So here I am with my morning coffee, reading the news like I do every day, and I stumble upon this headline that has me literally choking on my drink: Trump just signed something that makes the H-1B visa fee a whopping $100k. A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS.
I had to read it three times because for some reason my brain wouldn’t accept the information. Like, what?
My cousin Raj works in tech and came here on an H-1B from India about five years ago. Smart dude, works very hard at some startup in Austin. I texted him right away: “Dude, did you just see that?” His response? “I’m having a panic attack.”
Yeah, that pretty much sums up how everyone’s feeling right now.
What Just Happened (And Why My Phone Won’t Stop Buzzing)
So here’s the deal. Just last Friday, Trump penned this presidential proclamation that pretty much tore the H-1B visa program inside out. Prior to this bombshell, businesses would pay between $1,700 and as much as $4,500 for the H-1B visa fees, which, don’t get me wrong, wasn’t exactly pocket change, but it were manageable.
Now? They’re talking about $100,000 a petition. Plus vetting costs. Per YEAR. I called my friend who works in HR at a tech company, and she was literally pacing around her office. “Do you realize what that means?” she said. “We have twelve H-1B workers. That’s over a million dollars a year in fees alone!”
The craziest part? This goes into effect immediately. Like, as in right now. Companies that had been preparing to file H-1B petitions are scrambling to figure out what the heck they’re supposed to do.
Why This Hits India So Hard (And Why My WhatsApp Groups Are Going Nuts)
Here’s something that really contextualises this: 71% of H-1B visa holders are from India. Seventy-one percent! So when we talk about the effect of this H-1B visa 100k fee, that’s mostly Indian tech workers and their families.
My neighbor works at Microsoft, and she said their Indian employees are in complete panic. Some of them have been here for years, some in the process of pursuing green cards and building lives in this country. Their kids go to school here. They’ve purchased homes, formed friendships and become embedded in their communities. And now they’re asking if their companies will be able to afford to keep them.
The Indian government went so far as to issue a statement saying this could have “humanitarian consequences”. When governments begin talking about “humanitarian consequences”, you know things have taken a serious turn.
I saw this quote from some investor that really stuck with me: “There is not a single company that I have invested in the last 10 years that could afford to pay this.” Consider that for a moment. Start-ups, small tech companies and even some mid-sized businesses: they simply don’t have an extra $100,000 lying around for each H-1B worker.
The Numbers That Made My Head Spin
Let me break down these H1B visa fees 2025 changes because the math is just wild. Before Friday, here’s what companies typically paid:
- Base filing fee: $460
- H-1B fee: $500
- American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act fee: $750-$1,500
- Public Law 114-113 fee: $4,000 (for large companies)
- Premium processing (optional): $2,805
So say $4,500 if you’re really pushing it on most uses. Now it’s $100,000. That’s a 2,200% increase. Twenty-two hundred percent!
My accountant instincts took over, and I began calculating what this means for various types of companies. How about a tiny startup with three H-1B employees? They are suddenly facing $300,000 in annual fees. That’s an entire salary budget for someone, right there.
The Real Stories That Break Your Heart
But what really gets me doesn’t only involve numbers and company overviews. These are people with real lives.
So my friend’s co-worker, this guy named Pradeep, has been in the U.S. for six years on an H-1B. His wife, too, is on an H-1B visa working for a separate company. They have two children born here; that makes them American citizens. Pradeep’s green card has been processing (forever and ever if you’re from India), and now he is scared that his company will not be able to splurge on this new round of fees.
“What am I supposed to do?” he asked my friend. “Move my American kids to India? Leave everything we’ve built here?”
These are the questions that keep people up at night right now. The whole US visa fees – India relationship has always been complicated, but this is something else. More sudden. More brutal.
How Companies Are Scrambling Right Now
I spoke to some people in the industry, and it’s madness out there. HR departments are holding emergency meetings. Legal teams are working overtime. Some companies are freezing hiring until they determine what this portends for their budgets.
One start-up founder I know said they were just about to hire this rock-star engineer from India. All lined up, offer ready to go. Now? “We’re not in a position, literally, to be able to do that,” he said. “That $100,000 fee is more than we pay in rent for the office for the whole year.”
But here’s what’s really messing with people’s heads: the White House walked back on their announcement and stated that H-1B holders who are already in the U.S. or who are just re-entering the country don’t have to pay the fee. But new petitions? Extensions? Transfers? It’s still unclear.
The confusion is almost worse than the fee itself. People don’t know what applies to them, when it applies, or how to plan for their futures.
What This Really Means for Tech and Beyond
I mean, I understand what Trump is attempting here. The idea from the start has been to force businesses to prioritize American workers over foreign ones. Force them to really think hard before sponsoring an H-1B visa.
But the truth is more complicated. My brother-in-law is at a big tech company, and he claims that half of their engineering team would vanish if H-1B visas were not an option. “These are not jobs that Americans are unwilling to do,” he said. “There are simply not enough qualified Americans to fill all these jobs.
The H-1B program has always been controversial. Some people see it as a way for companies to hire cheaper foreign labor. Others see it as essential for bringing in the best talent from around the world. This fee increase basically forces everyone to pick a side.
Where Do We Go From Here?
Here’s what I find really interesting and kind of sad. The H-1B lottery system was already super competitive. Only about 30% of applications get selected each year. Now, with these massive fees, we’re adding another layer of filtering, as only companies with serious cash can even participate.
Is that fair? I honestly don’t know. What I do know is that real people are affected by this. Families are scared. Companies are scrambling. And nobody really knows what happens next.
My friend Raj texted me back later that day: “Maybe it’s time to look at Canada.” That’s the conversation happening in group chats and family dinners across America right now. People who’ve built their lives here are wondering if they have a future here anymore.
The craziest part about this whole H-1B visa fee situation? It happened so fast that nobody was prepared. One day everything was normal; the next day the entire system got flipped on its head.
Whether you think this policy change is good or bad probably depends on where you’re sitting. But one thing’s for sure: it’s going to change everything about how skilled immigration works in America.
And honestly? We’re all still trying to figure out what that means.