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

reuters.com

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

#701

Post by newfriend »

kelnos wrote: post #396
breadwinner wrote: post #18

$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.

This isn't about what makes sense. This is about finding a punchy number that sounds big and makes Trump's base happy. "$100k fee (that covers 3/6 years)" sounds more impressive than "$33k per year" or "$17k per year", so that's what they went with. Ultimately this isn't going to do anything to reform the H-1B program; this is just trump "doing something", which he'll claim as a success (and his base will eat up), ev…

It's 100k per person per year. And I am ecstatic.

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

#702

Post by dbmnt »

hx8 wrote: post #536
guyzero wrote: post #248

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 compan…

> This is a de facto shutdown of the program No, this is just another tariff. If it costs $200k/yr to employee an H1B Software Engineer, and you expect them to work for you for 3 years, it raises the cost of employment from $200k/yr to $233k/yr. It'll discourage people from applying on the margins, which will bring the application rate down and acceptance rate up.

It's an annual fee. It would raise the cost to $300k/yr.

https://apnews.com/article/h1b-visa-trump-immigration-8d3969...

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

#703

Post by Terretta »

positr0n wrote: post #11
esalman wrote: post #2

All it'll do is replace competent workers who don't have $100k to spare, with incompetent workers who have the money.

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.

> $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.

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

#705

Post by onesociety2022 »

Alex3917 wrote: post #533

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.

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.

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

#706

Post by mavelikara »

cogman10 wrote: post #36

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.

> It's something like 50k right now which is ridiculous

It is ridiculous. Do you have a citation for the $50K number?

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

#707

Post by never_inline »

frogblast wrote: post #80

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, an…

> 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.

You underestimate the ability of INFY/TCS etc.. to game these laws.

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

#709

Post by intermerda »

epistasis wrote: post #572
bhouston wrote: post #531

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/g…

This is very short term thinking, in that it assumes a constant amount of work and ignores the global competition for labor. If the US loses its massive lead in the network effects of a large labor pool, the amount of work in the US will shrink, both by moving to other countries and less overall innovation. This is not a beneficial move for most software engineers.

You're applying economics when the problem is fundamentally racial. Trump has exposed the dark underbelly of the US. The comments in this thread as well as elsewhere just show the fundamental lack of empathy - which I know is a made up word unless someone with the "right" political leanings was harmed.

Of course the visa is a privilege and there are tons of abuses associated with it. There are methodical ways of going about it and actually fixing the problem. Slapping a $100k fee with unclear language and no heads-up uproots while uprooting lives of so many people have lived in the country for years if not decades, maintained legal status, and paid taxes including Social Security and Medicare is "a smart move" according to the top comment.

But we all know what the real problem is. If majority of the H-1B visa holders had the right skin color, they would be welcome with open arms regardless of any abuse of the system. Just like how South African refugees are welcome while other those from the "wrong" kind of country are not.

"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you." ― Lyndon B. Johnson

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

#710

Post by rediguanayum »

Also announced today is the Trumpcard, a visa for super wealthy individuals. HN: 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-vis... and says that it's $1 million for individuals and $2 million for corporations. The Trumpcard website is https://trumpcard.gov/ and is a terrible parody of itself.
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