What Is the H-1B Visa? Donald Trump Launches ‘Project Firewall’ With $100,000 Annual Fee To Protect American Jobs

US President Donald Trump on Friday signed a proclamation restricting the entry of H-1B visa holders and introducing a steep annual fee of $100,000 per application. The move, aimed at reshaping the high-skilled foreign worker program, is expected to significantly affect Indian professionals employed in the American technology sector.

What is The H-1B Visa Program?

The H-1B visa allows companies to hire foreign nationals for specialized, high-skilled jobs that are hard to fill with U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Under the new order, any company seeking to bring in workers under this category must now pay the federal government $100,000 per visa each year.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed the fee hike, noting that “all big companies” support the plan.

Also Read: H-1B Visa Fee To Be $100,000 Dollar? Trump’s New Plan Sends Shockwaves Across U.S. And Global Tech Industry

“In some cases, companies are going to pay a lot of money for H-1B visas,” Lutnick said. He stressed that the policy is designed to deter businesses from training foreign workers instead of American graduates.

“They have to pay the government $100,000, then they have to pay the employee. So it’s just not economic,” Lutnick explained.

“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. That’s the policy here. All of the big companies are on board.”

Logic Behind The H-1B Visa Proclamation

White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf highlighted that the proclamation aims to ensure only irreplaceable, highly skilled foreign workers are hired.

“One of the most abused visa systems is the H-1B non-immigrant visa program,” Scharf said. “

This is supposed to allow highly skilled laborers who work in fields that Americans don’t work in to come into the United States. What this proclamation will do is raise the fee that companies pay to sponsor H-1B applicants to $100,000. This will ensure that the people they’re bringing in are actually very highly skilled and that they’re not replaceable by American workers.”

The Department of Labor announced on X, “The days of employers abusing H-1B Visas are over. Introducing PROJECT FIREWALL- our plan to ensure high-skilled jobs go to AMERICANS FIRST.”

Also Read: What Is The New H1-B Visa Fees Introduced By Donald Trump? Here’s How Much Money Indians Will Have To Pay In Rupees