By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – US Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday proposed amendments to the regulations governing the issuance of work visas after the US President Donald Trump announced a major hike in H-1B visa fees.
According to reports, the DHS plans to replace the existing lottery system with a “weighted selection process that would generally favor the allocation of H-1B visas to higher-skilled and higher-paid workers, while maintaining opportunities for employers to hire at all wage levels.”
The H-1B program, used by US companies to hire skilled tech workers—mostly from India—is capped at 85,000 new visas annually.
Trump signed a proclamation introduced a $100,000 fee for each new application.
The confusion arose as many believed the fee would apply to existing visa holders. The White House later clarified that it would be a one-time fee applicable only to new visa applications.
“This is a one-time fee that applies only to petitions. It applies to new visas, not renewals or current holders, and will first take effect in the upcoming lottery cycle,” a White House official was quoted as saying in media reports
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said the decision reflected Trump’s commitment to prioritizing American workers.
“This common-sense action discourages companies from spamming the system and driving down wages. It also gives certainty to American businesses that genuinely want to hire high-skilled workers, but have been undermined by abuses of the system,” Rogers said.
