Is the dream of relocating to the United States over? U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday night imposing a new $100,000 annual fee on each application for an H-1B work visa, used by highly skilled foreign workers with academic degrees.
According to the White House, the move is meant to reduce the use of these visas, raise required salary levels, and give hiring priority to American workers. The fee will apply to both new applications and renewals, for up to six years.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who attended the signing in the Oval Office, said the measure would force companies to reserve sponsorship only for exceptional candidates: “Either the person is very important to the company and to America, or they’ll leave and the company will hire an American,” Lutnick said. “Stop this nonsense of letting people into the country on visas that were basically free.”
Currently, direct fees for the visa amount to just a few hundred or thousand dollars—$215 to enter the lottery and $780 for the application form—making the hike a dramatic increase. Lutnick added that the administration also intends to revise minimum wage tables tied to the H-1B program to prevent companies from importing lower-paid workers and undercutting U.S. salaries.
Big tech and foreign talent
Tech giants such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta are among the largest employers of H-1B holders. U.S. government data show that more than 70% of recipients are from India and about 12% from China, with the change expected to directly impact many Israelis as well.
Last year, Amazon and AWS received more than 12,000 H-1B approvals, while Microsoft and Meta each received more than 5,000. Lutnick said “all the major companies are on board” and have discussed the plan with the administration. Still, shares of outsourcing and IT services firms like Cognizant, Infosys, and Wipro fell 2% to 5% after the announcement, given their business model relies heavily on placing foreign H-1B workers with U.S. clients.
Despite Lutnick’s assertion, Microsoft and Amazon quickly advised their H-1B employees to remain in the United States and told those abroad to return before the order takes effect.
The visas are also critical in academia. Universities, private schools, research institutions, and teaching hospitals use them to recruit faculty, researchers, and medical residents. These institutions are exempt from the annual cap but will now also face the new $100,000 fee. Immigration experts warn the move could be a “death blow” to U.S. academia, undermining its ability to attract global talent and form international research partnerships.
The administration argues the fee closes loopholes that allowed staffing firms to exploit the H-1B lottery system by entering candidates under shell companies to secure large numbers of visas and then leasing workers to tech firms at lower wages. The White House says the new fee will deter such practices and restrict visas to only exceptional candidates, while raising wage levels and reducing reliance on “cheap” foreign labor.
Legal experts counter that federal law allows fees only to cover processing costs, not as a tool to screen applicants. They argue the policy threatens America’s advantage in attracting international talent and could push jobs overseas. Analysts also warn that it may hinder the U.S. in its AI race against China.
The “Gold Card” and beyond
At the same event, Trump also signed an order launching his long-touted “Gold Card” program—a fast-track residency plan for those contributing $1 million individually or $2 million as a company sponsor. Lutnick said the initiative is designed to replace EB-1 and EB-2 visas for individuals of “extraordinary value to America.” In its first stage, 80,000 Gold Cards will be issued.
A new government website, trumpcard.gov, explains that applicants must pay a nonrefundable processing fee and undergo extensive Homeland Security background checks. The card design includes Trump’s portrait, the Statue of Liberty, an eagle, and the U.S. flag.
According to the administration, the program could generate more than $100 billion for the U.S. Treasury, earmarked for tax cuts and reducing the national debt, which has surpassed $37 trillion.
The White House also announced a future “Platinum Card,” requiring a $5 million contribution, granting up to 270 days per year of U.S. residence without taxation on foreign income. Lutnick noted this would require congressional approval and said a waiting list is already forming.
Compared to “golden visa” programs in Europe and Asia, the U.S. scheme is far more expensive, making residency a commercial product on an unprecedented scale.
For many foreign workers, the impact is immediate. An Israeli software engineer who has lived in New York for a decade on an H-1B while awaiting a green card told Ynet: “This is a death blow to the relocation dream. With a $100,000 fee per year, no company will sponsor foreign workers anymore, certainly not young Israelis. The feeling here is total panic. We’re watching the gates to America slam shut.”