Trump’s $100,000 H-1B fee puts a price on Silicon Valley’s talent engine

A six-figure levy lands on tech’s most-used visa and forces new hiring math.

President Trump on Friday ordered an annual $100,000 fee for H-1B visas, according to a Reuters report on the proclamation. What had been a predictable, mostly administrative expense now becomes a recurring, six-figure line item for every year a worker holds the visa. For companies that built recruiting pipelines around H-1B hires, the policy turns paperwork into a budget decision.

What changed—and why it bites

Until now, employers paid several thousand dollars per case: a $215 lottery registration, filing fees around $780, plus surcharges for heavy users and legal costs. The proclamation adds a yearly $100,000 charge on top. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said “all the big companies” were consulted and support the shift. When asked on Friday, Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft did not confirm that claim. That gap matters.

The administration frames the fee as a filter. Firms that truly need scarce skills will pay; others will hire domestically. The move arrived alongside a new “gold card” pathway priced at $1 million and a floated $5 million “platinum” option with tax advantages—an explicit turn toward pay-to-enter immigration.

How dependent Big Tech is

The H-1B underpins Bay Area software and engineering teams. In 2024, Amazon received more than 10,000 approvals. Tata Consultancy Services cleared about 5,500. Microsoft and Meta each surpassed 5,000. India accounts for roughly 71% of beneficiaries; China adds about 12%. In the Bay Area, about one in every 100 workers holds an H-1B approved within the past four years. These are well-paid roles; salaries at major platforms typically exceed $150,000.

Even before the new levy, demand swamped supply. The government caps new visas at 85,000 a year, while employers submit hundreds of thousands of registrations. The fee raises the ante without increasing the cap.

Who absorbs the shock—and who can’t

Cash-rich giants will keep filing for must-have skills—AI researchers, senior security engineers, chip designers—while trimming marginal cases. Startups and mid-caps face harder trade-offs. One visa can equal months of runway or several domestic hires. Expect narrower petitions, fewer entry-level H-1B cases, and sharper focus on roles with clear, immediate impact. Some firms will simply pass.

The price will also reshape competition. Employers may chase H-1B workers already in the United States, where transfers can avoid the cap, bidding up pay for a constrained cohort. Others will expand overseas R&D hubs or near-shore teams rather than pay a six-figure premium to colocate talent in the U.S. That substitution effect is the policy’s biggest wildcard.

The legal question mark

Immigration lawyers and policy groups immediately questioned whether the White House can impose a revenue-raising fee by proclamation. Visa fees have traditionally been tied to adjudication costs and set through rulemaking or statute. If challenges land in court, companies must decide whether to budget for the fee and proceed—or shift work abroad while they wait for clarity. Uncertainty is a cost of its own.

Stakes for innovation and the AI race

The U.S. tech edge rests on compute, capital, and people. The fee taxes the third pillar directly. Venture investors warn it will tilt hiring toward firms with deep pockets and away from younger companies that historically punch above their weight. It may also discourage international students who choose U.S. programs because post-degree work is attainable. Timing matters: AI labs are racing to hire model researchers and systems engineers. If those teams grow in Toronto, London, or Bengaluru instead, the U.S. trades fee revenue for a thinner talent cluster.

What companies will actually do

No one playbook fits. Some employers are putting money into U.S. pipelines—apprenticeships, community-college programs, and faster green-card sponsorships for graduates already here. Others are adding teams where visas aren’t required, keeping U.S. staff for work that must sit close to customers, sensitive data, or regulators. Business groups are meanwhile lobbying for a wage-based allocation or a narrow legislative fix to preserve high-skill hiring without a blanket six-figure surcharge.

The next few months will turn on the courts and on whether agencies issue follow-on rules about wages and compliance. In the meantime, budget season just got more complicated.

Why this matters

• A uniform $100,000 yearly charge converts skilled-immigration access into a balance-sheet test, advantaging giants and constraining startups—reshaping who gets to build in the U.S.
• The rule is a live experiment in pricing talent inflows during the AI race; if it pushes labs and engineers offshore, America’s innovation map changes with it.