$100K per H-1B visa: Donald Trump just made it insanely costly to hire Indian engineers

In a sweeping move that could deliver a body blow to India’s IT workforce and Silicon Valley’s hiring model, the Trump administration on Friday proposed a $100,000 annual fee for H-1B visas—threatening to reshape how U.S. tech giants recruit global talent.

The proposal, announced by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, would require companies to pay $300,000 per H-1B worker over a typical three-year visa term. “Train Americans. Stop bringing in people to take our jobs,” Lutnick said, underscoring the administration’s broader crackdown on legal immigration.

The impact could be especially severe for Indian professionals, who make up the backbone of America’s H-1B workforce. In 2024, India accounted for 71% of all approved H-1B applicants—by far the largest share. The move risks severing a key pipeline that has long fueled both India's tech ambitions and America's innovation engine.

"This is a direct hit to India’s IT talent," said Deedy Das, partner at Menlo Ventures. "If the U.S. becomes too expensive or hostile, top talent will simply go elsewhere."

Major employers are bracing for massive cost increases. In the first half of 2025 alone, Amazon and AWS received approvals for over 12,000 H-1B workers. Microsoft and Meta each secured more than 5,000. At $100,000 per year, the policy could cost Amazon over $3.6 billion just to retain those workers over three years.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a naturalized citizen who once held an H-1B visa, has championed the program for its ability to attract global brainpower. But critics argue it suppresses wages and displaces Americans—a view echoed in Trump’s new executive order, which cited wage stagnation and misuse of the visa system.

Analysts warn the fee hike could push firms to move high-value work overseas, accelerating offshoring and weakening America’s edge in critical sectors like artificial intelligence. “In the short term, Washington may collect a windfall; in the long term, the U.S. risks taxing away its innovation edge,” said eMarketer analyst Jeremy Goldman.

The administration has yet to finalize how the fee will be enforced. Still, Lutnick claimed “all the big companies are on board”—a statement likely to face scrutiny as firms calculate the bottom-line impact.