Trump’s order will come into effect on September 21. According to US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the fresh order would apply to new requests, but he noted that firms would still need to pay the same amount for six years for every applicant.
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order under which the fee for an H-1B visa was increased to USD 100,000, a move that is expected to affect Indian professionals significantly. Trump, in his statement, said the step was taken to stop the ‘abuse’ of the H-1B visa.
“The H-1B nonimmigrant visa programme was created to bring temporary workers into the United States to perform additive, high-skilled functions, but it has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labour,” Trump stated in his order.
Trump’s order to come into effect on Sep 21
Trump’s order will come into effect on September 21. According to US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the fresh order would apply to new requests, but he noted that firms would still need to pay the same amount for six years for every applicant.
“The company needs to decide… is the person valuable enough to have a $100,000-a-year payment to the government, or they should head home, and they should go hire an American,” he noted.
Is anyone exempted from the order?
Yes, existing H-1B visa holders are exempted, and they won’t need to pay the USD 100,000 fee, as per the executive order signed by Trump. However, they still need to return to the US before September 21 if they have been out of America for the past 12 months or more.
The order has also given the US Secretary of Homeland Security the authority to decide who can get an exemption, though. “If the Secretary of Homeland Security determines, in the Secretaryโs discretion, that the hiring of such aliens to be employed as H-1B specialty occupation workers is in the national interest and does not pose a threat to the security or welfare of the United States,” the order states.
Impact on Indians
Trump’s order on H-1B visas, which are valid for three years, will significantly impact Indian professionals. As per the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Indian nationals make up to 71 per cent of all approved H-1B applications.
NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Service Companies), which is India’s apex industry body, has said that the one-day deadline will further create uncertainty among businesses, professionals, and students.
“The timeline for implementation (anyone entering the U.S. after 12:01 a.m., September 21) is also a concern. A one-day deadline creates considerable uncertainty for businesses, professionals, and students across the world,” it said in a statement.
“While developments are underway, we will continue to monitor developments closely, engage with industry stakeholders on the potential implications, and seek further clarity on the discretionary waiver process, to be granted by the Secretary of DHS,” it noted.ย
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