President Donald Trump declared earlier this year that new H-1B work visa applications will be subject to an annual charge of $100,000.
The US government, led by Donald Trump, stated on Tuesday that it will replace the long-standing lottery system for H-1B work visas, which is largely utilized by the US technology sector to attract qualified workers from overseas, with a procedure that gives preference to more skilled and well-paid foreign labor.
President Donald Trump signed a proclamation earlier this year imposing a $100,000 yearly H-1B visa cost on new applicants, which may have the greatest impact on Indians because the US technology sector mainly relies on Indian labor.
A US federal judge upheld Trump's $100,000 visa fee move on Tuesday. Additionally, Trump unveiled a $1 million "gold card" immigration scheme intended to provide affluent people with a route to U.S. citizenship.
The new approach will be applicable to the upcoming H-1B cap registration season and is scheduled to go into effect on February 27, 2026.
Why did the Trump administration abandon the lottery method for H-1B visas?
The change is a part of the Trump administration's larger attempt to reform the visa program, which it claims favors foreigners over American workers.
The rules governing the H-1B work visa selection process are being changed to prioritize the distribution of visas to higher-skilled and higher-paid aliens "to better protect the wages, working conditions, and job opportunities for American workers," according to the press release on the change posted on the US Citizenship and Immigration Services website.
According to US Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesperson Matthew Tragesser, "the existing random selection process of H-1B registrations was exploited and abused by U.S. employers who were primarily seeking to import foreign workers at lower wages than they would pay American workers," the release states.
A press release announcing the new regulation states that it is "in line with other key changes the administration has made, such as the Presidential Proclamation that requires employers to pay an additional $100,000 per visa as a condition of eligibility."
Additionally, Trump unveiled a $1 million "gold card" immigration scheme intended to provide affluent people with a route to U.S. citizenship.
H-1B visas have been awarded by a random lottery system for many years. The annual cap on H-1B visas is 65,000, plus an extra 20,000 for Americans with advanced degrees.
According to an Associated Press report, the international internet corporation Amazon was awarded more than 10,000 visas in the most recent cycle, making it the company with the most permits. Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) came in second. The state with the highest percentage of H-1B workers in the country is still California.
According to the press release on Tuesday, the Trump administration would "implement a weighted selection process that will increase the probability that H-1B visas are allocated to higher-skilled and higher-paid" foreign workers under the updated strategy.
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