 reserved for advanced degree holders from US universities. Demand is so high that applications often outstrip supply, forcing the government to run a lottery. Government data shows India accounted for 71% of approvals last year, with China second at 11.7%.

In the first half of 2025, Amazon and AWS together secured approvals for more than 12,000 H-1B visas. Microsoft and Meta each cleared more than 5,000, according to Reuters.

Critics, including many American tech workers, say the H-1B program lets companies drive down wages and edge out US talent. Supporters, among them Tesla CEO Elon Musk, argue it brings in skilled workers vital to filling shortages and keeping firms competitive. 

Venture capital voices warned the new fee risks backfiring. “Adding new fees creates disincentive to attract the world’s smartest talent to the US,” Deedy Das, a partner at Menlo Ventures, said on X. “If the U.S. ceases to attract the best talent, it drastically reduces its ability to innovate and grow the economy.”

Analysts warn that higher costs could push companies to shift high-value projects overseas, weakening America’s position in its technology race with China. “In the short term, Washington may collect a windfall; in the long term, the US risks taxing away its innovation edge, trading dynamism for short-sighted protectionism,” said eMarketer analyst Jeremy Goldman.

Lutnick said the administration had spoken with large firms and claimed “all the big companies are on board” with the $100,000 annual fee. He suggested the payment would apply each year of the three-year visa, though details remain under discussion. That could mean companies paying as much as $300,000 for a single worker.

The announcement showed an immediate impact on the market. Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions, which relies heavily on H-1B workers, fell nearly 5%. US-listed Indian tech firms Infosys and Wipro also slid between 2% and 5%.

Immigration experts immediately raised questions about the legality of the change. “Congress has only authorised the government to set fees to recover the cost of adjudicating an application,” said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at the American Immigration Council, on Bluesky.

Gold Card program

Trump on Friday also signed a separate executive order creating a “gold card” program — granting permanent residency to individuals who can pay $1 million, or to companies that pay $2 million to fast-track a sponsored worker. The plan, proposed by Lutnick, is meant to attract entrepreneurs and high earners.

“We’re going to only take extraordinary people at the very top,” Lutnick said, dismissing the existing system as one that brings in workers from the “bottom quartile.”

(With inputs from Reuters)