US President Donald Trump slapping a $100,000 annual fee on each H-1B visa holder saw some voices suddenly finding in it an opportunity for India even as most feared for the software services industry.
Trump’s fee “will choke U.S. innovation, and turbocharge India’s,” declared Amitabh Kant, till recently India’s Sherpa at the G-20 and former CEO of the NITI Aayog.
“By slamming the door on global talent, America pushes the next wave of labs, patents, innovation and startups to Bangalore and Hyderabad, Pune and Gurgaon. India’s finest Doctors, engineers, scientists, innovators have an opportunity to contribute to India’s growth & progress towards #ViksitBharat.
“America’s loss will be India’s gain,” Kant wrote on X on Saturday morning, hours after news broke of Trump’s move.
Not everyone was as convinced.
“Modi - Dolaand friendship is turning out to be very expensive for India,” wrote Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge on X (formerly Twitter). “Modi ji’s best friend signs an executive order imposing a $100,000 annual fee on H-1B visas. A move that hits Indian tech workers the hardest, since more than 70% of all H-1Bs go to Indians.
“This comes after the 50% tariff, the HIRE Act, the lifting of the Chabahar port sanction exemption and even his call asking the EU to put a 100% tariff on Indian goods. Thank you Modiji.”
The White House order, titled Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers, says that the H-1B programme “has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled” labour.
It takes note, particularly of STEM (Science, tech engineering, math) fields and the IT industry.
“Information technology (IT) firms in particular have prominently manipulated the H-1B system, significantly harming American workers in computer-related fields,” it says.
“The share of IT workers in the H-1B program grew from 32 percent in Fiscal Year (FY) 2003 to an average of over 65 percent in the last 5 fiscal years. In addition, some of the most prolific H-1B employers are now consistently IT outsourcing companies.”
Read the White House order here
Indian-American Democrat US Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi called Trump’s move a “reckless attempt to cut America off from high-skilled workers who have long strengthened our workforce, fuelled innovation, and helped build industries that employ millions of Americans.”
Many H-1B holders become US citizens and entrepreneurs, he pointed out: “While other nations race to attract global talent, the United States should strengthen its workforce and modernise our immigration system, not erect barriers that weaken our economy and security.”
Khanderao Kand of the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS) described the move as “unfortunate” with “a huge negative impact on business, particularly the softbare/tech industry, as well as US-educated STEM talent who are already struggling due to the negative impact of AI and tariffs.”
The H-1B programme currently allows 65,000 visas annually, with another 20,000 reserved for workers holding advanced degrees.
Trump’s signing the order has sparked panic in many tech companies operating in the US. Many of them have advised their H-1B employees currently outside the US to return within 24 hours. Such visa holders and their dependants on H-4 visas are being advised not to travel outside America.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director of the American Immigration Council, questioned whether the new fee was even legal. “Congress has only authorised the government to set fees to recover the cost of adjudicating an application,” he wrote on Bluesky.
Trump’s move will come under legal challenge in America, but it has upended the lives of thousands of Indians already.
(With agency inputs)
