37 ms·

Trump to impose $100k fee for H-1B worker visas, White House says

• deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
• shakes_mcjunkie 1y ago
  Anyone who thinks this is pro-labor in any way or going to increase American salaries needs to spend some serious time thinking about who is implementing this policy.
• esalman 1y ago
  All it'll do is replace competent workers who don't have $100k to spare, with incompetent workers who have the money.
  • nsm 1y ago
    The fees are paid by employers and not workers.
    • nojvek 1y ago
      Without salary enforcement, it does come out of workers eventually. Like Americans paying Tariff fees out of their wallets due to price hikes.
    • esalman 1y ago
      This is still another loophole and the companies which exploit the program and workers (small consulting firms, not big tech per se) are still going to exploit this.
  • positr0n 1y ago
    I certainly don't think the industry's hiring processes are perfect, but $100k on top of a normal wage for an incompetent worker is a lot of money to throw down the drain and not either run out of money or have someone competent notice and stop the situation before too long.
    • Terretta 1y ago
      > $100k ... is a lot of money It's still less than a domestic recruiting fee for many types of roles the H1B was purportedly about, roles where it's hard enough to find someone you need a headhunter's help and the pool is still not exactly what you're looking for.
    • esalman 1y ago
      Unfortunately, to stop the situation you either need to let competent foreign workers in, or somehow make 2 years of masters education, or 7 years of PhD education more attractive to average Americans than flipping burgers and earning $22 an hour, on top of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars loan to get bachelor's degrees.
  • beAbU 1y ago
    False dichotomy. Why would only incompetent workers have the 100k to spare?
    • esalman 1y ago
      There's a reason why corrupt politicians and extortionists all over the world choose to retire in the US.
    • deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]
• SilverElfin 1y ago
  Doesn’t this just mean less talent? Companies would hire locally if equal level talent was available. I doubt it’s really about saving money when these jobs earn a lot of revenue per employee. Adding this fee means companies may just not find anyone worth hiring. It would make more sense to require H1B salary to be equal to the highest paid local employee of the same role at that company than to just throw an arbitrary $100K fee on.
  • slaw 1y ago
    Local talent is available and looking for a work. Companies want cheap H1B workers.
  • oldpersonintx2 1y ago
    [dead]
  • x0x0 1y ago
    I don't think you can possibly argue, in good faith, that in the midst of the tech recession there isn't plenty of local talent available. If you're actually paying decently, and probably even if not.
  • toomuchtodo 1y ago
    > Doesn’t this just mean less talent? Companies would hire locally if equal level talent was available. I doubt it’s really about saving money when these jobs earn a lot of revenue per employee. Adding this fee means companies may just not find anyone worth hiring. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45224057 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45224057 Your reply to my comment there: (me) ... I don't think US workers should have to compete with 1 billion+ other global workers for their jobs ... (you) They already do though. Do you own any items made in other countries? If so, you’re competing with other workers already. It seems weird to focus on immigrants workers in America versus citizens in America while importation is allowed at all. I find all of this also very much in conflict with HN’s anti tariff attitude. So, you seem to understand the problem. This is not about lack of domestic US talent. This is about disempowering US corporations from importing unnecessary labor to disadvantage US workers (who are currently facing an unfavorable domestic labor market). Citations: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44880832 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44880832 ("There is no requirement to demonstrate that you cannot find an American to do the job to get an H1b visa approved. If that person applies for a PERM position (needed to convert to a green card) there is. Hence the H1b is easy to game by employers to get cheap indentured servants. With PERM (converting to a green card) they try to hide the job postings so that people will not apply so that they can get the green card approved. Some of the tricks include putting ads in the newspaper, using esoteric websites and other media such as radio instead of job boards where tech people actually look for jobs. Some Americans who have trouble finding jobs in the current market took on a side project of scraping newspaper ads and these job boards and created https://www.jobs.now/ https://www.jobs.now/ which lists these jobs. If enough Americans that meet the minimum qualifications apply for a listed job it stops the green card process for that position, usually for 6 months before the sponsor may try again. Also, there are a lot of stories about people getting O-1 visas via fake credential mills and research papers. Both can and are being gamed to get O-1's." -- u/lgleason) Corporations are trying to hide job openings from US citizens - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45223719 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45223719 - September 2025 (526 comments) Job Listing Site Highlighting H-1B Positions So Americans Can Apply - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44892321 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44892321 - August 2025 (108 comments) H-1B Middlemen Bring Cheap Labor to Citi, Capital One - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44398978 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44398978 - June 2025 (4 comments) Jury finds Cognizant discriminated against US workers - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42385000 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42385000 - December 2024 (65 comments) How middlemen are gaming the H-1B program - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41123945 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41123945 - July 2024 (57 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42454509 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42454509 (additional citations)
• angott 1y ago
  I wonder how much of this was driven by public/media interest in the H-1B program rather than technical policy concerns. For instance, there is still no action taken about the L-1B visa classification, which is a lot more open to abuse than H-1B is. It has no cap on how many visas can be issued every year. It also has no obligation to pay the employee a prevailing wage, no requirement for a bachelor's degree to qualify, and it cannot be transferred to a different employer (which means employees are stuck with their sponsor until they qualify for a green card).
  • slaw 1y ago
    $100k fee is a good start. Trump doesn't know L-1B exists.
• rimzy 1y ago
  Great News! Now Trump needs to go after all the "founders" scamming the US through their O-1 visa. That shit needs to end yesterday.
  • Snoozus 1y ago
    What's the scam?
    • gowld 1y ago
      It was advertised on HN last year: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40082864 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40082864 https://extraordinaryaliens.substack.com/p/o1-visa-hacks-for-founders https://extraordinaryaliens.substack.com/p/o1-visa-hacks-for...
  • sciencesama 1y ago
    They are inventing new scamming ways !
  • colesantiago 1y ago
    This is the next grift target into the US.
• givemeethekeys 1y ago
  It hasn't happened yet. All the big money in America says that it will either never happen or won't last longer than a few weeks.
  • famerica 1y ago
    Anyone who has been paying attention to anything could tell you the same thing.
  • lastofthemojito 1y ago
    The TACO president doesn't just back away from a bad idea without announcing he got something in return. He'll declare exemptions or delays for companies or industries that kowtow to him in some way - maybe he'll demand these companies make contributions to "non-woke" engineering universities or remove "DEI hires" from their boards, who knows.
    • aylmao 1y ago
      Unrelated, but I don't get the "taco" thing. I'm Mexican— it's a head-scratcher that people use the name of our food as an insult to Trump. He doesn't look like a taco, and the acronym is a sentence, not an adjective/phrase, so it doesn't make much sense spelled out in most contexts.
      • SpicyLemonZest 1y ago
        It has a lot of memetic value as a callback to a widely discussed Cinco de Mayo tweet he made in 2016 (https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/728297587418247168 https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/72829758741824716...).
      • asdff 1y ago
        [flagged]
        • giveita 1y ago
          Dog whistle?
• Animats 1y ago
  $100K per person, or per company? Does Tata just pay $100K once?
  • markasoftware 1y ago
    per application, so per person
  • ac29 1y ago
    The answer to your question is in the first sentence of the article
    • Animats 1y ago
      "Sept 19 (Reuters) - "Reuters was not immediately able to establish details of who the fee would apply to or how it would be administered." So, details to follow. [1] https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-09-19/trump-mulls-adding-new-100-000-fee-for-h-1b-visas-bloomberg-news-reports https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-09-19/trump-...
• breadwinner 1y ago
  $25K annual fee per H1B worker as opposed to $100K one-time would have made more sense. It would have made even more sense to have employers compete (within their own sector, such as tech, aerospace, etc.) such that whoever offers the highest salary will get the H1B worker.
  • gowld 1y ago
    Why within a sector? make everyone compete, and we'll find if any local workers want the high paying jobs. The H1B count can be increased to cover jobs that locals don't want even at high salaries.
    • breadwinner 1y ago
      Why would locals not want high paying jobs? The question is whether qualified people can be found locally or not.
      • ToucanLoucan 1y ago
        It's a severely under-reported aspect of this issue that a troubling amount of times, the issue isn't that Americans want too much money or just don't want to work, the issue is there are no Americans qualified to do the work you need to do who are looking for a job. The Hyundai factory exposed this. The VISA'd employees (or non-VISA'd? I don't remember the details offhand) were only there in the first place overseeing the project because they literally could not find anyone qualified to do the fucking job in Georgia.
        • mrguyorama 1y ago
          If there literally are no Americans (instead of just, no Americans at the price point you are willing to pay), then $100k is a small price to pay to enable your business. Last I checked, Software Developers did not have a 0% unemployment statistic, so clearly there are American software developers that could be employed in those jobs, but FAANG still hires an H1B. Gee, I wonder why. Maybe it's because H1Bs are cheaper than an American. Maybe it's because H1Bs cannot say no without risking being deported. This claim that "No no no, every H1B was fine and totally could not even possibly be replaced by American labor" flies in the face of the actual reality of the tech industry. Microsoft can't find an American to write code? Bullshit, they just fired tons of them. The fact that it is less abused in other industries should not be used to paper over the games the tech industry play. FAANG have been found multiple times to be collaborating to suppress tech industry wages. This is just another way they do that. >could not find anyone qualified to do the fucking job in Georgia. There was not a single American anywhere in the entire united states that could do things to build a car factory? Really? They couldn't fly someone out from Texas, or Michigan? Am I supposed to believe we don't have any human beings in the entire united states that know how to build part of a factory?
• snake_doc 1y ago
  Mafia behavior continues… (not my observation, but the Texas senator’s Ted Cruz[1]). $100k is a big pizzo (protection fee)! [1]: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-09-19/ted-cruz-blasts-fcc-chair-s-mafioso-tactic-to-sideline-kimmel https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-09-19/ted-cruz-... > “That’s right outta ‘Goodfellas,’ that’s right out of a mafioso going into a bar saying, ‘Nice bar you have here, it’d be a shame if something happened to it,’” Cruz said, using the iconic New York accent associated with the Mafia.
  • mschuster91 1y ago
    It does go to the government and not to Trump's personal wallet (like the memecoins and lavish gift), it's just a tax that's just not being called a tax, and frankly it's a good idea. The current abuse of H1B doesn't work out positively for anyone but the companies making a boatload of money on exploiting people.
    • snake_doc 1y ago
      Oh? And taxes can’t be used to buy influence and votes? How naive… Money is fungible… one pocket into another Exhibit 1: Tariff revenues to bail out American farmers: https://www.ft.com/content/0267b431-2ec9-4ca4-9d5c-5abf61f2b082 https://www.ft.com/content/0267b431-2ec9-4ca4-9d5c-5abf61f2b...
      • decremental 1y ago
        [dead]
      • deleted 1y ago
        [deleted]
• crooked-v 1y ago
  Stopped clock, twice a day, etc. H-1Ba are supposed to be for difficult-to-find specialists, not generic tech workers.
  • gwbennett 1y ago
    100%
  • YetAnotherNick 1y ago
    > H-1Ba are supposed to be for difficult-to-find specialists In my understanding H-1B is supposed to be for generic workers, rather than O1 which is for people with extraordinary ability in their field. That's why there is limit, lottery and high application fees.
    • GartzenDeHaes 1y ago
      H-1B is for difficult-to-find specialists and O-1 is for people with extraordinary ability in their field. H-2B is for ordinary workers.
      • oytis 1y ago
        The opposite of extraordinary is, well, ordinary - why would they be difficult to find? H-2B seems to be a non-immigrant visa for temporary workers.
        • crooked-v 1y ago
          It's not "the opposite", it's a spectrum of rarity.
          • oytis 1y ago
            The conditions look like the only requirement is being a professional with college degree. I am an immigrant (not to US though), so looking from this standpoint. If I wanted to move to the US, H1B would be a pretty straightforward way for me to do so - as it is for many professionals now. With this path cut off - what is left to people who are just good professionals in their field, but maybe not exactly Nobel laureates? There is Green card lottery, but being a lottery, it's not ideal for life planning, and it doesn't account for one's professional achievements.
• Bayko 1y ago
  So now just outsource to those countries instead??
  • arcbyte 1y ago
    Tariffs on offshoring are next.
    • JumpCrisscross 1y ago
      > Tariffs on offshoring are next Unlikely. America has a massive services export surplus.
      • ebiester 1y ago
        Do you think that matters to them? They'll burn it all down if they think it scores a political point.
    • saaaaaam 1y ago
      Wasn’t that already effectively put in place with the changes to the exemptions on how R&D is treated for tax purposes? (I’m not in the US so this may have evolved now, I’m not sure.)
  • breadwinner 1y ago
    This is good news for China: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3318178/talent-gambit-how-us-brain-drain-chinas-brain-gain https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3318178/tale...
    • nextworddev 1y ago
      Lol, you really think the h1bs will go to China to work 996?
      • breadwinner 1y ago
        No, Chinese will stay home instead of immigrating to the US. China draws mainly on the talents of the best of its billion+ population. But America has had its pick of the best of the world's 8 billion people. If people stop immigrating to the US, then we will surely fall behind technologically, economically and militarily, and soon we will be making t-shirts for Chinese for $5 an hour.
• Workaccount2 1y ago
  The white collar version of ICE enforcement.
• LAC-Tech 1y ago
  The latest updates to Windows were just too much for him.
• mister_mort 1y ago
  If this is truly per application, the companies that try to boost their chances with the lottery by creating multiple applications for the same person are going to get hit hard. Phantom companies that only exist on paper so people can tweak the probabilities are now liabilities. We'll see a rebalancing for sure.
  • ebiester 1y ago
    In one sense they won't - it will reduce the queue enormously. But you'll really need that person. It will also kill OPT in general.
  • DeRock 1y ago
    > the companies that try to boost their chances with the lottery by creating multiple applications for the same person This was already addressed by changing the odds to be per unique candidate, not application, thereby reducing the incentive to game it. More context here: https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/news-releases/uscis-announces-strengthened-integrity-measures-for-h-1b-program https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/news-releases/uscis-announces...
    • namirez 1y ago
      Unfortunately that doesn't work in practice since the consulting firms submit multiple applications for multiple candidates to get one candidate in. I believe charging extra for each application is a good way to discourage this practice but I'm not sure if $100k is the right number or not. To me it seems a bit too high.
      • DeRock 1y ago
        The odds are now per candidate, not per application. If they submit multiple applications, it does not up chances for that candidate in any way. And yes, it does work, because we have data from the year before this change, to the year after to compare against. The "Eligible Registrations for Beneficiaries with Multiple Eligible Registrations" dropped from 47,314 for FY 2025 to 7,828 for FY 2026. Source: https://www.uscis.gov/archive/uscis-announces-strengthened-integrity-measures-for-h-1b-program https://www.uscis.gov/archive/uscis-announces-strengthened-i...
• Der_Einzige 1y ago
  [flagged]
  • decremental 1y ago
    [dead]
  • selimthegrim 1y ago
    I promise you some of us were here before 1965 and we remember things.
• b_e_n_t_o_n 1y ago
  > H-1B visas are already costly to obtain, ranging from about $1,700 to $4,500 oof, that's a big price increase.
  • y-curious 1y ago
    My one concern is that the salary discrepancy minus the $100k might still be worth it for FAANG specifically.
    • SV_BubbleTime 1y ago
      That's the point. If you really deserve it with your skills, then 100k is nothing.
    • LPisGood 1y ago
      Why is that a concern?
• YetAnotherNick 1y ago
  I don't get the negative points here to be honest. To me, it seems better than lottery to be honest for all parties involved.
• cogman10 1y ago
  IMO, the fee is the wrong thing that needs adjusting. It's the salary that should be adjusted. The minimum salary for an H1B should be $200k. It's something like 50k right now which is ridiculous especially with all the restrictions an applicant is under. It both suppresses wages and abuses the worker.
  • mavelikara 1y ago
    > It's something like 50k right now which is ridiculous It is ridiculous. Do you have a citation for the $50K number?
  • dbish 1y ago
    Why not both?
    • cogman10 1y ago
      Because I don't really want to penalize a company for bringing in foreign labor. If a company can't find someone for a specific job or role then I don't care if they go abroad to find that person. What I care about is the current system isn't being used to find hard to find labor, it's used to bring in cheap labor in an abusive situation. We as a nation are really better off if we bring in the best in the world to work here with a cushy salary.
      • dbish 1y ago
        The fee should help ensure that only higher paying jobs or truly hard to find roles would be worth paying for as well (not that this is the right option, but playing it out). You would gladly pay 100k if the role already is high paying, it will be a small fraction of the cost, you won’t do that if it’s a couple year salary. It will also help curb abuse through multiple applications. I agree hard to find jobs for highly talented people (who are paid well) should be brought in.
        • cogman10 1y ago
          Well, again, I don't really care about prioritizing local hires. The 100k fee really only penalizes the company from hiring abroad. I'd much rather push everything into the salary of the person being hired. Both because it ends up raising the median salary for local workers and because it stimulates the local economy where that person is brought in. It's also a yearly fee. I think there's value in getting a very capable person working in your company and having a high salary is one way to make such roles highly competitive. A highly capable person will ultimately make everyone they work with more capable.
• slt2021 1y ago
  [dead]
• waynesonfire 1y ago
  Fantastic news, not so much for Mr... Na .. Na... Not ganna work here anymore. Should add a yearly fee as well.
• emorning4 1y ago
  [dead]
• ChrisMarshallNY 1y ago
  Boy, that's going to be a popular rule. I'll bet K Street is getting their engines gassed and greased for this. I'm deeply unhappy about H1B abuse. I've watched it happen, in front of me. It's definitely a real thing. But I also worry about the legit folks, that want to take advantage of it.
  • consumer451 1y ago
    Yeah, this is one of those things where the abuses have real negative consequences for our country. However, when used by people that we (theoretical, rational economic actors) actually want here… those truly exceptional people who may not look exceptional on paper… Well, getting those people here has been one of the magical things about the United States of America, so far. Messing with that is dangerous. It needs to be done, but it needs to be done very surgically.
• HardCodedBias 1y ago
  Interesting, seems quite steep. Does the extension also cost 100k? I don't know the statutory authority under which this is being done, if this is true it will come out in the next few days. I would have preferred a simple auction, seems like the most reasonable solution.
  • HardCodedBias 1y ago
    Later reporting is saying that it will be 100k / year. If so that's quite substantial. That will make the program non-viable for a large percentage of the people who use it today. I suspect that the o1 visa would get far more use if this change were enacted. It seems to high. Again: why not make it an auction?
• franciscojs 1y ago
  May be good for remote roles?
• quacked 1y ago
  The way I see it is that US companies cannot simultaneously compete with foreign workers who are as good or better than US workers but are willing to work harder for less money, and also retain a high QoL for US workers. If US companies want to compete on actual merit and cost, they have to let US QoL take a hit. If they want to retain US QoL, they can't compete. Something's gotta give, and the endless dancing with partial offshoring and H1Bs is band-aiding over two options: a bloodbath for American workers where competing for their jobs is actually opened up to the globe, or a massive, nationalist set of labor protections to stop other countries from bidding on work asked for by the US markets. Making H1Bs more costly is a little stronger than a Band-Aids, but not by much.
• checker659 1y ago
  I think this is great news for countries like Canada and UK.
  • leakycap 1y ago
    It is incredible to me that there are hundreds of US-centric comments and yours is the only one I saw who recognized the benefit for basically every other country people want to live and work in.
    • Izikiel43 1y ago
      > Canada It's not doing really well though, COL is sky high, and wages are low.
      • stackskipton 1y ago
        And I've talked to a few Canadians, despite the Liberal party winning, there is real push for Canada to severely restrict immigration and that is currently happening.
        • totony 1y ago
          As far as I can tell, the push against immigration in Canada is mainly around unskilled workers (which a lot of TFW are) and asylum seekers, but we will see how this pans out.
        • dustbunny 1y ago
          They're just turning the knob down a little bit because it was pretty high last few years and caused some supply side issues in housing and healthcare. I'm sure Canada will gladly accept highly skilled engineers.
        • Tiktaalik 1y ago
          The push back against immigration is against the way it was exploited by scammers to exploit people and make money from them. The sort of high educated immigrants of the sort that would work in software engineering will not face remarkable headwinds.
• Jcampuzano2 1y ago
  With how inconsistent and on and off this administration has been I expect this will probably never happen, or there will be exemptions to this for every company that this was most abused for and just sucks up to the president. Until anything actually happens there's no reason to take this president at his word.
  • Braxton1980 1y ago
    >Until anything actually happens there's no reason to take this president at his word. Why? Trump was known for "telling it as it is" so shouldn't the assumption be that it will happen?
    • dragonwriter 1y ago
      > Trump was known for "telling it as it is" AFAICT, the people that promoted him that way often had mutually incompatible interpretations of what he was saying that happened to fit their own biases coming in, which they felt like Trump was agreeing with. And as the rubber of vague, contradictory, and incoherent statements hit the road of substantive action, that impression became a lot less common.
    • yodsanklai 1y ago
      There's been tons of silly statements from Trump that never got implemented.
• pigpag 1y ago
  $100k filing fee cannot be legally viable. But I support the direction in general. There is virtually no gate control, causing the visa category to be flooded by fraudulent applications (including unqualified hires, duplicate lottery shots). H1B visas are initially designed for economic efficiency, so using monetary means to control it is justifiable.
  • bamboozled 1y ago
    It depends how this is implemented but I think that only “rich” people including criminals will use this as a way to bring undesirable people in. Again it spends on implementation but when you’re “paying” for someone to enter , is there extra leeway on the approval ? How strict will the entry requirements be ?
  • tamimio 1y ago
    There’s no gatekeeping on any tech job, and it’s on purpose so big corps can abuse the system and lower the wages, while they make billions. It should be regulated to prevent abuse, that’s hurting everyone except corps.
• jatins 1y ago
  While the stated intention is to prevent abuse by consultancies, I think this effectively kills the H1B program. Who will be able to afford this? Not startups. 100k is like 75% of base comp in most bay area startups Among BigTech, maybe like ~20 companies will be willing to pay this per employee.
  • nine_k 1y ago
    So startups often bring in H1B employees? What prevents them from hiring the same great people remotely?
    • pcl 1y ago
      Time zones are probably the biggest limiting factor, followed by remoteness. In my experience, it's really hard and pretty slow to onboard a remote worker if you haven't already worked with that person in the past. And at a startup, you don't usually have the luxury of time on your side.
      • nine_k 1y ago
        Basically all of South America is in US-friendly timezones. I worked with a few quite bright folks from Argentina, for instance. I suspect that flying someone from Buenos Aires to SF or NYC for onboarding and then and back would cost significantly less than $100k. Remote work from Europe is harder in this regard, and from India... would be night shifts only.
        • johnisgood 1y ago
          > Remote work from Europe is harder in this regard, and from India... would be night shifts only. I do not mind working all day until I pass out, and I do not mind adjusting my life to a different timezone as long as I get paid enough, and considering that USD > HUF, it is probably a no-brainer. So yeah, hire me for full remote! Unfortunately traveling is out of the question due to disability.
• kubb 1y ago
  Does the company still pay the 100k if the applicant loses the lottery?
  • dgs_sgd 1y ago
    If you read the article you would see their plan is to apply the fee on entry to the US, after the candidate has been selected by the lottery.
• pg_bot 1y ago
  Just make it an auction that runs every month.
• juancn 1y ago
  This will just encourage companies to off-shore more.
  • declan_roberts 1y ago
    It's already 70%-80% cheaper to hire offshore. How much more juice is left to squeeze?
  • throwawa14223 1y ago
    Then it's time to start seizing these companies assets. American corporations exist to benefit the US and US people.
  • zerosizedweasle 1y ago
    That's just insane, do you honestly think they will just allow that? They are American companies, vulnerable to the power of the government.
  • jppope 1y ago
    the tax code was recently adjusted. All foreign R&D needs to be depreciated over 15 years, you can depreciate immediately for US based R&D.
• oncallthrow 1y ago
  The great and good of the tech industry spent the last year sucking up to Trump and this is how he repays them
  • wolfcola 1y ago
    just a way to extract further concessions, rinse and repeat
  • leakycap 1y ago
    Will they learn? I doubt it.
    • RealityVoid 1y ago
      They saw the writing on the wall. I don't think they _like him_ but they need to manage the inevitable. When you have an autocrat, you bend the knee or get destroyed.
      • leakycap 1y ago
        > you bend the knee or get destroyed More like you bend the knee and get destroyed. The better option is to not bend the knee, but weak people will do what gets them further today without thinking about the future.
        • RealityVoid 1y ago
          I think sometimes bending the knee is the smart thing to do. You need to read the room, if you don't like your odds, leave the fight for another day. I say this not because of cowardice, but because I know the cemeteries are full of brave dead people.
          • leakycap 1y ago
            > I think sometimes bending the knee is the smart thing to do. Sure, if you have no spine, morals, or will to do what is right. > You need to read the room, if you don't like your odds, leave the fight for another day. Spoken like someone who enjoys position of privilege. > I say this not because of cowardice, but because I aknow the cemeteries are full of brave dead people. Ah yes, I bet those dead people wish they'd just "followed orders" instead. Keep making excuses for billionaires if you want; I'll resist if I'm given the chance. A cemetery full of people who actually tried is better than the world of non-cowardly room-readers you describe.
• cuttothechase 1y ago
  As a side effect, this could reduce the pipeline of foreign students coming in on F1 with plans to transition to a work visa over time. F1 -> OPT -> H1 bridge is way more expensive now. Universities are bound to lose a ton of money due to this. Those outside of the top 50 will likely get hammered.
  • crznthndr 1y ago
    This is a bit like robbing Peter to pay Paul. Yes, it brings in more income for the government at the expense of universities. It’s a great way to remove h1b fraud and abuse but you do burn down a bit of your garage in the process of getting rid of the rat.
    • kelnos 1y ago
      "At the expense of universities" may not be the plan for this one, but to the current administration, it's certainly a bonus.
    • stackskipton 1y ago
      Is it really at expense of universities? From what I understand, most are getting Master Degrees but very few are doing research. I've seen plenty of H-1B coworkers with Master Degrees but very few did research, it was just extra computer science courses.
      • cuttothechase 1y ago
        Majority of CS/EE/MBA type grad programs across all universities are heavily enrolled by foreign students. Most of them end up paying out of state fee. This is a significant chunk of revenue for many colleges to keep their budget in shape. Even in conservative states, lots of colleges are reliant on this stream of income. A loss of this stream is going to put a strain on them to balance their budget, or seek more help from govt.
    • johanyc 1y ago
      Just like tariffs and the tax cuts
• frogblast 1y ago
  IMO the problem is that H1B employees are stuck at the employer for the duration of their green card process, and so end up both paid lower and unable to escape abuse. I think a very high application fee is actually part of a good solution, but is useless by itself. A flawed proposal: * Dispense with the 'need to search for a qualified American' which just complicates the process without achieving the stated goal, and includes a ton of legal and bureaucratic expense and time. * A large application fee paid from the company to the federal government. * The worker's relocation expenses must also be covered by the company. * The worker gets a 10 year work authorization on the day of their arrival. * The worker gets to leave their sponsoring employer on the day of their arrival, if they choose to. The employment contract may not include any clawbacks of anything. The latter bullet is the key one. That's the one that uses market forces to truly enforces this person is being paid above market wages, and is being treated well, at their sponsoring employer. (which in turn means they don't undercut existing labor in the market). It also means that employers don't really look abroad unless there really is a shortage of existing labor. But when there is a true shortage and you're willing to spend, the door is open to act quickly. The obvious defect is that it creates an incentive for the employee to pay the federal fee themselves (hidden) plus more for the privilege of getting sponsored, and the company basically being a front for this process. Effectively buying a work authorization for themselves. I'm not sure how to overcome that. Then again, the current system could also suffer that defect (I don't know how common it is).
  • bogdan 1y ago
    * The worker gets to leave their sponsoring employer on the day of their arrival, if they choose to. The employment contract may not include any clawbacks of anything. You almost had me there.
    • kelseyfrog 1y ago
      The alternative is tying employment to freedom of mobility. We can do better than bonding people by immigration status. This might be controversial, but I don't think should be bonding people at all.
• aylmao 1y ago
  https://archive.is/3ZWh2 https://archive.is/3ZWh2
• x1ph0z 1y ago
  Not the worst policy from this admin tbh.
• roughly 1y ago
  I think there’s plenty of interesting debates to be had about immigration policy and its effects on the labor market, but one thing worth noting here is that the primary problem that damn near every other country on earth has isn’t immigration, it’s brain drain. A core strategic strength of the US over the last century has been that everyone with any talent wants to come here to work, and by and large we’ve let them do so. You can argue how well that’s worked out for us - having worked with a great many extremely talented H1bs in an industry largely built by immigrants, I’d consider it pretty positive - but it damn sure hasn’t worked out well for the countries those talented folks came from.
  • jpadkins 1y ago
    The top end of H1B has been great for America. In the last few decades, there has been growth of abuse of the program to get mid level talent at below market rates which really hurts the middle class in America. People need to understand that most reformists don't want to get rid of the truly exceptional immigration to the US. We need to limit the volume, especially the immigrants that are directly competing with a hollowed out middle class in the US. Let me know if you want further reading on this topic.
    • RealityVoid 1y ago
      I am skeptical that _that_ is what's hollowing the middle class in America, it's equally easy to point to income inequality for this. But you have your story you believe, I'm resigned that the die are already cast. It's kind of sad to see the accelerated downfall of your country.
      • vntok 1y ago
        > But you have your story you believe, I'm resigned that the die are already cast. But that is your story you believe, consider that the parent commenter has the exact same (mirrored) mindset. A useful segue to avoid you or them "being resigned": given that you say you're "skeptical", what would be the minimal proof you'd consider valid for you to change your mind?
• zer00eyz 1y ago
  How does a republican raise taxes without raising taxes. This is how they do it. What industries are going to get hit hardest? Tech and medicine, two of the largest money makers in the country. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5815043/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5815043/
  • newfriend 1y ago
    Hire Americans and there is no "tax". Problem solved.
    • zer00eyz 1y ago
      I'll replace all your coworkers with random DeVry grads. After all people are interchangeable like parts of an assembly line.
• aylmao 1y ago
  The pendulum swung really hard back to in-person office work a couple years ago. I wonder if this will swing it back and make more positions remote-friendly.
  • chrisweekly 1y ago
    Here's hoping
  • alephnerd 1y ago
    This only incentivizes opening a GCC in Eastern Europe or India. I can't justify hiring a remote worker in the US and paying them $150k-200k when I can hire 2-3 people in Warsaw, Prague, Tel Aviv, or Hyderabad for $60k-90k.
  • giveita 1y ago
    Remote if you live outside US. You get a COL indexed salary.
  • lisbbb 1y ago
    I initially loved remote work and was doing 2/5ths of my week remove before 2020. Once I became fully remote for years, the horror sunk in--it's career suicide.
    • aylmao 1y ago
      IMO it’s just different. If you want to go into management or anything involving politics, I do think remote isn’t the move. As a fully remote engineering contractor I’ve been building my area of expertise, clients and connections, and so far it’s been alright. It does take work and there’s no one to guide you, but in my experience with ambition it’s doable.
• srameshc 1y ago
  This is going to kill H1B and immigration from countries like India, China and others for skilled workers. Even though $100K isn't a lot considering the overall investment that goes into hiring a full time employee, employers wouldn't risk that kind of money apart from all the document processing they have to. Maybe big tech will hire a few hundred every year but others won't even bother.
  • deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  • TriangleEdge 1y ago
    > Maybe big tech will hire a few hundred every year ... A few hundred? All of the tech companies I've worked for are > 50% Indians in the US. Especially in big tech. I could be wrong, but my understanding is there there is not enough software developers in the US, hence the temp workers. Is there expectation that the demand will drop?
    • desolate_muffin 1y ago
      Well for starters, maybe my new grad SWE buddy with 2 YOE will finally find a job after being laid off for nearly a year.
    • sul_tasto 1y ago
      There isn’t a shortage, they’re just trying to drive down wages.
  • gorbachev 1y ago
    It is, however, a great opportunity for Canada and Western Europe to snatch all those people who now aren't able to come to the United States. I know for a fact that multinational companies are expanding in exactly those areas (plus India) for exactly the reason that it's become very difficult to hire and move people to the US. Those workers aren't paying taxes in the United States, and obviously the companies hiring people outside of the US aren't going to hire people for those positions in the United States.
• whatever1 1y ago
  So, essentially, startups will never be able to hire fresh graduate students again (masters/phd). This means that the best and brightest individuals who have made it to the top US institutions after winning numerous rounds of global talent filtering will be deported.
  • selimthegrim 1y ago
    I like how the assumption here is that there are no domestic graduate students anymore.
    • whatever1 1y ago
      Not none, but very few in the stem fields (less than 40% from my estimates). Why would you pursue a PhD with a 25k/year stipend when you can just start a near 6-figure job and start paying off your student debt? Only the ones with financial freedom or commitment to research take the PhD pill. Or when you go through a recession and you want to delay the entry to the job searching market.
      • superdude12 1y ago
        This is exactly the problem with the system. If there are tons of foreigners willing to get grad degrees and work for a small salary increase over a bachelor’s, US students are not sufficiently incentivized to do graduate studies.
      • kelipso 1y ago
        The percentage gets worse when you look at the top say 10% of PhD students. Go to AI/ML conferences and see who is presenting the papers; it’s almost all international students in US universities or students from outside the US.
    • yodsanklai 1y ago
      I'd be curious to know the stats. My personal experience: I interviewed tons of candidates in the past few years for a big tech company, a small fraction are US citizens (at least from what I can tell from their resume).
• reenorap 1y ago
  At that price point, it's cheaper for companies to risk investing in foreign branches and building up work centers outside of the US. You want to keep the price high enough to stop the bodyshops from gaming the system but you want it low enough so that all of the work doesn't get set out of the US.
• tolmasky 1y ago
  Perfect number to make H1Bs a tool that is out of reach for startups but still meaningful for large entrenched corporations. Nailed it. Maybe they can even waive the fee if you give the US government 10% of your company.
  • etothepii 1y ago
    An equity minimum would deal with this.
  • dilyevsky 1y ago
    University hiring is basically rekt. Throwing out baby with the bath water per usual with this admin...
    • kelnos 1y ago
      How much does university hiring depend on H-1B? I would expect much of that comes through O-1 or EB-1/2/3, no?
      • fooker 1y ago
        No, pretty much all professors who used to be international students or postdocs are on H1B.
        • SV_BubbleTime 1y ago
          So... Now those spots will have to go to American students and grads?
          • fooker 1y ago
            Some will. Most won't be filled at all.
            • dilyevsky 1y ago
              +1 This will also reduce demand for these programs from international students - make tuition more expensive for locals. Asking to consider 2nd/3rd order effect seems like a bit too much for a median hn poster though
• decimalenough 1y ago
  Instead of a flat fee, they should just auction off the visas, highest salaries win. This has been proposed before and I don't really see any downsides. If your company really needs them, just pay them what they're actually worth.
  • HanClinto 1y ago
    Wow, I really like this.
  • scheme271 1y ago
    This insures that tech and finance get all the visas. A lot of things like rural medicine gets staffing through h1b sponsored physicians and likewise for post-docs and researchers. If this gets implemented across the board, a lot of science is going to disappear and a lot of medical care (especially outside of cities) is going to get a lot worse.
    • peripitea 1y ago
      Don't worry all those rural hospitals are about to shut down anyway.
    • digianarchist 1y ago
      They should cap visas issued by sector or DoL job families. It's way too skewed towards tech.
  • guywithahat 1y ago
    I like the idea of an auction, but why would we not charge a significant application fee? It ensures the company is serious about the position, and it raises money citizens won't have to pay. A high fee/tax seems like a win-win
  • leet_thow 1y ago
    I believe there is upcoming legislation along those lines and that the adjustments announced today are those within the executive branches purview.
• Atlas667 1y ago
  This will end what is essentially legal human trafficking by medium and large corporations. Which is clearly a good thing, but I fear it signals deteriorating relationships with other countries.
  • jpadkins 1y ago
    Do other countries really want the US taking their top talent? I am not sure this is bad for foreign relations.
    • Atlas667 1y ago
      Legal human trafficking was good for capitalism (not for the trafficked or for US workers). Good for the capitalists' economy. This just made it a little bit harder for american capitalists. No doubt there are nationalist concerns but also national security concerns behind this decision.
• mrbonner 1y ago
  Is it proposed by Trump. Why is everyone here assuming it is done and final. It probably won't be approved.
  • jpadkins 1y ago
    approved by who? The people of the US already elected the president. He pretty much ran on reforming the visa system for the benefit of the US worker. This is a first step in the process. For those who don't understand how he works, this is the opening offer which is of course extreme. It will light a fire under Congress to actually pass some real reform. He did this with all the tariffs and trade deals. Despite what you read in the globalist media, it didn't cause havoc to the economy. He forces people to come to the table, negotiate, and get stuff done.
    • aurareturn 1y ago
      Despite what you read in the globalist media, it didn't cause havoc to the economy. I'm going to need to know how you define "havoc".
      • jpadkins 1y ago
        a decline in the income or prosperity of US citizens.
        • aurareturn 1y ago
          It definitely has done that.
• suriya-ganesh 1y ago
  Interesting decision. I'm on the F1 -> H1B pipeline myself as a software engineer. And my wife is a researcher working on Genetic Engineering. Of the both of us, I've been the strong proponent for moving the US. and with each passing day, its getting harder to make a strong case for the pain, and uncertainty of moving here. Lately everything has been counter to what one would expect from a pro-growth, accelerationist country. But I understand where the reasoning is coming from, though.
  • selimthegrim 1y ago
    Accelerationist doesn’t mean what you think it means here.
  • fred_is_fred 1y ago
    with each passing day, its getting harder to make a strong case for the pain, and uncertainty of moving here. That is exactly the goal here by this administration.
    • dyauspitr 1y ago
      Shutting down the H1B is the end of the American success story. First generation immigrants have started the majority of our unicorns.
      • halfmatthalfcat 1y ago
        So there were no American immigrant success stories pre-1990, when the H-1 program started?
        • throwawayq3423 1y ago
          No, there was no immigration process back then, you just came. Which is why all the people yelling about immigration today, who are second and third generation, need to be quiet.
• aurizon 1y ago
  Will my teleoperated humaniform robot be arrested by ICE while I am in Spain - hard at work...
• stego-tech 1y ago
  I vehemently disagree with whatever xenophobic nonsense he and Miller will vomit up to defend this move, provided he doesn't TACO out on it. Fuck bigotry, period. However, H1Bs have been a thorny issue for a while, and this might be the rebalancing sorely needed. If Capital can freely import cheaper labor ad infinitum from abroad (or outsource it), then that deteriorates domestic stability while amplifying a form of Capitalist Imperialism abroad. Thus far, China's been the only country to really take full advantage of this long-term strategy error, and a lot of tech folks have been warning that failing to address known flaws in the visa process will ultimately leave us at a disadvantage in the long run, much like we did with manufacturing. A high application fee is a start, but the better solution is dispensing with H1Bs entirely in favor of green card sponsorship with associated work contract. If these talented workers are that badly needed, companies would have no compunction sponsoring their permanent residency and, eventually, naturalization. Long-term data suggests none of the tech industry is really doing this, which means these "uniquely talented workers" are just replacing existing American workers at lower wages and higher precarity. I love my international colleagues, and I want them to be treated with the same dignity and respect I receive. H1Bs do not, and cannot, accomplish this outcome.
• st3fan 1y ago
  Come to Canada
• FL33TW00D 1y ago
  Throw away the H1B, introduce streamlined high skill immigration to the US. Top 1% of talent from all over the world should be able to move in under 2 weeks. The first country that cracks this will have streets paved with gold.
  • giveita 1y ago
    Quite a think to crack. My company takes 2 months to decide on whether to hire the top 1% of a very specific profession.
  • charles_f 1y ago
    > Top 1% of talent How do you determine that?
    • gorbachev 1y ago
      You pay an H1-B hiring consultant $500K to forge resumes for everyone you're hiring.
• drdec 1y ago
  My take: It should be an auction. The annual salary should match the fee (unless below some minimum).
• mooreds 1y ago
  Sorry, is this legal? Like is the fee something that can be changed with an EO, or is it set by congress? The original Bloomberg article doesn't state: https://archive.is/tpuut https://archive.is/tpuut Some research (okay, okay, I used Claude) indicates that "In summary, while Congress provides the statutory authority and mandates certain specific fees, the specific amounts for most H1B fees are set through the regulatory process by DHS/USCIS based on cost recovery principles and activity-based costing analysis." Further, "The core authority comes from the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) section 286(m), 8 U.S.C. 1356(m), which authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to set fees for adjudication services "at a level that will ensure recovery of the full costs of providing all such services". From the legislation ( https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title8/pdf/USCODE-2024-title8-chap12-subchapII-partIX-sec1356.pdf https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title8/pdf/U... ): That fees for providing adjudication and naturalization services may be set at a level that will ensure recovery of the full costs of providing all such services, includ- ing the costs of similar services provided with- out charge to asylum applicants or other immi- grants. Such fees may also be set at a level that will recover any additional costs associated with the administration of the fees collected.
  • giveita 1y ago
    They have already torn up the constitution, this would be small potatoes.
  • CobrastanJorji 1y ago
    Ya gotta admit, $100,000 per person will definitely ensure recovery of the full costs of providing all such services. I imagine there's a very good argument that the fee is intentionally excessive, and I also imagine that the Supreme Court will decide after a lengthy court battle that the President is due extensive deference in this.
  • jpadkins 1y ago
    yes it's legal. New admin is doing more background, investigations and immigration enforcement, which costs more. Taxes and fees are the price you pay for civilization!
  • 1y ago
• deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
• alephnerd 1y ago
  Here that sound? It's the GCCs being opened up as a result of this shift. There's a reason Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and others have been expanding offices and raising TC in Eastern Europe and India for years. The main industries that will be severely hit are chip design, biotech, pharma, and STEM academia. Good for India though, who needs a "Thousand Talents" program when the targets of a brain drain are to cost prohibitive to hire in the US.
• foota 1y ago
  "Critics, including many U.S. technology workers, argue that it allows firms to suppress wages and sideline Americans who could do the jobs." I don't know many tech workers who criticize H1B visas, outside of maybe the way that they empower the employer over employees.
  • declan_roberts 1y ago
    How many American tech workers know anything about h1b? It's not like your employer tells you who is who.
• bettercallsalad 1y ago
  > India was the largest beneficiary of H-1B visas last year, accounting for 71% of approved beneficiaries Having worked with the recent generation of Indians, I can safely say this can be a good thing. Baseline morality and work ethics for many (not all, but many) in the recent generation of Indians are so low. It’s a generational shift that I can tell. Get rich quick, wannabe try too hard to fit in and have fun with wild Wild West mindset that just has a completely different tone from earlier generations of hard working Indians who helped build some of the major products we use today.
  • carabiner 1y ago
    It's downright scary working with indians in a highly regulated industry. "Can we pretty please (with a cherry on top) [do something that bends or breaks federal regulations on national security or public safety]?" No, we fucking can't. Couple that with the occasional browbeating or hierarchical scolding.
  • jimmydoe 1y ago
    That’s applies to the USA and rest of world not just India or China.
    • yks 1y ago
      Yeah, "those others are less ethical than us Americans" doesn't pass muster in 2025. Reminds me of the anti-immigration arguments from the days bygone, that the immigrants coming from the corrupt authoritarian countries will vote against democracy in the US. While it might be even true(!) voting against democracy certainly came from the natives first, fast and furious.
    • bettercallsalad 1y ago
      That is an intellectually dishonest argument. You are invoking whataboutism knowing full well it doesn’t serve anyone well. These kids that come from often wealthy or upper middle class families with faith and cultural grounding would be far better off in their life trajectory (and country as a whole with brain drain) if they stayed back, led innovation in their own country, and pushed their corrupt bureaucratic government ecosystem to change. Instead of opting for a mediocre hedonistic lifestyle in the west where they know they have no lasting stability (mind you it is 100+ years wait time for many in the current immigration process to get green card), often get stuck working in the same company and not able to move, can’t start things on their own again because of visa rules. No one wins in this in the long run. Except maybe some corporations.
• chriscrisby 1y ago
  “Reuters was not immediately able to establish details of who the fee would apply to or how it would be administered.” I’ll wait till I form an opinion on this.
• moralestapia 1y ago
  Yes, this is the way to go.
  • giveita 1y ago
    Trump's plan might help with my dream of being able to be paid well in tech without going to the US. This action is another reason to divest from the one tech hub to around temperature works.
  • moralestapia 1y ago
    Downvote me all you want. Pack up, anyway.
• chickenzzzzu 1y ago
  Here's what I propose: 1) All countries are free to come up with as strict or as loose immigration/tourist visa requirements as they like. 2) Companies can source remote labor from anywhere with zero government overhead. 3) Companies cannot source physical labor from abroad. 4) Reform local housing laws so that housing is not used for speculation/tied to employment. Then communities can finally be communities, work can be work, and tourism can be tourism.
• throw_away_974 1y ago
  This does not really goes with the employment at will clause. Companies would just stop hiring H1Bs. Even the signon bonus comes with some sort of payback requirements if some one leaves before certain duration.
• CobrastanJorji 1y ago
  It's probably not even worth asking these days, but is there a reason to believe that the President has such an authority?
• thelastgallon 1y ago
  I wonder if this is applied to H1B renewals too?
  • mtremsal 1y ago
    IIRC technically there's no such thing as a "renewal". It's just a new application that bypasses the lottery. So given the low level of thought that goes into these EOs, the answer is almost certainly "yes"...
    • mtremsal 1y ago
      I was wrong. They’re attaching the fee to the lottery, somehow.
  • TMWNN 1y ago
    Trump answered a reporter's question about this. The fee is $100K per employee per year.
• charles_f 1y ago
  This debate is always discussed from an immigration angle, but if companies truly have an issue with "finding skilled workers", another organic solution should be to try to "skill the workers", i.e. making education more affordable. Maybe that's something these 100k fees could be put towards?
• shrubble 1y ago
  This is likely a bargaining chip that is meant to bring India back to the negotiating table for one topic or another.
  • dotnet00 1y ago
    Not really seeing how? Wouldn't this just benefit India (and the rest of the world)?
• ljsprague 1y ago
  This is good start but he needs to go further. After all, we're a nation; not an economic zone.
• klipklop 1y ago
  Tech companies will just pay the $100k. Over the length of the visa it's still a savings in reduced wages. Never mind that you "lock in" your H1B employees while a US hire will job hop to get a promotion or wage increase since that is the only realistic way to do so these days.
  • superdude12 1y ago
    It’s per year.
• guyzero 1y ago
  Everyone in these threads always points out all sorts of issues with the H1B system, which are mostly true, but it's not like there's a suggestion for a replacement here. This is a de facto shutdown of the program, not a reform. I'd be happy to see a reformed skilled immigration program for the US, but this isn't it. The US makes up about 4.5% of the global population and it seems silly to think that the FAANG companies and the new AI startups chasing behind them are going to restrict their hiring to this tiny slice of the global talent pool. The only effect this is going to have is accelerating the offshoring of jobs through more hiring in India, Europe and Canada, which is a net loss for the US. I myself became a US citizen two years ago after being on a H1B. I was paid the same as all my peers and for all its shortcomings the program worked for me. It stunning to think this has been closed off, killing the main path for skilled immigration into the US.
  • llm_nerd 1y ago
    > This is a de facto shutdown of the program Is it? Some AI recruitments have seen 9-figure contracts. $100K is actually a surprisingly well-considered number and would still see the intake of legitimate talents, obviously contingent on the specific details. Indeed, those people wouldn't have to compete with masses of consultant trash and the whole lottery system could be done away with. $100K actually seems perfectly coherent with forcing the program to winnow down to actual talents. People truly good enough to get the employer to pony up $100K to pull them in -- presuming there isn't some kickback fraud happening -- will truly be the best of the best. > The only effect this is going to have is accelerating the offshoring of jobs through more hiring in Paradoxically the #1 reason H1B employers bring in H1Bs is to bridge offshoring work. Pull in a dozen Indians and they're your bridge to the big Indian office, which is precisely why Infosys, Tata et al are such H1B users.
    • guyzero 1y ago
      > Some AI recruitments have seen 9-figure contracts. These are crazy outliers who would go through a different visa path anyway. US tech companies still need mid-level workers making low-to-mid six figures. Weirdly O1 visa holder spouses will get an O3 which doesn't allow them to work, making it worse than the H1B/H4 visa for some set of people. (H4s allow spouses to work)
• wnc3141 1y ago
  H1B's are a invaluable part of our communities and America's immense capital and soft power. However there is also a ~7% unemployment rate of new CS/CE grads. (Not including underemployment). This is after tech firms begging schools to reallocate vast amounts of public money into teeing up young tech employees. With the vast availability of a global workforce, there is little incentive to train junior workers. Of course much of this could be solved by narrowing the gap between the lowest earnings and highest earnings workers so that the tech career path wasn't so high of stakes. Anybody working should have the opportunity to launch into a dignified adult life. There must be a conversation ultimately about where the vast profits of tech firms should sit within our economy.
• theahura 1y ago
  I've always felt that h1b grants should use second price auctions paid for by the company in question, instead of through lottery. This has all of the benefits of high skill immigration with virtually none of the downsides of hurting the middle class or depressing wages
• EGreg 1y ago
  Just gonna leave this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koSby3mzX-E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koSby3mzX-E
• maerF0x0 1y ago
  There's a ton of abuse, feigned work and loopholes, and rules that undermine the law and also make foreign workers a 2nd class. Amongst other elements that should be fixed: * Taxation without representation (i'm suggesting adding the latter, not removing the former) * The H1B worker must be paid at or above the higher of the median rate at the company for the role or at the employee's request by an independent valuation for the role, this ensures workers are not being paid less * The fee should be prorated, monthly, over the 6 year span of the H1B, allowing the company to spread it over time and manage cashflow * The H1B worker should only be contractually required to stay for the average tenure of the role in the industry (which afaik is 18mo right now) * The H1B worker should be able to easily port their H1B over to another employer. The new employer must pay the fee, prorated, on the H1B, the prior employer will be reimbursed prorated unused fees
  • declan_roberts 1y ago
    They will never allow you to port your h1b to another employer. The companies love h1b because it nails your feet to the floor.
    • Izikiel43 1y ago
      That's the L1 though. With an H1B you can get another employer, but the problem is that it has to be done in a narrow period of time, and the other employer has to be willing to sponsor the H1B.
  • osculum 1y ago
    > Taxation without representation (i'm suggesting adding the latter, not removing the former) Happens to permanent residents too, not only employment visas.
    • maerF0x0 1y ago
      correct. I'm not sure the solution, because visas/Perm cannot vote. But at least the latter can (afaik ianal) contribute to political campaigns.
• KevinMS 1y ago
  100k is a bargain for such highly skilled foreign workers you desperately can't find here.
• ChicagoDave 1y ago
  This will only drive jobs offshore and reduce the H1B population. It doesn’t solve any problems. This is literally the dumbest administration this country has ever seen. Between tariffs and immigration and now this, it’s like they don’t even know what the consequences of their actions are.
  • TMWNN 1y ago
    >This will only drive jobs offshore This was true before and after today. Put another way, if all the H-1B jobs really can be offshored quickly and easily the way so many Indians and anti-Trump people here and elsewhere confidently predict, *that would have happened already*.
    • donkeybeer 1y ago
      [flagged]
      • krmboya 1y ago
        The H1B path has always been harder than hiring remotely/offshoring
        • donkeybeer 1y ago
          And now making it even harder will encourage more of the latter. Which of course you can try tariffing.
          • N2yhWNXQN3k9 1y ago
            https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/excisetax.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/excisetax.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/tariff.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/tariff.asp
    • ChicagoDave 1y ago
      There’s a fundamental difference in talent. H1b talent is often upper class scions from India or China. Offshore talent has always been leveraged for support or staff aug. It’s entirely possible some H1b’s would happily pay the $100k if they had a guaranteed visa for 5-10+ years, but the vast majority will simply go home and work remotely. But I believe the effect of this extortion will be a brain drain on U.S. fortune 1000 companies and that will push those same companies to build off shore offices, completely avoiding the administration’s goofiness.
• rramadass 1y ago
  The H-1B Visa Program and Its Impact on the U.S. Economy (Oct 2024 Fact Sheet) - https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/fact-sheet/h1b-visa-program-fact-sheet/ https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/fact-sheet/h1b-vi... According to many economists, the presence of immigrant workers in the United States creates new job opportunities for native-born workers. This occurs in five ways. First, immigrant workers and native-born workers often have different skill sets, meaning that they fill different types of jobs. As a result, they complement each other in the labor market rather than competing for the exact same jobs. Second, immigrant workers spend and invest their wages in the U.S. economy, which increases consumer demand and creates new jobs. Third, businesses respond to the presence of immigrant workers and consumers by expanding their operations in the United States rather than searching for new opportunities overseas. Fourth, immigrants themselves frequently create new businesses, thereby expanding the U.S. labor market. Fifth, the new ideas and innovations developed by immigrants fuel economic growth. Similarly, a recent study found that, between 2005 and 2018, an increase in the share of workers within a particular occupation who were H-1B visa holders was associated with a decrease in the unemployment rate within that occupation. Another recent study found that restrictions on H-1B visas (such as rising denial rates) motivate U.S.-based multinational corporations to decrease the number of jobs they offer in this country. Instead, the corporations increase employment at their existing foreign affiliates or open new foreign affiliates—particularly in India, China, and Canada. A study conducted in 2019 revealed that higher rates of successful H-1B applications were positively correlated with an increased number of patents filed and patent citations. Moreover, such startups were more inclined to secure venture capital funding and achieve successful IPOs or acquisitions. The available data also indicate that H-1B workers do not earn low wages or drag down the wages of other workers. In 2021, the median wage of an H-1B worker was $108,000, compared to $45,760 for U.S. workers in general. Moreover, between 2003 and 2021, the median wage of H-1B workers grew by 52 percent. During the same period, the median wage of all U.S. workers increased by 39 percent. In FY 2019, 78 percent of all employers who hired H-1B workers offered wages to H-1B visa holders that were higher than what the Department of Labor had determined to be the “prevailing wage” for a particular kind of job.
• myrmidon 1y ago
  One thing that really pisses me off about the whole populist anti-immigration stance is how thankless, hypocritical and selfish the whole thing is: People want to avoid negative effects from immigration (cultural/language/crimerate)- fine. But are those people acknowledging how much economical growth was driven by migrant labor over the last half century? Hell no. Would the average alt-righter be willing to sacrifice any fraction of all those compounded gains? Absolutely not- every dollar of tax is too much, even to pay a fraction of the damage that is and will be caused by them (=> energy price/co2 taxation). As a self-identifying moderate patriot, selfish complainers of that ilk seem a worse plague on their nation than the immigrants they keep whining about.
  • happytoexplain 1y ago
    This is an oversimplification and a pretty extreme case of over-categorizing people into groups. People who have problems with immigration aren't automatically alt-right. People who have problems with immigration understand that immigration has also historically provided economic growth - those aren't mutually exclusive things.
    • myrmidon 1y ago
      I'm not saying that everyone critical of immigration is a selfish hypocrite, but "mainstream" alt-right (even/especially european flavors) appears that way to me.
    • anigbrowl 1y ago
      [flagged]
      • happytoexplain 1y ago
        > if you're worried... > you likely feel... Thank you for the advice, but I don't worry about that, and I do not have that feeling at all. I don't experience any conflation with xenophobes in my real life. I find them repugnant, and vote against them and speak against them, except where we incidentally align. I am 90% liberal leaning (US liberal). The fact of experiencing negative things that happen to be related to immigration (or employment/contracting) policy does not make you a xenophobe, generally speaking. Cultures can sometimes clash and economics have concrete effects on the American Dream - it's an unfortunate reality, but it is reality.
• sciencesama 1y ago
  The process is ! Apply for job, get interview, pass interview! If the guy has h1b reduce 30k in salary and recommend hire and move forward !
• jjallen 1y ago
  Are they going to reinvest these funds into educations so our country can fill these roles or just waste it on weapons and unwinnable wars? I would be totally fine with this if it was the former, but I would bet that it won't be...
• guywithahat 1y ago
  This might be one of the smarter things this administration has done/is doing. It will cut down on fraud, and ensure the position they're hiring for isn't just some mid-level engineer. H1B applications should be a source of tax revenue, beyond standard taxes. I sort of wish it had been done 15 years ago but better late then never.
  • bamboozled 1y ago
    I personally think it will be abused to bring in highly undesirable people , because it will turn into a $100k ticket for criminals.
    • SideburnsOfDoom 1y ago
      Of course, that's pretty much how the current administration thinks, see also the "Gold card visa" (1). Specifically, the thinking "Money coming to us is desirable, therefor people who give us lots of money are by definition not undesirable people". Well, at least dollars are more easily quantified than ethics. 1) https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/19/trump-gold-card-visa-00573494 https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/19/trump-gold-card-vis... https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/the-gold-card/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/the-...
• bamboozled 1y ago
  Why is it “Trump” specifically ? Is there no government anymore ?
  • anigbrowl 1y ago
    Because he's exerting autocratic control over the entire executive branch. How many times does he have to tell you he's doing so before you can recognize it? He talks about it in interviews and on his social media, and not in vague or nuanced terms, but with clear declarative statements like "I have the right to do anything I want to do. I'm the President." (this example from about 3 weeks ago - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOxw6Pc_KXw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOxw6Pc_KXw)
    • SV_BubbleTime 1y ago
      >Because he's exerting autocratic control over the entire executive branch. .... As the... head of the executive branch?
      • acdha 1y ago
        Yes. He’s embraced a radical expansion of the “unitary executive” theory which focuses all of the power in the president, even in positions which by law or custom were independent. Think about last year: Biden didn’t call Garland into his office and demand that he lock Trump up or drop charges against his son immediately because the DOJ was never intended to be the President’s personnel fiefdom nor the AG his attorney. The federal reserve was structured to be independent as a deliberate statement by Congress that it was run for the nation, not one man’s political expedience. Past administrations used to honor the wall keeping political appointees out of tax or loan data, now Trump has Pulte rummaging through everything looking for mistakes he can use to prosecute people on his enemies list. Over and over we see the pattern of pretending that executive orders can overrule the law, to the point that SCOTUS is making unprecedented moves to temporarily allow things because even the Roberts Court is hesitant to rule in his favor. It’s bad enough that he’s doing it, we should at least be honest about what’s going on.
      • 1y ago
• deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
• seanmcdirmid 1y ago
  If H-1B workers are too expensive to hire, tech employers have two options: 1. Hire more American workers (pay more, maybe they don't exist so don't hire) 2. Move their offices overseas (already happening, we should see an acceleration) Ok, I guess AI could also start replacing more roles, but we won't see that productivity for a year or two. If companies choose 2 over 1, it will mean fewer jobs overall in the USA (including support and service jobs).
  • kilroy123 1y ago
    What about just hiring remote contractors?
    • seanmcdirmid 1y ago
      Logistics and vetting mostly. The Indian body shops have a business model that already does this, actually: you hire the body shop, they send over one or two more senior engineers who then act as liaisons that farm out work back in India where most of the body shop is still located. My guess is that you'll just see more of that going on, although the R&D tax rules are getting weird with respect to amortization and out sourced labor.
      • lisbbb 1y ago
        My experience with those kinds of places is that they send their "dream team" for the first couple of months but then bait and switch the client with less experienced staff who subsequently f*ck everything up.
  • pyuser583 1y ago
    Yep - I expect to see a lot more job postings for overseas. Not the time to encourage offshoring.
  • declan_roberts 1y ago
    This is happening in tandem with work to tax offshoring ("No Tax Breaks for Outsourcing Act") Companies could already hire offshore for 50% of what they pay in America, so I don't expect a dramatic change there. https://thefactcoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/No-Tax-Breaks-for-Outsourcing-Act-Summary-1.pdf https://thefactcoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/No-T...
• deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
• the_real_cher 1y ago
  If you're concerned about 'brain drain' remember O-1 visas are for the truly exceptional immigrants which remain in effect. H1B visas are for rank and file employees with just a skill. This allows employers to indenture servitude employees, depresses American wages, increases unemployment, increases rent prices in areas with high levels of immigration, and hurts American culture. Most jobs are not that hard and a company should invest in Americans instead of immigrants if it want's to continue to do business here and enjoy the fruits of America.
  • Readerium 1y ago
    [dead]
• throwa5885667 1y ago
  I wish the US would just return to "racial" quotas like pre-WW2 instead of all this huffing and heaving. MAGA (and most Americans) don't seem to have any issue with immigration -what they have a issue with is the culture/skin-color/ethnicity of who immigrates. Indeed this is where the country quotas come from - Europe with 20 odd countries has 20x the priority than India or China. If the US had an ounce of honestly they'd just make this explicit instead of beating around the bush. Since people have better opinion of the Chinese and other "white" East-Asians (admittedly the fairer gender only), just restrict it explicitly to "race" of Caucasians and there "Yellow" races. It'll save Indians and other "suburbans" a lot of trouble not dealing with this farce of "liberalism" going forward. I genuinely mean this - given how things are going, Indians will find themselves in the place of Jews in Nazi Germany quite soon. And much like the useless British-colonial state that governed Israel then, the vestigial British state in India which is as internet upon Anglo-American triumph today, can't and will do jack shit for them.
  • pessimizer 1y ago
    You're projecting.
  • deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  • this2shallPass 1y ago
    How little do you know about the experience of Jews in Nazi Germany? > And much like the useless British-colonial state that governed Israel then, the vestigial British state in India which is as internet upon Anglo-American triumph today, can't and will do jack shit for them. Are you saying that Indian people wouldn't be allowed to immigrate to India? Minutes of research say current Indian law allows people of Indian descent but not citizens to get Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) — a special immigration status for foreign nationals of Indian origin. You're eligible if you are: 1. A former Indian citizen (who gave up Indian citizenship, e.g., to get U.S. or UK citizenship), or 2. A descendant (up to great-grandparent level) of an Indian citizen, or 3. The spouse of an Indian citizen or an OCI cardholder (subject to conditions) With OCI, you can have: 1. Unlimited stay in India 2. Right to work, own property, and open bank accounts. India could change it's laws, keep all the non-citizens out (or even citizens, what can't we imagine in this fantasy story). India could deny OCI to most every person that applies for its green card like status. But under current laws in your unlikely story, they seem like they'll do something. I'd expect they'd fly as many Indian people as they could out of the US like many countries do in times of war. Not that this scenario will ever come to pass.
• jmyeet 1y ago
  I've been through this immigration system. It's capricious, arbitrary and Kafkaesque. It is absolutely clear that there is H1B abuse and I'm looking directly at the bodyshops like Infosys and Tata. Here's how it goes: 1. Apply for as many visas as possible. This is done primarily for Indian nationals for reasons which will become clear; 2. As the employer you really don't care which ones are approved or how many because what you're going to do is farm out those employees, whether there's 1000 of them or 10,000 of them; 3. Because there is an annual quota and applications have expanded so much, the chance of success is about 1 in 3 currently in the annual lottery. And a Principal Engineer in AI at Google or Meta has the same chance of success as a junior developer at Tata. There may be other options for the first person such as EB1 or NIW or L1 but that's really beyond the scope; 4. As part of this process you have to "prove" you cannot fill a position with a US resident or citizen. There is a whole process for this to minimize the number of applicants and to reject any who happen to find your newspaper ad and apply. This also applies to the Green card Labor Certification too, to a higher degree. Part of this is to make sure the employee is getting paid enough for their job and area. This is called a prevailing wage determination ("PWD"). This process doens't really work, which I'll get into later; 5. So you, as an Indian national won the H1B lottery and your visa is approved. You come to the US and hope Tata finds you a job where they farm you out at $200-500 per hours while paying you $50 or thereabouts; 6. Now the employer starts doing things they're technically not allowed to do, like if they can't find you a job they stop paying you. You may fall below the PWD because of this; 7. A H1B is valid for 3 years, extendable by another 3 for a total of 6 years, after which you're technically meant to leave the country. But what happens is the employer will file for an employment-based green card for you. If they do this in the first 5 years you can remain while that case is pending; 8. There are annual quotas for how many green cards are issued for each employment category. Additionally no more than 7% each year can be issued to any single country, based entirely on your country of birth, not your actual citizenship. And if you're married and have children under age, they will also count against these quotas. 9. So because H1B applicants are disproportionately Indian natioanals, there is a MASSIVE bottleneck for employment based green cards. As such, there is a HUGE backlog. Currently, USCIS is processing green cards for EB3 applicants from India who have a priority date of August 2013. That means their PERM was approved on or before August 2013; 10. So this is how these bodyshops can abuse Indian nationals. Those nationals really can't leave their job. Not easily anywway. There are laws that if they change jobs they get to keep their priority date but the new employer has to file an entirely new green card applications, including doing the entire PERM process again. Oh and if the employer moves area or their jobs changes significantly, it may invalidate their PERM too. So these bodyshops can keep essentially indentured servants for 15-20+ years and at any time can fire that person. The power imbalance is so massive. This suppresses wages for everyone. And these people are in the same cateogry as highly paid engineers in tech companies who have substantially better conditions. Also, at any point along the way the USCIS can simply decide to take a whole bunch of extra time for literally no reason. They have a policy to randomly audit ~30% of applications. Why? They will never tell you. Their arguemnt is to avoid people "gaming" the system by working out the audit criteria so there's a bunch of random "noise" in there. Literally. Well that doesn't sound bad right? Extra scrutiny? Except now you've added 1-2 years to the processing for literally no reason. You may get a request for evidence ("RFE") out of it too, which might add another year too. This can go multiple rounds too. I know people who spent 5 years going through audits and RFEs. One in particular is an engineering director at Google now. While tech companies like Google, Meta, etc are better than the bodyshops they absolutely use this system to suppress wages, again because of the power imbalance. It doesn't have to be this way. Take Switzerland as an example. I'm rusty on the details but IIRC if you're on a B permit (work permit like an H1B, tied to an employer) for 5 or 10 years (EU citizen is 5, otherwise 10, generally), you automatically get a C permit, which is basically a green card. All this to say is that I have mixed feelings on this $100k fee. It will absolutely cut demand for H1Bs. It will decimate new graduate H1Bs but there's an argument that US residents and citizens should get priority for entry-level positions anyway, right? If all this comes with much less paperwork, like skipping the whole LC process, then maybe large employers will pay it because they absolutely do spend a fortune on immigration lawyers. If anything, the entire immigration system needs an overhaul but there's no political will for that. There are no votes in it. Quite the opposite: any serious attempt can be dismissed as "they're stealing our jobs". I also think layoffs at large companies should absolutely preclude you from sponsoring H1Bs entirely for 2+ years.
• bottlepalm 1y ago
  Good, but this still doesn't fix the flood of OPT workers (baby h1b's) that are crowding out Americans from getting jobs. I know, my company put out reqs for full stack devs, got hundreds of OPT candidates and are hiring them instead of domestic workers. You can't even discriminate against them as that'd be illegal. Good job America. They all have advanced US degrees, paying little for undergrad in India, while Americans are bankrupt from their undergrad. Unable to compete. The fact that they'll accept lower wages so they can upgrade to h1b's later is icing on the cake.
• r0m4n0 1y ago
  I work for a big tech company that was already hiring a ton in Canada, I have to imagine this is going to add massive amounts of fuel to the flames. Are they just going to accept that offshoring is the next best alternative? And by offshoring, I mean, immigrants moving to Canada and working for American companies because their work visas are better
• diogenescynic 1y ago
  If this goes through, I will be extremely over-joyed. Kudos to Trump for doing what is right for the average American and bucking his donors.
  • throwawa14223 1y ago
    A broken clock is still right sometimes.
• bubblethink 1y ago
  This is a net positive action for the following reasons: The chuds have been clamoring for this for a long time. You can see every past thread on HN all the way back to the December blowup on twitter with Elon. At the same time, the economy is lagging and the admin's more direct measures to drum up support from the base such as chaining and deporting Koreans at the Hyundai factory are tanking future prospects for the economy and are causing diplomatic headaches. This current announcement gives the admin a way out by throwing some meat at the base before the midterms while knowing that this won't pass muster as they don't have the authority.
  • Izikiel43 1y ago
    > as they don't have the authority. Isn't this a change USCIS makes? Or does it have to go through congress?
    • bubblethink 1y ago
      Congress. This will cause interim disruption though while the lawsuits play out.
• reply00r123 1y ago
  I ran into a guy making double six figures for like the last 7 years at a known public tech company. He was literally doing the most basic DevOps (Terraform). Nothing fancy. Zero ability to program. No willingness or desire to learn programming. He was an H1B. That blew me away. How is it possible that you have a guy in the US for 10 years who never bothered learning to code doing a 200K / year job. The abuse of H1B is crazy. He told me he had "tried to find a job" but "they all require programming." I am not even a tech background and I have learned to program. Completely insane imo. This was stuff you could teach a highschool student, no degree required.
  • anigbrowl 1y ago
    He's kinda smart though. Automating yourself out of a job is a mug's game, and not everyone wants to or should go into management.
    • SV_BubbleTime 1y ago
      fwiw, which is nothing. If I saw one of my employees write lazy slacker nonsense like this, I'd fire them. I read some of your other posts in this thread, perhaps the issues with the world are closer to you than you realize?
      • anigbrowl 1y ago
        That seems needlessly antagonistic on your part. I'm not advocating for his way of doing things, but the person described has clearly decided it's more in his economic interest to maintain a comfortable fiefdom than to engineer himself out of it. Having automated myself out of a few jobs in the past without much of a reward, I can't say his actions are irrational.
  • zem 1y ago
    as a long-time programmer, sysadmin/sre/devops is a whole different mindset and skillset. i would be neither willing nor able to do that guy's job; i don't fault him for not wanting to do mine. clearly since he keeps being paid his $200k/year he is delivering a lot more than $200k worth of stability and uptime to the company, no coding required.
• deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
• lawlessone 1y ago
  This feels like groundhog day, didn't he already do this?
• siliconc0w 1y ago
  [flagged]
• punkbit 1y ago
  What stops companies from hiring talent remotely? We are in 2025! Decentralisation is important due to the high cost of living in cities. Bring life to less populated areas.
  • jppope 1y ago
    Off the top of my head, the R&D tax code changes...
• KingLancelot 1y ago
  [dead]
• mlinhares 1y ago
  Illegal immigrants, legal immigrants, permanent residents, citizens, they’ll come after everyone.
• int0x29 1y ago
  So they'll just hire in India instead but now the taxes won't be paid here. Marvelous.
  • yodsanklai 1y ago
    Unless Trump bullies companies to close their foreign offices. I'm pretty concerned with that as that would impact me. That being said, I don't see how FAANG could operate only with US citizens.
• w10-1 1y ago
  This should increase political donations, cryptocurrency bribe purchases, and social compliance among tech companies dependent on H1B, whether it becomes policy or not. For that reason, you can expect no resolution before the mid-term elections, and a corresponding race to secure H1B’s before any policy change. It’s too bad policy won’t actually track economic needs or fairness; it’s mainly to drive the expansion of the political franchise.
• afavour 1y ago
  Putting all else aside: if you’re an H1B holder currently outside the US you must return within 24 hours or you’re on the hook for $100k: https://bsky.app/profile/reichlinmelnick.bsky.social/post/3lz7ybcsn522n https://bsky.app/profile/reichlinmelnick.bsky.social/post/3l... Unfathomably cruel.
  • speff 1y ago
    I've been hearing that H1B holders are currently trying to stay within the US in fear of not being let back in or because of shenanigans like this[0]. Wonder how many people are currently looking for a flight. [0]: Oh, it looks like the bsky link has an article with companies advising as such - https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/03/31/immigration-h1b-fear-siliconvalley/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/03/31/immigra...
  • yalogin 1y ago
    Oh! This is unexpected, I thought it’s only for new applications, asking every h1b holder to pay 100k is just unfathomable. We will see thousands of layoffs and people moving out on an unimaginable scale.
    • seanieb 1y ago
      They said at the signing that it was per year. No idea if it’s applicable to existing h1-b’s. https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lz7tewnfrr23 https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lz7tewnfrr23
      • johanyc 1y ago
        Where does that per year come from? I dont see it in the proclamation. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/restriction-on-entry-of-certain-nonimmigrant-workers/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/rest...
        • seanieb 1y ago
• vjvjvjvjghv 1y ago
  It's kind of ironic that the party of tax cuts recently tries to solve problems with taxes like tariffs and now this H1B fee.
• cmurf 1y ago
  This apparently goes into effect in 24 hours. And applies to current H1-B holders. Entry isn't permitted until the $100K is paid. https://bsky.app/profile/reichlinmelnick.bsky.social/post/3lz7yltghes2n https://bsky.app/profile/reichlinmelnick.bsky.social/post/3l...
• TheAdamist 1y ago
  News flash at 11, i.t. body shops to impose $100k indentured servitude debt on h1b seekers.
  • digianarchist 1y ago
    Visa fees can't be transferred to employees.
• slackfan 1y ago
  Finally, Hooray!
• unsupp0rted 1y ago
  T-minus 48 hours until some judge somewhere deems this outside presidential powers. Because nothing apparently is within presidential powers.
• aussieguy1234 1y ago
  Well I guess this is great for Australia, maybe we'll have our own rival silicon valley soon.
  • aurareturn 1y ago
    The reason silicon valley works is because it has a giant market that can support products and services before they can go global. Same reason why China has its own tech hubs.
    • oytis 1y ago
      SV companies are mostly selling globally from day 1
• daft_pink 1y ago
  So is this requiring the $100k fee payment for all H1B visas including recent college grads or just H1B visa applicants from outside the country? It says that the payment is for H1B visa applicants who are currently outside the country?
• cyanydeez 1y ago
  Gonna be a fast lane visa for companies that cancel liberals or pay fealty to trump. Lets not act like this is a good faith adjustment of concerns.
• keeda 1y ago
  A lot of the discussion is about foreign workers competing with native ones and dragging salaries and employment down. This is a simplistic view, because it overlooks the fact that an insufficient labor supply keeps companies from growing faster, which in turn keeps them from hiring even more people. So there is a tension between competition and increased opportunities and wage growth through increased company growth. But how does this work out in practice? Luckily, there have been a lot of studies about the impact of the H1B program, which you can find on Google Scholar or SSRN. An extremely quick scan shows mixed findings that are hard to summarize, which is understandable because the dynamics are complex. (Contemplating getting Gemini to do a Deep Research report on this.) So to narrow things down, I looked for empirical studies that focus on the specific counter-factual, "how would native workers fare if there were no H1B?" Interestingly, while I actually found some, even the recent studies (from 2022-2025) rely on empirical data from 2006 - 2008. That was when the H1B moved to a lottery system, creating a natural experiment allowing for comparison between firms that won and lost the lottery. (One study does find that limited data from 2022 corroborates its findings.) Not perfect, but better than hypotheticals. Here's a government page with a very brief overview of two relevant studies: https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF12966 https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF12966 (The page doesn't scroll, but the PDF can be downloaded.) To summarize, the studies find that there was no negative impact on native-born workers in terms of employment, and in terms of wages, some saw increases and others saw decreases in the range of 3-5%, depending on age, tenure and level of education. But interestingly, the 2025 study also found that winning a lottery also increased the chance by 2.5% that the firm survived. Causation and correlation etc. aside the implications for employment are clear: if a firm does not survive, all employees, native or foreign, lose their jobs. This is an example of the dynamic I mentioned above. Beyond these studies, I follow a labor economist and it's fascinating to see how these dynamics have been playing out over the last few years in the broader economy. As a relevant example, there is a credible theory that increased immigration was what helped the US manage its inflation crisis: https://fortune.com/2024/04/12/immigration-inflation-economy-election-labor-market/ https://fortune.com/2024/04/12/immigration-inflation-economy...
  • newfriend 1y ago
    But this doesn't match reality. The surplus of labor has allowed big tech to be exceedingly picky during the interview process. You will now fail interviews if you're unable to solve two Leetcode Hards in 45 minutes. If there was insufficient labor pool as you suggest, interviews would become less selective and wages would rise.
• insane_dreamer 1y ago
  It's not a bad proposal, though raising the salary requirements would be better. This essentially does that though since a company has to account for it in their hiring costs. IOW it costs the company $100K/year to hire a foreigner vs a local, which offsets the low salary that you might be offering that foreigner in order to "save costs" vs hiring local. However, the unsolved problem is that this could just lead to more offshoring by these same tech companies who are abusing the program now. Not sure if there's any way to stop that.
• docmars 1y ago
  Nice!
• kjsingh 1y ago
  Thank you Trump for answering the forever question on the mind of a techie in Vancouver: Should I move to USA?
• djohnston 1y ago
  [flagged]
• cs_throwaway 1y ago
  Curious what this will do for faculty. Common to use H1B as a bridge for a few months before green card. New CS faculty salaries cap out at 180K at the high end.
• yalogin 1y ago
  This is going to exacerbate the already kicked off reverse brain drain. University applications have fallen off the cliff this year and now with this there is no incentive for folks to come to the US. All this talent going back will cause enormous opportunity for wealth creation in India and other countries.
• deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
• yalogin 1y ago
  Just learned that there are about 15k doctors on h1b and if a good chunk of them leave it’s going to be disastrous for the fly over states. Hospitals are already shutting down and much will only increase once the Medicaid cuts take effect. And on top of that the visa issue will absolutely dent healthcare
  • dsmark 1y ago
    I would think the hospital industry would get an exemption from this as it is critical to the US.
• QuiEgo 1y ago
  Friendly reminder the US government is using it's legal authority to compel people to show their social media posts. At some point, hacker news is bound to get on their "to check" list. Post nothing here you would not mind showing to a border guard. Like seriously, I get this is very impactful, but don't risk your livelihood to argue with internet strangers.
• sizzle 1y ago
  The international student —> h1-b pipeline is unaffected it seems?
• ojbyrne 1y ago
  Seems to me the salient part of this is not being discussed: “The restriction imposed pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall not apply to any individual alien, all aliens working for a company, or all aliens working in an industry, if the Secretary of Homeland Security determines, in the Secretary’s 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.” More command economy, more opportunity for graft.
• bettercallsalad 1y ago
  There is also something geopolitically playing here. Trump administration recently threatened India with tariffs and when it didn’t budge, many of its key MAGA voices (Bannon and as such) tweeted asking for the exact same thing he just did. Recently Trump also met with Indias arch enemy Pakistan’s de facto leader (military chief) in Washington and shortly following that you had Saudi-Pakistan NATO like alliance announced (of course US is major allies for both of those countries). It is interesting because pre-election Trump touted many Indians and even had Modi joining him in one of the largest Indian gatherings. But I guess Trump admin being the wild card it has always been policy wise had a shift. What that leads to is still to be seen. Recent SCO summit where India and China had some shared alliance pledges can give some hints what’s to come but it’s interesting he didn’t so far do so with Chinese students and had in fact a U turn on allowing 600000 students with their visas as part of the trade negotiations.
• sagarm 1y ago
  I think most people could agree that H1Bs allocated to Wipro, Infosys, and TATA are wasted. This reform doesn't seem like the right way to address that and retain positive aspects of the program, like the foreign student pipeline.
• osnium123 1y ago
  Won’t this mean that companies will move jobs to India, China or even Canada?
  • LPisGood 1y ago
    Why did they not do that before, if it was feasible?
    • Aeolun 1y ago
      It didn’t save them 100k/worker per year at the time. That is a lot of motivation.
      • LPisGood 1y ago
        Hiring non-H1B visa workers would also save them 100k/worker.
        • mattnewton 1y ago
          If you believe the reason the program was started, the US doesn’t have enough workers in those fields.
          • ranger_danger 1y ago
            I don't believe it... I think companies just aren't hiring people (or maybe they aren't offering enough pay), not that qualified domestic candidates don't exist. But I could be wrong.
            • tyre 1y ago
              Having interviewed hundreds of software engineers, I’m not convinced that the talent is out there but just hiding. Nor do I believe talent is fungible. Pulling in smart people from all over the world is good for America. I’m sure there are US citizens who would have been better candidates if we had a better education system or grew talent. Maybe this will encourage that, but it’s going to take a long time.
• rPlayer6554 1y ago
  The title on HN conflicts with the truth and the title of the article. It is 100k per application (which gives the visa for 3 years) not 100k per year.
• LPisGood 1y ago
  I think this is an upfront cost, not an annual cost.
  • deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  • nvrmnd 1y ago
    From CNN: "Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters on a call Friday evening that the administration came to the fee of $100,000 per year, plus vetting costs, after talking with companies. He noted that the payment structure is still under discussion with the Department of Homeland Security, in terms of “whether we’re going to charge the $300,000 up front or $100,000 a year for the three years.”
  • sigwinch 1y ago
    It’ll be struck down in court within a year. The question is: who’ll be brave and bring the case?
    • SpicyLemonZest 1y ago
      I will be demanding that my company do so, and I think quite a lot of the people reading this should do the same.
      • sigwinch 1y ago
        But one alternative is for your company or industry to arrange an exception.
        • SpicyLemonZest 1y ago
          CEOs who go that route should face criminal bribery charges in 2029, so I hope my company chooses more wisely.
  • k33n 1y ago
    It is an annual cost. This will dramatically shake up the US tech industry. I expect to see engineering budgets increase, and less Americans struggling to get interviews and ultimately jobs at companies HQ'ed here. The originally stated purpose of the H1-B program was to import top-tier elite talent but anyone who watched it evolve saw that it became terribly exploitative. I've watched as companies that I've worked for have given 1/4 market rate or worse to H1-B hires. They got addicted to cheap talent. It stopped being about talent on the hiring side and more about increasing head-count at a major discount. Bring in top talent, but pay them what they're worth if you do. A top-talent elite hire should easily be worth double what a native-born top-talent elite hire would be worth if this program can just do what it was designed to do.
• tlhunter 1y ago
  It looks like any H-1B holders currently traveling abroad need to return within 24 hours: https://bsky.app/profile/reichlinmelnick.bsky.social/post/3lz7ybcsn522n https://bsky.app/profile/reichlinmelnick.bsky.social/post/3l...
• djohnston 1y ago
  Ohhh no, how will we afford our sub-standard DBA cough I mean world class 1% talent?
• tomrod 1y ago
  What a shame. We face a mounting demographic crisis from low birth rates already, mostly from economic pressures and lack of personal decisions in healthcare for women. So many wrong directions.
  • LPisGood 1y ago
    I think this is extremely tangential to the article, but is there any evidence that any mounting American demographic crisis has anything to do with abortion being overturned?
    • kg 1y ago
      Personal decisions in healthcare are about more than just abortion. For example, if miscarriages are criminalized, and access to birth control is restricted - both real things that have been attempted or have actually happened in the US as a part of anti-choice policies - the only safe choice is to not have sex, ever. Which means you're probably never going to have kids, instead of before where there was a chance you'd get pregnant and then decide whether to have the child or not. Now it's too risky to even have a chance of getting pregnant if you have no autonomy. I certainly would never risk it in a state with anti-choice policies. The intent of these policies might be to raise the birth rate, but I'm not sure they're going to do that. We'll see, I guess. IMO the demographic crisis is more likely to be influenced by other factors, like the rising costs of raising children, the increasing constraints and pressures on parents, etc. But those policies don't help.
      • krmboya 1y ago
        Statistics show that kids brought up with both parents have much better prospects in life. The decision to have kids should be a deliberate commitment between the parents, not some kind of lottery where one falls pregnant then decides what to do next. It's better not to fall pregnant at all otherwise
        • LPisGood 1y ago
          > It's better not to fall pregnant at all That’s pretty much the whole point of abortion, by the way.
• rideontime 1y ago
  Bit ridiculous that this article leaves as a footnote that this rule change is illegal and likely to be struck down by the first lawsuit.
  • LPisGood 1y ago
    I think it is kind of a footnote. Many things this administration has done are illegal and struck down by the first lawsuit but later let stand by a friendly Supreme Court.
    • softwaredoug 1y ago
      That's true on administrative state issues (Trump being allowed to fire people in the exec. branch). It's not clear this is a 100% guarantee for everything beyond that. (Maybe a 65% guarantee).
    • justinator 1y ago
      And should be added, let stand by the Supreme Court without given a reasoning on why it stands. Just all shadow dockets. Corruption by another name. The canary is already dead.
      • fastball 1y ago
        Can you give an example?
        • justinator 1y ago
          https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/emergency/emergency-docket-2025/ https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/emergency/emergency-do...
          • fastball 1y ago
            I am aware of the shadow docket, I was looking for a specific example that you believe deserved more explanation than was given for an expedited stay.
• mancerayder 1y ago
  Here's a thought. Why not pin the H1B tech acceptance rate, forget high fees, to some measures around tech unemployment rates? A recent reading I read showed a higher unemployment in tech than non-tech jobs. I wish I could find the article that mentioned it (most likely Bloomberg or WSJ in the last two weeks). Doesn't that put the stats where the mouth is?
• disillusioned 1y ago
  I saw that a certain reading of this language: > Section 1. Restriction on Entry. (a) Pursuant to sections 212(f) and 215(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. 1182(f) and 1185(a), the entry into the United States of aliens as nonimmigrants to perform services in a specialty occupation under section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b), is restricted, except for those aliens whose petitions are accompanied or supplemented by a payment of $100,000 — subject to the exceptions set forth in subsection (c) of this section. This restriction shall expire, absent extension, 12 months after the effective date of this proclamation, which shall be 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on September 21, 2025. Could be interpreted to mean that anyone who leaves the country on a _current_ H1B and attempts to return might be blocked if they don't have proof of the payment having been made, despite the fact that no process currently exists to remit said payment. I'd love to say it's doubtful this administration would do something so callous, asinine, and cruel, but...
  • aks_tldr 1y ago
    Looks like
  • burroisolator 1y ago
    That is my interpretation. Regardless of whether you think imposing a $100k fee on H1Bs is a good idea or not, there is no way that a 2 day deadline makes sense from an implementation perspective. On a weekend too. This is just going to cause panic and confusion at the border.
  • nelox 1y ago
    No, the language clearly limits the restriction to those “aliens … currently outside the United States.” “Entry” in this context means seeking admission (or re-entry) to the U.S. from abroad, under a new petition or visa that starts outside. It is tied to new petitions, and specifically those where the beneficiary is abroad. “(b) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall restrict decisions on petitions not accompanied by a $100,000 payment for H-1B specialty occupation workers … who are currently outside the United States …”
• bhouston 1y ago
  This is actually smart. Many H1B visas are used to undermine fair labor wages for already local talent. We should ensure that H1B visas are for actual unique talent and not just to undercut local wages. H1B is ripe with abuse - this article by Bloomberg says that half of all H1-B visas are used by Indian staffing firms that pay significantly lower than the US laborers they are replacing: - https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2025-h1b-visa-middlemen-cheap-labor-for-us-banks/ https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2025-h1b-visa-middlemen-c...
  • djohnston 1y ago
    The only way to do that (and preserve H1B) is to entirely disconnect the subcontinent from the application process. Their top companies exist only to scam immigration programs around the world, it is their raison d'être.
    • decremental 1y ago
      [dead]
    • truncate 1y ago
      So both people and companies from those countries?
      • djohnston 1y ago
        Yep.
        • truncate 1y ago
          >> The only way to do that (and preserve H1B) is to entirely disconnect the subcontinent from the application process. In that case, better to rephrase to "US should close borders for Indians (and China?) workers and companies". Why sugercoat it?
          • djohnston 1y ago
• p0wn 1y ago
  Love it.
• Alex3917 1y ago
  Seems like a reasonable policy. Given that the most talented tech workers, the ones the H1-B visas are designed to make it easier bring to the U.S., are getting $100M+ signing bonuses right now, a $100k/yr fee seems pretty trivial in comparison.
  • rocha 1y ago
    The number of people at that compensation level is very very small, and they will probably go for a O1 type visa instead of a H1B.
  • onesociety2022 1y ago
    That’s true in AI field. Even if you are an elite researcher in some other field like biosciences, physics you can’t demand those salaries. So people in those other fields are essentially screwed.
• nextworddev 1y ago
  It’s not set in stone and can be reversed like tariffs no?
  • LPisGood 1y ago
    Do you mean reversed by future executive order answer that question is most likely, however, courts have shown a propensity to limit which executive orders can be undone by future presidents. For example, we saw this during Trump won with DACA.
    • deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]
• breadwinner 1y ago
  If visa rules prove too onerous, companies pivot north to Vancouver, BC. [1] Canada is rejoicing for the new boost to its economy. [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/johntamny/2024/09/16/the-microsoft-facility-in-vancouver-that-congress-built/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/johntamny/2024/09/16/the-micros...
• rr808 1y ago
  My mega corp employer has started an office in Mexico staffed with mostly contractors from India. Makes sense to have in the same timezone and much cheaper than our other low cost office in Texas that has mostly h1bs.
  • deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  • iancmceachern 1y ago
    This is really smart. Plus you can truck freight across the border, you don't have to fly stuff. There are whole manufacturing cities setup on the border for these kind of setups.
    • rr808 1y ago
      These are IT workers doing programming and support for the US company.
  • yahoozoo 1y ago
    Offshoring will probably get tariffed next.
• tenpies 1y ago
  The Executive Order has now been published: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/restriction-on-entry-of-certain-nonimmigrant-workers/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/rest... If you don't want to read the pre-amble, you can skip straight to the second "Accordingly" to see the details.
  • jghn 1y ago
    People seem to be missing the part where DHS reserves the right to allow exceptions for any company they desire. Now they have another way to play favorites.
    • rokkamokka 1y ago
      Another way to solicit donations, let's say
      • pwarner 1y ago
        Donations you say?
    • SpicyLemonZest 1y ago
      I and I hope a lot of other people will be demanding that the CEOs of all companies on that exception list go to prison in 2029.
      • science4sail 1y ago
        2029? Wouldn't that be in the Vance or third Trump administration? Why would they send those CEOs to prison?
  • aesbetic 1y ago
    Its a proclamation, not an executive order. This is important to keep in mind because Congress granted explicit statutory authorization to the President in the Immigration and Nationality Act 212(f) and is unlikely to be cut down by the courts for this reason: "Whenever the President finds that the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate." Also interestingly, it seems to only explicitly impose restrictions on entry into the US. But most visa holders are already in the country, and atleast according to this proclamation, they'd be unaffected.
• lisbbb 1y ago
  the phrase "shutting the barn door after all the horses have run off" comes immediately to mind. It's way too late to save tech in the USA, imho. It's too late for my nephew, who couldn't get a job after graduating with a CS degree in 2022 and who is not currently working in the tech field at all. And it's too late for all the lost wages for all the guys and gals my age whose incomes were artificially held down using the foreign competition, both on and offshore. Before you downvote and curse me out, please understand that I have trained dozens of H1Bs throughout my career and helped them be better developers while knowing full well what the overall game looked like. I did it wholly without prejudice. Deep down, I always knew we would hit that inflection point and we did. I don't think it is fixable at this point. Thus, it makes sense for politicians to finally consider addressing the abuse. I currently counsel young people to not become software engineers/developers. Aside from the lack of jobs, there is the awful ageism that strikes right when family is the most expensive (college aged kids). I'm very fortunate in that I saved like a madman and we inherited some wealth, which we INVESTED and didn't just blow on cars, houses, and vacations the way most dipshit Americans do these days. So when the inevitable career abbreviation took place, I was at least prepared. But I'm no less bitter, and that's the truth.
  • guy_5676 1y ago
    Respectfully, at lot of what you say here runs contrary to my experience. US engineers are insanely well compensated, even relative to other developed countries. I'm a dual Australian/American citizen. I earned literally 3 times what I would have made in a big Australian city at my New York tech job. I've always found it pretty easy to find a new job when I've needed one, even now there are an insane number of openings all over the US. The job market here is an order of magnitude larger then it was in Australia. I don't doubt there is a deflationary effect on demand/wages due to h1b visas, but I don't connect at all with the catastrophic rhetoric I see in these threads. The United States still has some of the best opportunities in the world for people with tech skills
• softwaredoug 1y ago
  IMO I think we need to fast-track H1Bs -> Green Card -> Citizens. Make skilled immigration easier, not harder. Otherwise, if its too onerous, we're just training another countries workforce.
  • scheme271 1y ago
    This is already the case with Indians and possibly Chinese. The waiting time for h1b to green card for Indians is several decades right now and maybe 5-10 years for Chinese. Things might get better if the climate discourages future immigration from these countries but there's already a big backlog in place.
    • digianarchist 1y ago
      That's about to speed up when H1-Bs drop to the hundreds next year.
  • sniggler 1y ago
    H1B isn't skilled immigration. Or at least it wasn't before this change. Thanks Trump!
• wonderwonder 1y ago
  Lets Go!!! Raised the minimum salary to $150k. The 100k application fee is per person per year. Meaning now companies can either hire an American new grad for 100k a year or pay 250k a year to import someone. It also still allows companies to bring over highly skilled foreign workers for which there are no American equivalents. Really happy with the approach and I think it will be a massive boon for US tech and knowledge workers
  • Detrytus 1y ago
    Nothing in the proclamation [1] says it is "per year". What it says is that every existing petition must be supplemented by $100k check, otherwise the employee won't be able to (re-)enter the US. So, if you already got your visa issued for 3 years, and you didn't have any plans to travel abroad you are good until the end of your current visa term (which might be 2-3 years in future). Also, apparently Department of State has started a pilot program that allows one to extend their H-1B visa without going abroad to have their passport stamped, so in that case you can get 3 more years in the US without the fee. The biggest limitation of course being that you're stuck in the US for the whole time, unable to leave. [1] https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/restriction-on-entry-of-certain-nonimmigrant-workers/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/rest...
• deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
• bluedevil2k 1y ago
  All the comments are missing the bigger picture with this new policy - Trump is sending a message the tech companies will need to pay up (to him) to get this policy to go away.
  • mcny 1y ago
    My guess is this administration will also use this as a leverage in any negotiation with India?
  • wrt271Ja 1y ago
    Possible. Trump is in trouble with MAGA over Epstein etc., so he puts out this proposal for a headline and will revert it under certain circumstances. I was already surprised that he implements one of his campaign promises.
• sudditer 1y ago
  [flagged]
• justinator 1y ago
  They are, unless you have the ear of our current President God-King and can get an exception. "The restriction imposed pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall not apply to any individual alien, all aliens working for a company, or all aliens working in an industry, if the Secretary of Homeland Security determines, in the Secretary’s 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. " https://www.reddit.com/r/news/comments/1nlgzzu/trump_signs_proclamation_imposing_100k_annual_fee/ https://www.reddit.com/r/news/comments/1nlgzzu/trump_signs_p...
  • fred_is_fred 1y ago
    May I interest you in some Trump Coin?
• fooey 1y ago
  it's effective nearly immediately too, and applies to all entries, not just applications > the effective date of this proclamation, which shall be 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on September 21, 2025 anyone on a visa who happens to currently out of the country has ~24 hours to get back without a $100,000 bill if you're in the states, you won't be removed, but you cannot leave and re-enter without paying up
• stephen_cagle 1y ago
  This straight 100k to the top is not a good way to implement this. It should be a percentage (say 50%, we can talk about what the number should actually be) of the total compensation that is being paid to the H1B. We should also just completely remove caps on H1B. This allows companies that truly want extraordinary talent to pay a premium to acquire it with no red tape . It also makes it far less likely that they can significantly underpay foreign workers to work in the united states and undercut American employees (at a 50% surcharge, you would have to pay 2/3 the prevailing salary to break even (assuming all employees are the same)). The 50% number is something I made up, I think we can have an honest discussion about what that number should realistically be (and it should probably be different for different industries). But my main point is it should simply be a percentage tax paid on top of all compensation for foreign employees. This is the correct way to balance domestic companies undercutting domestic labor, while allowing them to access genuinely extraordinary talent with no impedance.
  • wonderwonder 1y ago
    I disagree, why would they then not just hire the H1B at 50k and pay a 25K fee. 100k flat annual fee plus the new minimum 150k salary returns the H1B program to its original purpose of allowing US companies to hire truly exceptional foreign workers who have skills US workers do not. This allows companies to do just that and pay for it and at the same time protects the jobs and job prospects of US workers
    • stephen_cagle 1y ago
      I'll be honest that I read a different article on the same topic and did not know about the salary floor. So I wasn't thinking about that. I'm... mixed on that, but it does add a wrinkle to the equation. I prefer a purely compensation relative approach because it let's the market decide what the actual salary for a software engineer is (with a percent of compensation premium for a foreigner and a 0 extra cost for a native). The market can dynamically adjust what a software engineer makes (not fixed price control) but it just cost more to hire foreign people. In direct response to your first sentence, I think even foreign workers (who largely work harder and have more on the line than domestic workers) would question the wisdom of working for 50k a year as a software engineer in the US. They are actors in this system as well, and you can't just assume that you could offer 50k and get them to accept.
• none2585 1y ago
  To be fair, these generally are used to skirt hiring Americans at market price. I've personally written a few explanations on how "no American could ever fill this role" for a very standard product engineering role.
• archeantus 1y ago
  If you want a good job in tech, go look at Walmart’s job board in the coming weeks. They literally have thousands of Indians doing all kinds of jobs that could easily be done by Americans. I liked my time there, and there’s lots of great people, but it felt very clear that the system was being abused.
  • zahlman 1y ago
    I have to say, when one thinks of jobs available at Walmart, tech doesn't exactly come to mind first.
    • ProllyInfamous 1y ago
      As of 2025, Wal-Mart's main corporate structure has ~2500 H-1B Visa Holders, $141k median, which allegedly no citizens can fulfill. https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=wal-mart+associates+inc&job=&city=&year=2025 https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=wal-mart+associates+inc&jo...
      • archeantus 1y ago
        Maybe it’s true they can’t find citizens: - at that price - in the Bay Area But certainly they don’t have grounds to say they can’t find citizens to write JS or make apps.
        • cmckn 1y ago
          My understanding is the vast majority of Wal-Mart corporate employees are based in Arkansas.
          • ProllyInfamous 1y ago
            From my datalink, above, it seems the SFBay (Sunnyvale / Castro Valley / &al) has comparable H-1Bs to Arkansas — but these employees are spread all over The States. Not sure about citizen workforce, but I'd recon' they're similarly proportioned.
• gdsdfe 1y ago
  I wonder how much china will benefit from this?
• nsriv 1y ago
  ITT: HN goes mask off
  • LPisGood 1y ago
    Do you honestly think the H-1B visa program is not predominantly used for hiring less expensive workers with fewer choices and negotiating leverage?
  • intermerda 1y ago
    The US has had its mask off since 2016-17. The tech industry somewhat more recently.
• sergiotapia 1y ago
  As an american engineer, I love this! Thank you President Trump! "if H1Bs are supposed to be a means of obtaining labor not available domestically it's curious they're cheaper than domestic labor an easy way to ensure that they aren't directly substituting for domestic labor would be to add a $100k surcharge per head"
  • OutOfHere 1y ago
    Don't love it yet. $100K surcharge per head for a 3 year visa is just $33K per year which is very absorable, and won't in itself affect visas much.
    • dsmark 1y ago
      No, it's 100k per year.
      • OutOfHere 1y ago
        The official announcement says: > The Proclamation restricts entry for aliens as nonimmigrants to perform services in specialty occupations in the H-1B program unless their petition is accompanied by a $100,000 payment. Nowhere in there does it say that it's annual. Note that the H1B visa is valid for 3 to 6 years, potentially longer, which dilutes the fee to $16K per year which is small money for an employer. Also, a fixed number does not keep up with inflation either.
• ungreased0675 1y ago
  A great idea I didn’t see on that page is replacing the lottery. Instead, H1Bs would be given in order from highest salaries to lowest. (Actually until the quota is exhausted)
• jiub 1y ago
  The executive order says that companies will be exempted based on discretion of executive branch. So it won't apply to any company that kisses the ring.
• nelox 1y ago
  The actual proclamation [1] is very narrow: a $100k surcharge on new H-1B petitions for workers outside the US. It’s a one-time hit tied to the petition. It does not say “annual.” It does not drag in renewals or transfers for people already in status. Boundless is technically right that a $100k fee exists, but the piece glosses over the narrow scope and leans into speculation. It frames the fee like an ongoing tax on every H-1B, which just isn’t what the proclamation says. The difference matters: a one-time petition fee is brutal enough, but calling it annual misstates the policy and inflates the impact. [1] https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/restriction-on-entry-of-certain-nonimmigrant-workers/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/rest...
  • nimih 1y ago
    You may want to read the section on enforcement: > Section 1. Restriction on Entry. (a) Pursuant to sections 212(f) and 215(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. 1182(f) and 1185(a), the entry into the United States of aliens as nonimmigrants to perform services in a specialty occupation under section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b), is restricted, except for those aliens whose petitions are accompanied or supplemented by a payment of $100,000 — subject to the exceptions set forth in subsection (c) of this section. This restriction shall expire, absent extension, 12 months after the effective date of this proclamation, which shall be 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on September 21, 2025.
    • aesbetic 1y ago
      I don't see your point, the section describes a restriction on "entry into the United States". Most H1b visa holders are already in the US so this doesn't apply to them.
      • bpye 1y ago
        Except lots of people travel outside of the US for tourism, business, to see family, due to family emergencies, or - critically for H1Bs - to renew their visa.
    • 1y ago
• breadwinner 1y ago
  “I believe the shortage of U.S. talent, and the U.S.’s unwillingness to let companies bring in more global talent, has been a huge factor in why U.S. technology companies are increasing their Canadian footprint.” https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/douglas-todd-amazons-vancouver-news-lacks-facts-on-jobs-migrants-coming-this-way https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/douglas-todd-ama...
• nakamoto_damacy 1y ago
  Naive question: couldn't companies here start sponsoring under O1 (which is still very low cost) instead of H1B?
• felineflock 1y ago
  A.K.A., the Great Offshoring Incentive Act.
  • zerosizedweasle 1y ago
    Like tech companies aren't extremely vulnerable to whims of the US government and they'll just allow them to do that.
• technocrat8080 1y ago
  How are startups supposed to afford this? How are talented H-1B workers supposed to start companies? And no, the answer is not always an O-1. I know plenty of foreign founders contributing meaningfully to the US economy, now slapped with a 100k fee.
  • fooey 1y ago
    they're not, it's a moat
    • technocrat8080 1y ago
      Great, let's punish early stage startups instead of rewarding the successful ones.
  • newfriend 1y ago
    Hire Americans.
    • N2yhWNXQN3k9 1y ago
      Ever live somewhere that isn't a city, but has access to talent from a local university? No one is sticking around to be hired for $70k a year when they can make $120k a year in a city. Yet, there are plenty of hires due to a local migrant population, which commonly has generational support. This disrupts that. It hurts more than migrants. It hurts communities.
• onetwothreego 1y ago
  Love this for the VCs (Hi A16Z!) who went all in on Trump
• deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
• softwaredoug 1y ago
  People are debating the merits here, and losing the big picture. Congress makes laws. The executive implements them. It could be a fantastic idea. But then make it a law. Give the president the power to do something like this. Debating the merits without focusing on that first legitimizes this crazy psuedo law making Trump engages in and will enable him to be more arbitrary in other areas.
  • newfriend 1y ago
    Pen and a phone. This is not a phenomenon unique to Trump.
• cmurf 1y ago
  Flatly illegal. Congress has not authorized imposing such a fee and the current statute would sets the fee based on cost recovery for administrative processing of the application.
• zerosizedweasle 1y ago
  Big tech CEOs FAFOed. Didn't have to be this way.
• zerosizedweasle 1y ago
  For people saying it will just lead to outsourcing, do you think they won't punish these companies severely if they do that? Come on, think...
• laughing_man 1y ago
  I keep hearing how reduction of the H-1(b) cap will keep singular talent from coming to the US. If you're genuinely hiring the best in the world for a critical role in a billion dollar project, $100k is a rounding error. Judging from the reaction, it's almost like what the program really gets used for is to replace domestic workers with desperate, barely-qualified foreigners.
• amir734jj 1y ago
  what about postdocs and researcher at universities?
• tamimio 1y ago
  We need something similar here in Canada, tech job market is abused and exploited by corps.
• rediguanayum 1y ago
  Also announced today is the Trumpcard, a visa for super wealthy individuals. HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45308778 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45308778 but is wrongly flagged. Politico is carrying the Trumpcard: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/19/trump-gold-card-visa-00573494 https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/19/trump-gold-card-vis... and says that it's $1 million for individuals and $2 million for corporations. The Trumpcard website is https://trumpcard.gov/ https://trumpcard.gov/ and is a terrible parody of itself.
  • rediguanayum 1y ago
    It's real. Here's the executive order: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/the-gold-card/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/the-...
• adebelov 1y ago
  https://www.youtube.com/live/KcZEcDe1Hys?feature=shared https://www.youtube.com/live/KcZEcDe1Hys?feature=shared This was a live a few hours ago on H1B news.
• instahire 1y ago
  FYI Manifest (startup focused on immigration law) is hosting a free webinar by an experienced immigration attorney on Monday to answer questions related to this: https://luma.com/xc2wbio7?from=embed https://luma.com/xc2wbio7?from=embed
  • adebelov 1y ago
    yes! these guys are focused on o1/eb1 as H1B alternatives
• garbawarb 1y ago
  I wonder if treaty-based non-immigrant-intent work visas like TN and E-3 will be next.
• yalogin 1y ago
  Actually it’s much more sinister. It’s another way to force companies to kiss the ring. The government apparently can grant exceptions if they deem it’s in the good of the country. > The restriction imposed pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall not apply to any individual alien, all aliens working for a company, or all aliens working in an industry, if the Secretary of Homeland Security determines, in the Secretary’s 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.
  • VirusNewbie 1y ago
    [flagged]
    • digitalPhonix 1y ago
      > this section shall not apply to any individual alien, > [or] all aliens working for a company, > or all aliens working in an industry I think it very explicitly allows that case
  • r_singh 1y ago
    This is after increasing the repatriation tax that H1-B workers pay on the sum they’re sending home for Indians only in the One Big Beautiful bill so it’d be effectively taxing both ways https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg98erzl8eo https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg98erzl8eo
    • tonfa 1y ago
      Isn't that tax deductible from income tax? So for a typical H1-B it doesn't really matter (unless they remit more than their taxable income).
  • forgotoldacc 1y ago
    I very much expect companies to make 10 million dollar "campaign donations" to avoid the visa processing fees. Impossible for small companies to afford, but if you have 1000+ H1Bs in your company, it's a bargain.
• Animats 1y ago
  The $100,000 fee isn't the real route to a visa. See the proclamation text: [1] (c) The restriction imposed pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall not apply to any individual alien, all aliens working for a company, or all aliens working in an industry, if the Secretary of Homeland Security determines, in the Secretary’s 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. "At the Secretary's discretion" means "get your bribes ready". Lobbyists are probably already working the phones on this. [1] https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/restriction-on-entry-of-certain-nonimmigrant-workers/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/rest...
  • dluan 1y ago
    This is the reality, combined with the fact that this was pretty much the status quo already. O-1 visas were also a commonly targeted with lawmaker bribes. This just codifies what was already happening and screws over the smaller companies that don't have the resources, networks, guanxi, etc to play the game.
  • justanotherjoe 1y ago
    Judging from reason events, this is just another scourge he can (and will) use against democratic cities or entities
  • telchior 1y ago
    Every change this admin implements needs this examination first. Everyone is in here having earnest discussions about policy pros and cons, but it ain't that country anymore. The companies the admin favors are being given backdoors for every policy that's presented, and the way to become favored is to present bribes, whether they come in the form of gold plaques, lawsuit settlements, crypto investments, or stock market collusion.
    • N2yhWNXQN3k9 1y ago
      > whether they come in the form of gold plaques, lawsuit settlements, crypto investments, or stock market collusion. You forgot monopolization, power consolidation, etc
• btbuildem 1y ago
  Everyone is discussing the merits and downsides of this, but I'm yet to see the obvious be pointed out: it's extortion. It's interesting to read all the analysis in the comments, but I think people are giving far too much credit to the admin in terms of having considered the impacts, the effects, some kind of desired direction for things to move, etc. It's really much simpler than that: the mob boss has to get a cut of the action. One clue is the "fee" being annual, not one-time. Another tell is that there are no details as to what the collected money will go towards.
  • apwell23 1y ago
    so when you pay money to govt ( taxes ect) they tell you what exactly thats going towards? What kind of BS is this :)
• technocrat8080 1y ago
  A 100k fee is well within the territory of killing job prospects for skilled foreign students graduating from US universities. What percentage of the AI labs are staffed by either foreign workers or second/third generation immigrants? Look at the composition of high achieving high school students- almost certainly of Asian or Indian descent, certainly many belonging to families of recent immigrants. The pipeline this EO disrupts is immense.
• rvz 1y ago
  Let me guess... A 90 day pause is next if the markets crash over this next week. Either way, this is the sub definition of "AGI". Time for the "AI Agents" to prove their worth as advertised and hyped. Or else...
• kappi 1y ago
  CS new grads from Top10 are finding it tough to get jobs. There is lot of supply of smart CS grads within US. No need to hire H1Bs in the current economic situation which is different from late 90s when H1B program started.
• yahoozoo 1y ago
  What does this mean for corporate Diwali celebrations?
• kappi 1y ago
  As authorized by federal law, the department will conduct investigations of employers through Project Firewall to maximize H-1B program compliance. To achieve this goal, the Secretary of Labor will personally certify the initiation of investigations for the first time in the department’s history. This historic action leverages existing authority granted to the Secretary if reasonable cause exists that an H-1B employer not in compliance. Secretary-certified investigations, as well as other H-1B-related investigations, are important tools the department will use in Project Firewall to hold employers accountable and protect the rights of American workers. Violations may result in the collection of back wages owed to affected workers, the assessment of civil money penalties, and/or debarment from future use of the H-1B program for a prescribed period of time.
• idiotsecant 1y ago
  None of us are talking about the important part of this - this new fee can be waived at will by the Secretary of homeland security entirely at their discretion. This isn't about H1b at all, it's about punishing political enemies and rewarding allies. It's one more little toehold of the mafia state.
• nomilk 1y ago
  US-based companies that depend on H-1Bs may: - stomach the cost increase, - reduce the number of H-1Bs they hire, - move (the company) out of the US (i.e. to less imposing jurisdictions). If companies choose the latter, the irony is the resulting reduction in US tax revenue from companies moving out could outweigh the gains in revenue from the $100k H-1B tax, thus resulting in lower US government tax revenues due to the change.
  • newfriend 1y ago
    You missed one: Hire Americans.
• nickpsecurity 1y ago
  " Summary Companies Visas are used principally by tech sector Over 70% of beneficiaries of H-1B visas enter US from India Latest move in Trump's broader immigration crackdown SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - The Trump administration said on Friday it would ask companies to pay $100,000 per year for H-1B worker visas, potentially dealing a big blow to the technology sector that relies heavily on skilled workers from India and China. Since taking office in January, Trump has kicked off a wide-ranging immigration crackdown, including moves to limit some forms of legal immigration. The step to reshape the H-1B visa program represents his administration's most high-profile effort yet to rework temporary employment visas. Read about innovative ideas and the people working on solutions to global crises with the Reuters Beacon newsletter. Sign up here. "If you're going to train somebody, you're going to train one of the recent graduates from one of the great universities across our land. Train Americans. Stop bringing in people to take our jobs," U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said." Absolutely. I've seen so many H1-B's doing run of the mill IT work. In the past, some job adds said "H1-B preferred." That's on top of all the Indian outsourcing. It looks like Trump is one again making it expensive to use a foreign asset to encourage use or development of local assets. If they're truly talented and rare, then the $100,000 will be worth paying. I could see the A.I. field doing that since they're already doing it. Many will consider hiring or training Americans.
• HardCodedBias 1y ago
  Note that the fee is triggered by entry. It sounds like F1 and TN visa holders will be able to acquire H1B visas without triggering the fee (but no international travel afterwards or the fee would be triggered). I suspect that the o1 and l1 visas will get more use if this actually gets enforced. I also suspect that the large tech companies don't overly mind since they all have very active offshoring programs.
  • throwawaydbb 1y ago
    Except that I (and I believe it will apply to many folks similar to myself) working for US company branches located in the EU for a decade, on the staff/EM positions, with education to qualify also for O1 - will not put my life and my family’s life to be the subject of sudden immigration changes. What’s stopping them from doing the same for L1/O1 folks and locking them in with days’ notice? Few of my US colleagues that I know are now abroad, and I cannot fathom how they took the news.
• LastTrain 1y ago
  What makes this particular ill conceived policy bomb so special that it gets to stay on the front page?
• gsky 1y ago
  H1B should be banned completely as Americans wanted. Which also helps other countries to build their own big tech.
• IncreasePosts 1y ago
  The rest of the headline is "in likely blow to tech", but I disagree. $100k when you're pimping some poor soul out for $40k/yr is too much. But when you're already paying them $500k+? Cost of doing business.
• mikewarot 1y ago
  It's obvious to me that the problem with H-1B visas is the same as that of undocumented workers, in that we've created a second class of people who are trapped in a system seemingly created specifically to exploit them, while simultaneously making things worse for the rest of us. It's my opinion that anyone already here should have a path towards citizenship, or legal permanent residence. The exploitation of people needs to end, and the dignity of everyone in this country should be respected. Of course we need to have rules, and borders that are secure. It's unreasonable to want to abolish them or close them completely.
• synergy20 1y ago
  75% or more h1b went to one country for 20+ years even though another large country had way more students here in the past, who had less than 8% h1b. h1b is totally abused illegally for too long, they should be charged.
• dsmark 1y ago
  Hallelujah!
• hedayet 1y ago
  I have seen an endless stream of unqualified people scamming and abusing H-1B, O-1, EB-1, and EB-2 programs — you name it. I can understand why the average American might come to resent these programs. On the other hand, I know many highly talented immigrants in the USA whose contributions to society would be missed if they just couldn’t focus entirely on their work - let alone if they were kept out of the country altogether. My point: They have identified the right problem (H-1B abuse), but the proposed fix is too drastic and undermines sustainable trust between immigrants and the country. I’d like to be proven wrong, though.
• sniggler 1y ago
  [flagged]
• kristopolous 1y ago
  Defund universities, kick out high skilled foreigners... This guy's doing everything in his power to turn the US into a bigoted impoverished backwater wasteland
• matrix2596 1y ago
  people dont realize how lucky US citizens have it just by luck of being born in US
  • senordevnyc 1y ago
    Feels like our luck is running out
• nikkwong 1y ago
  I think one important distinction that I haven’t seen mentioned here much is that there is a big difference between handing out h1bs to cognizant employees vs students who did masters programs in the US and are working as direct hires in faang companies. In the latter case, these workers have already invested tens if not hundreds of thousands into the US as well as many years before even making a dime. This cohort is much more incentivized to stay in the US and contribute over the long term. They are also not ‘abusing’ the h1b program at all, because they are getting paid the exact wages as their US counterparts, unlike those at BigTechConsulting. Smarter policy would be to looking into targeting the actual exploitation, where it actually exists (if it’s deemed that the externalities are truly negative), like the outsourcing to cognizant. Of course, we are living under the rule of probably the most inept president in any of our lifetimes; so he doesn’t act methodically, only reflexively to once again reduce US competitiveness over the long term.
  • nikkwong 1y ago
    And not to belabor this point, but he’s doing such one-dimensional math here by thinking of the immigration scenario as zero sum. Trump has clearly lost the plot. What he is failing to consider is that the US is in a long term ideological war with our biggest enemy China, and our best hand in this game is stealing their best and brightest to live in the west and have them to learn and love western values; which they will use to influence their friends, families, and social media circles back at home. I’ve seen this happen with just about every friend of mine who has immigrated from China to the US and the effect that it has on their immediate network carries significant weight at shifting their perspective. Xi is not popular at home, and the west should be doing what it can to increase domestic Chinese instability in the same way they’re doing to us (very successfully). Rather, he is hell bent on unifying them to hate America. There’s an ideological war happening and our president is not only too stupid to play ball but he’s also interested in giving up the hand of cards we already have. He is a true and utter moron and it’s hard to understate my level of disgust.
    • s1artibartfast 1y ago
      If H1B numbers stay the same, but more are going to 300k/yr jobs instead of 60k/yr jobs, then that is a win for brain draining the rest of the world.
• nextworddev 1y ago
  This prices startups out of hiring visa holders
• pabs3 1y ago
  Will they be targeting outsourcing next?
• bawana 1y ago
  Wow. Tech companies must b pissed. After donating millions (even 24k gold apple totems!) the orange man turns around and punches them in the pocket book! At least he didnt put a tax on options vesting
• seydor 1y ago
  I would assume tech companies can easily launch research centers in India, no?
• procaryote 1y ago
  As a european I welcome this change and hope european countries are able to respond by lowering the barriers for talented people to come here. Come to europe! The taxes are higher, and you have to pick your country wisely depending on what your goals are, but the politics are nicer and you often get healthcare
  • tho2i3423o42342 1y ago
    The issue is race, not immigration, as it was with the Jews pre-WW2. Europe would probably be even worse than the US in the long run, given that nativism would run even stronger. The issues are philosophical ultimately, and the theorists of Liberalism simply haven't stepped up to the challenge.
    • procaryote 1y ago
      I have a hard time parsing what you're trying to say
• kittikitti 1y ago
  https://www.epi.org/blog/disney-h1b-scandal-in-spotlight-meet-american-workers-whose-jobs-careers-were-destroyed/ https://www.epi.org/blog/disney-h1b-scandal-in-spotlight-mee... Companies like Disney, too, have committed abuses with the H1B. It's not just big tech, it's widespread across the United States. I think Americans privileged with different Visa or residency status will benefit.
• deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
• hvb2 1y ago
  Is the white house planning to do this for all the temporary visas in hospitality too? I know a few companies that were relying on those heavily and it sure would help if those jobs went to Americans. https://www.npr.org/2017/07/20/538387033/trumps-private-clubs-in-florida-are-seeking-visas-for-foreign-workers https://www.npr.org/2017/07/20/538387033/trumps-private-club...
• MagicMoonlight 1y ago
  The US has 340m people. There is absolutely no way they need people from other countries to fill their entry-level roles.
• deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
• deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
• aramaswa 1y ago
  Check out this Q&A session hosted by Manifest’s principal immigration attorney happening on Monday! Incredible resource to help prepare https://luma.com/xc2wbio7?from=embed https://luma.com/xc2wbio7?from=embed
• deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
• johanyc 1y ago
  The keyword to search for is prevailing wage. https://flag.dol.gov/programs/prevailingwages https://flag.dol.gov/programs/prevailingwages is apparently under maintenance Also it's mot just a number, it depends on the jobs location, type and level.
• brainless 1y ago
  This may boost remote jobs. I have worked for many US based startups, all remotely. Timezone difference (I am in India) is a big issue unless the company is very well structured to work asynchronously. Companies hiring top talent may still hire with a $100K additional charge but even at $250K - 400K salaries, this is a lot of additional cost.
  • dpacmittal 1y ago
    That's where the HIRE act comes in.
• chvid 1y ago
  Not much empathy in this thread being given towards the thousands of H-1B workers whose lifes will be upended by this.
• hshshshshsh 1y ago
  Great news as Indian living outside US. More FAANG hiring in EU and India. More pay. Thanks Trump. Even plus don't have to relocate to US and can avoid this lunies.
• qaq 1y ago
  Hard to say what net effect would be in my industry most positions are shifted to offices in countries other than US as is.
• JCM9 1y ago
  Companies have abused the program. At the top end it’s an excellent program, and then there’s the rest where companies are making fake claims that they can’t hire Americans and need to import folks. This is what the administration is cracking down on. The idea isn’t crazy IMHO. If you want to import someone vs hiring and training an American then pay an extra $100k. If the skill is truly needed and rare companies will do that. If it’s not, then pay up. Some saying companies will just offshore the roles but I doubt it. That was always much cheaper… if it was just about cost they would have done that already.
• nly 1y ago
  Looks like a great opportunity for other nations to hoover these brains up on the cheap
• Manfred 1y ago
  You don't have to live in a country to be hired as a contractor by a company. The only difference is that the contractor will pay taxes in the country of residence, so ultimately it's a bad deal for the US.
• password54321 1y ago
  Good maybe we can start ending the catch 22 system where Indians are claiming they have experience back home and then taking jobs from citizens who can't get their first job because they don't have experience while competing against a >1 billion population. The graduate market is a mess.
  • htilford 1y ago
    Interviews are a thing, no one is hiring people based on self reported claims
    • password54321 1y ago
      No one ever lies
• i_am_a_peasant 1y ago
  tbf the only thing the US has got going for it is the english language. germany is a perfectly fine place to live and work. it’s not like if you join raytheon you’ll be playing with rockets all day. you’ll be working in a very narrow area of one isolated subsystem without being allowed to see the big picture. You’ll probably have a 2 hour commute too, and in your free time mostly live in your car because only the big cities have any degree of walkability. What good is more disposable income if i’m too afraid to walk alone at night.
• abetancort 1y ago
  [dead]
• thelastgallon 1y ago
  I wonder if there will be a new fee on H4 visa as well? They weren't allowed to work before.
• AbstractH24 1y ago
  In 2025, with remote work and globally distributed teams common, what's the incentive to bring talent to the US anymore? To even pay the current price for H1B visas.
• 2OEH8eoCRo0 1y ago
  Can I be pro-immigration and anti-H-1B? I want people to come here legally, put down roots, and buy into our way of life. I love to see patriotic first gen immigrants. I don't want our country used as a piggy bank just because we happen to have good paying jobs right now.
• christkv 1y ago
  In 2024 These where the top 10 h1b visa companies. Amazon Com Services LLC- 10,044 H1-B visa holders Tata Consultancy Services LLC- 5,505 Microsoft Corporation- 5,189 Meta Platforms- 5123 Apple Inc- 4,202 Google LLC - 4,181 Cognizant Technology Solution - 2,493 JP Morgan Chase and Co - 2,440 Walmart Associates Inc - 2,390 Deloitte Consulting LLP - 2353 I'm going to speculate that this little is lost by hardening the h1b. The 100 000 a year is not going to stop someone from hiring truly "exceptional" talent.
• socrateswasone 1y ago
  This is great. I have my doubts about Trump but I have to admit, he is keeping his promises. I thought there was no way he would do something like this with the tech oligarchs swarming around him, but it seems they are firmly under his thumb. Sometimes you just need a Caesar.
• nirav72 1y ago
  I can't see this lasting. This could go two ways - either large organizations pay up in some other ways to this administration or this is used as a leverage to force India to come to the table. Also that India receives $36 billion in remittances from overseas Indian workers. The current ruling Party in India is going to feel some pressure from its citizens over that alone.
  • fooker 1y ago
    India is so happy about this change that the only thing they have publicly complained about is the potential for family disruption. > $36 billion One new big tech office in India will generate more than this, and all the tech companies are in a hiring spree in India to do this right now.
• sciencesama 1y ago
  [flagged]
• amai 1y ago
  Tariffs on workers. What could go wrong?
• dagaci 1y ago
  I hear American's have to get in debt for over 100k for the same education thats almost free in so many places, so it might be a kind of balancing things..
  • digianarchist 1y ago
    Employers aren't allowed to pass visa fees straight off to an employee.
• 8note 1y ago
  something i havent seen commented on this time around for h1bs is that they arent just for tech workers, and this change is restricting the hiring of say, rural librarians because they arent gonna be able to afford the 100k price tag.
• ozozozd 1y ago
  Given the Homeland Security Secretary’s power to make exceptions, I get the sense that FAANG will pay in various currencies such as dollars, fealty and bribes/favors to the administration, get their exceptions and unlimited H1Bs, truly achieving the goal of paying less than market wages, pushing all the wages down.
• rramadass 1y ago
  Discussion on The H-1B Visa Program and Its Impact on the U.S. Economy here - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45309740 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45309740
• therealrealpops 1y ago
  Everyone knows that most H1Bs in the US are not exceptional or more qualified than Americans. The ones that are, are the exceptions not the case. Most H1Bs actually have pretty high paying jobs in their countries compared to salaries there. They just want more and use it as a loop hole to get in the US.
• Slava_Propanei 1y ago
  [dead]
• vithlani 1y ago
  [dead]
• KETpXDDzR 1y ago
  India: 71% of H-1B approvals China: 11.7% of H-1B approvals All other nationalities: 17.3% combined Src: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/22/h-1b-fee-hike-whos-gaining-from-these-visas-indian-it-or-us-firms https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/22/h-1b-fee-hike-whos-...