President Donald Trump has raised the H-1B visa application fee from the current $3,000, linked to six years’ validity, to an annual $100,000 from Sunday, with Indians working in the US expected to be hit the hardest.
Trump on Saturday morning (Indian time) signed the proclamation that says the H-1B visa programme, meant to get highly skilled temporary workers into the US, has been systematically abused to replace American workers with low-paid and low-skilled foreigners.
Over 70 per cent of H-1B visa holders are Indians, working mainly in IT companies. Some of them said Trump’s move would eventually finish off the H-1B programme, and the Indian visa holders would have to migrate to other countries or return home.
India’s Opposition cited the proclamation to portray Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “weak” and question his diplomatic prowess, but India Inc. hoped that the likely return of many skilled professionals from the US could work in the country’s favour.
The H-1B fee is paid by the visa holders’ US employers, who would be unwilling to cough up $100,000 as that is higher than most of these workers’ salaries.
The existing H-1B visa holders will be impacted only after their visas’ six-year validity is over.
However, if any of them is currently abroad, they must return to the US before the proclamation kicks in at 12.01am Eastern Time on Sunday. Else, they must have their visa renewed against a fee of $100,000 to be allowed entry into America.
Many panicky US employers, such as Microsoft, have asked their H-1B employees not to travel overseas and advised those now abroad to return before Saturday midnight.
Airfares from India to the US shot up immediately after news of the proclamation broke.
Trump’s move comes at a time Indian students looking to study in America are staring at another possible setback.
The US government has released a draft policy, seeking feedback, that will restrict student visas to the period of the educational programme, preventing foreign students from staying back and doing more courses or taking up jobs.
Indians make up the largest group of overseas students in the US.
Trump’s proclamation does not apply to those employed as “H-1B specialty occupation workers” in the US national interest.
India reacts
The external affairs ministry on Saturday said it was studying the full implications of the decision while underscoring the role of skilled talent mobility in wealth creation in both India and the US.
Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in response to queries: “Industry in both India and the US has a stake in innovation and creativity and can be expected to consult on the best path forward. Skilled talent mobility and exchanges have contributed enormously to technology development, innovation, economic growth, competitiveness and wealth creation in the United States and India. Policy makers will therefore assess recent steps taking into account mutual benefits, which include strong people-to-people ties between the two countries.”
He also dwelt on the likely humanitarian consequences of the measure in the form of disruption caused to families, adding that India hopedthat these disruptions could be addressed suitably by US authorities.
‘Attack on Indians’
Sudhanshu Kaushik, founder of the North America Association for Indian Students, said Trump wanted to curtail the number of Indian workers in the US.
“It’s a direct attack onIndians who constitute over70 per cent of the total H-1B visa holders in the US,”he said.
“It reflects the anti-immigration sentiments among a section of Americanswho want to promote a homogeneous demography…. (They) want America to remain a country of white Americans.”
Kaushik said the move would hurt American business, leaving companiesstruggling to hire talented workers.
“The US will lose out on business. Many companies will move their operations out of the US,” he said.
An Atlanta-based Indian IT worker said lawsuits would be filed to challenge the order.
“As it looks, this is the end of the H-1B programme. This will disrupt the career of several lakh Indians who are working in the US,” he said.
Foreign influx
The proclamation said: “Some employers, using practices now widely adopted by entire sectors, have abused the H-1B statute and its regulations to artificially suppress wages, resulting in a disadvantageous labor market for American citizens, while at the same time making it more difficult to attract and retain the highest skilled subset of temporary workers.”
Among occupations based on the knowledge of computers and mathematics, the proportion of foreign workers in the US workforce grew from 17.7 per cent in 2000 to 26.1 per cent in 2019, it added.
Abuse of the H-1B visa programme has been the key facilitator of the influx of foreign STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) workers, the proclamation said.
“It is therefore necessary to impose higher costs on companies seeking to use the H-1B program in order to address the abuse of that program while still permitting companies to hire the best of the best temporary foreign workers,” it said.
It quoted reports to suggest that many US tech companies had laid off qualified and highly skilled American workers and hired thousands of H-1B workers.
“The abuse of the H-1B program is also a national security threat. Domestic law enforcement agencies have identified and investigated H-1B-reliant outsourcing companies for engaging in visa fraud, conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, and other illicit activities to encourage foreign workers to come to the United States,” it said.
Currently, the H-1B visa application fee includes a $215 registration fee, $780 basic filing fee, a $750 or $1,500 ACWIA fee (depending on the number of workers the company employs), and a $500 fraud prevention and detection fee.