New Delhi: US President Donald Trump on Saturday (India time) announced a sharp increase in the cost of applying for H1-B visas, raising the fee to $100,000 per petition. The decision, set to take effect immediately, is projected to hit India hardest, since Indians form the overwhelming majority of H1-B holders and Indian IT firms are among the biggest users of the programme.
According to the latest US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data, roughly 2.8 lakh Indians are in the US on H1-B visas—far ahead of China (just over 50,000) and Canada (under 5,000). In FY 2024, USCIS approved 399,395 H1-B petitions, of which 141,205 were for new employment and the rest were renewals and extensions. Around 71-73% of those approvals went to Indian nationals, translating to 191,000 in FY 2023 and 207,000 in FY 2024.
The programme is dominated by large technology firms. Amazon secured 10,044 approvals in FY 2025, followed by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) with 5,505, Microsoft with 5,189, Meta with 5,123, Apple with 4,202 and Google with 4,181. Based on the Indian share, Amazon alone employs more than 7,000 Indians on H1-Bs, while TCS employs nearly 4,000. Infosys, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Cognizant have also long relied on the visa to place thousands of engineers at client sites in the US
Trump, while justifying the steep hike, claimed that the visa system was “being abused”.
Describing it as “terrible,” he said it had allowed companies to close IT divisions, fire American staff and hire cheaper foreign workers instead. The proclamation highlighted examples of firms securing thousands of H1-Bs while simultaneously cutting US jobs: one firm approved for 5,000 workers laid off 15,000 employees; another obtained 1,700 visas while cutting 2,400 jobs in Oregon; a third eliminated 27,000 jobs since 2022 while securing 25,000 visas; a fourth cut 1,000 jobs even as it obtained 1,100 H1-Bs. Experts said those unnamed companies were linked to India.
With the new $100,000 fee, the cost of sponsoring workers will rise dramatically from the existing few thousand dollars. If charged at each re-entry, the total cost of a three-year stay may run into several hundred thousand dollars, experts warned.
While Silicon Valley giants may absorb these increases for highly specialised roles, but for Indian IT services firms that file thousands of applications annually, the bill will run into billions. Smaller consultancies, which have long relied on H1-B placements, could find their models unviable.
A senior executive at a top Indian IT company stated that the financial impact could be staggering. “Even if only 60,000 Indians are affected, the annual cost would total $6 billion (Rs 53,000 crore). A full-scale effect could raise India’s liability to Rs 1.8 lakh crore,” he told The Sunday Guardian.
For a mid-level Indian engineer in the US earning $120,000, more than 80% of the income would be wiped out by the fee, making migration viable only for top earners. Indian students graduating from US universities and seeking H1-Bs would also be blocked, cutting off critical career pathways, he added.
Anurag Mehra, Director at Expert Panel, told The Sunday Guardian, “For many Indians, the H1-B visa has long been a pathway to better opportunities, higher income, and the dream of earning in dollars. To pursue this, thousands take on significant loans to cover relocation, visa costs, or even purchases like a car or home in the US. With the proposed $100,000 annual visa fee, this dream is becoming financially unfeasible. Many professionals may be forced to return to India or abandon their US plans altogether, all the while remaining burdened by substantial debt. This could lead to a sharp rise in loan defaults, both in India and the US, trapping borrowers through no fault of their own.”
Harsh Pant, Vice President of the Observer Research Foundation and Professor at King’s College London, said India has reasons to be concerned. “Countless Indian professionals depend on the visa for career growth. US technology and service sectors will also feel the impact, as their reliance on H1-Bs stems from a lack of skilled domestic talent. If hiring foreign workers suddenly becomes costlier, the consequences will be felt widely,” he told The Sunday Guardian.
According to a senior functionary with a Bengaluru-based IT company, the shockwaves would be felt across industries. “Indian IT giants such as Infosys, TCS, Wipro, HCL Technologies, and Cognizant have long relied on H1-Bs to place thousands of engineers at client sites in the US. That model now faces disruption, as sending junior or mid-level staff becomes uneconomical. Companies will have no choice but to rethink their operations. More delivery work is likely to shift back to India or move to near-shore hubs in Canada and Mexico,” another IT industry official said.
The massive hike, as per market watchers, was unexpected. Shares of India’s top IT firms had been steady through the past month, suggesting investors had not priced in such a steep increase. Analysts note that if the hike had been anticipated, stock prices would likely have softened in advance.
The proclamation made by Trump on Saturday morning, India time, has been explicit that IT outsourcing firms are its main target. Tech workers make up more than 65% of all H1-B approvals—up from 32% in 2003—with “outsourcing companies” accused of importing staff at a 36% discount to American wages.
Since Indians hold the overwhelming majority of these IT visas, industry leaders see the fee hike as a move that disproportionately penalises them.
The text even describes such firms as a “national security threat.”
The fallout is expected to be immediate. Fewer openings for Indian graduates hoping for US assignments, tighter filters for mid-career workers, and uncertainty for existing H1-B holders as renewals and transfers also attract the higher cost.
Mamta Shekhawat, founder of Gradding.com, which specialises in overseas education, warned that “companies are likely to cut sponsorships, limiting opportunities for most graduates. While top-tier talent may still find openings, average professionals could face shrinking prospects, pushing many students to consider Canada and the UK.”
The impact extends beyond technology. Banks like Citigroup and Capital One, and telecom giants Verizon and AT&T, have become some of the largest end-users of H1-B talent. For them, the $100,000 charge is a direct threat to critical pipelines in artificial intelligence, semiconductors and cloud computing. Startups and research labs may find the costs impossible to bear.
The broader economic implications of this proclamation are also expected to be severe. India received about $120-125 billion in remittances in 2023, with roughly 60-62% of IT sector revenue coming from the US. Fewer placements mean less money flowing back home.
Economist Akash Jindal, however, argued the US could end up hurting itself. “While the fees seem alarming, they will ultimately hurt the US more. Indian IT professionals remain in high demand, and America cannot easily replace them. Rising visa costs will likely be passed on to clients, driving up US inflation,” he said, comparing the move to tariffs that raised prices without creating jobs.
Former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant echoed the same sentiment on X, warning that Trump’s $100,000 fee would “choke US innovation and turbocharge India’s.” By closing the door on global talent, he said, the US risks pushing the next wave of labs, patents, startups and innovation to Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and Gurugram.
The new rules have caused significant panic among Indians working in the US.
A young couple from Bihar, who are based in California on the H1-B visa, said that it has caused anxiety among the peers. “Everyone is talking about it, and there’s a lot of panic. Many of my friends have kids finishing high school, so it’s a very critical time for them, and they’re the most worried. People are also anxious about job security. The new entry rule is another big concern for folks like us—even if we still have valid visas for some time, renewals, stamping, and travel to India are going to become nearly impossible,” the wife said.
In recent months, the Trump administration has taken several steps New Delhi views as unfriendly. Washington slapped additional 25% tariffs on Indian goods over India’s continued purchase of Russian oil, later raising duties on some items to nearly 50%. The US embassy in New Delhi revoked or denied visas to a group of Indian business executives on grounds of alleged links to fentanyl precursor trafficking, even as pictures surfaced of Indian nationals being deported in increasing numbers, sometimes under harsh conditions. Later, Trump gave statements after Operation Sindoor that were described as false and self-praising at the cost of Indian strategic interests.
The H1-B visa was introduced in 1990 to allow US companies to hire foreign professionals in specialised fields, typically in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
