Trump’s Changes Lock Some Employers Out of H-1B Visa Program

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Since imposing the fee in September, the Trump administration has upended the H-1B program, a critical pipeline for a broad swath of employers ranging from big tech companies and consulting firms to hospitals and schools. The result has been a fundamental shift in who gets to benefit from the visa program, which was put in place three decades ago.

The effects have been uneven across employers, with the burdens falling most heavily on smaller firms, nonprofits and rural hospitals that are having a harder time gaining access to the program because they cannot cover the costs anymore. Many companies that largely recruit workers overseas have also significantly reduced their applications, including IT firms that have been among the biggest beneficiaries of the program, according to immigration lawyers.

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The new fee is just part of the Trump administration’s attempt to drastically overhaul the H-1B program. In February, regulatory changes that would favor the allocation of the visas to higher-paid jobs took effect. Last month, the Labor Department proposed a rule that aims to lift the minimum wages that employers have to pay H-1B visa holders. Administration officials say the goal is to incentivize companies to prioritize hiring American workers and better protect their wages.

The changes have not choked off demand for H-1B visas, in part because the $100,000 fee is not applied uniformly. It applies only to workers outside the United States, meaning firms that hire people already in the country with a different form of status — such as an international student who needs an H-1B visa to remain in the United States — are able to skirt the fee. Previously, a typical visa cost companies roughly $10,000, including legal fees and administrative costs, immigration lawyers said.

The biggest tech companies have largely been shielded from the changes because they mostly use the H-1B program to recruit international students and other foreign workers within the country, according to immigration lawyers. They are also more likely to have the money to absorb the new fee.

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Although demand remains relatively strong, many immigration lawyers said they saw big declines in the number of companies applying for H-1B visas this year. Other federal data has also shown signs of suppressed demand.

Between Sept. 21 and Feb. 15, the number of H-1B applications submitted by employers not subject to the cap was down 15 percent compared with the same period the year before, according to data from the Department of Homeland Security. And the federal government received only 85 payments of the $100,000 fee as of mid-February.

The figures were made public in court documents stemming from a legal challenge brought by employers and unions shortly after the administration imposed the new fee.

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