Trump renews USD 100,000 fee on H-1B visas

• US President Donald Trump has extended the $100,000 H-1B visa fee for another year, until September 2027.

• White House says fee has led to 92 per cent fall in H-1B registrations by large IT outsourcing firms; Indians remain biggest beneficiary group.

• A separate order will tighten scrutiny of H-1B applications, including examining employers’ recent or planned layoffs of US workers.

US President Donald Trump has extended by another year the $100,000 fee imposed on employers seeking to bring certain foreign workers to the United States on H-1B visas.

In a presidential proclamation issued on Friday, 18 September, Trump extended the measure until 21 September 2027, saying the 2025 decision had been effective in curbing what his administration described as abuses of the H-1B programme.

The White House said H-1B registrations by the largest IT outsourcing firms had fallen by 92 per cent since the measure was introduced. Trump said the extension would protect US economic and national security interests, improve labour market access for American workers and graduates, and ensure that employers recruited highly skilled foreign workers when needed.

Indians remain the largest beneficiary group of the US H-1B visa programme.

The $100,000 requirement, introduced in September 2025, has faced legal challenges. A federal judge had ruled the fee illegal, and the matter is now being contested in the appeals process.

The extended proclamation applies to certain H-1B workers who are outside the United States and seeking entry under new petitions. It does not automatically cover existing H-1B holders or those renewing their visas.

The proclamation also directs the labour department to review data from previously submitted labour condition applications within 30 days and determine whether further action against sponsoring employers is warranted.

Separately, Trump issued an executive order on Friday directing federal agencies to step up scrutiny of H-1B applications and improve coordination between the departments of state, labour and homeland security.

The order requires officials to consider an employer's recent or planned layoffs of similarly situated US workers when reviewing H-1B petitions.

The White House said the H-1B programme was created to bring highly specialised foreign workers into the United States to supplement the domestic workforce.

Trump, however, said the programme had been abused by some employers, third-party placement groups and outsourcing firms to undercut and displace US workers.

The administration has argued that the measures are intended to prevent the replacement of American workers with lower-paid foreign labour. Business groups and others challenging the policy have argued that H-1B workers fill important skills gaps, particularly in the technology sector.

With PTI inputs