New H-1B visa: Why Trump imposed $100,000 fee — thousand of American worker replaced by...

The Trump administration’s new H-1B visa rule, introduced on Friday, September 19, has raised concern among Indians already in the US as well as those aspiring for the visa in the future. However, the White House offered a slight reprieve by releasing a fact sheet and clarifying some of the key doubts triggered by the proclamation.

US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Saturday, requiring a $100,000 payment to accompany or supplement H-1B petitions for new applications. The White House said the decision was taken to restrict the entry of certain "H-1B aliens" into the US as non-immigrant workers.

On September 19, the White House released a fact sheet detailing the conditions under which the new H-1B visa fee applies. The factsheet was divided into three sections: "Protecting American Jobs", "Combating H-1B Abuses" and "Prioritizing American Workers"

Here's White House factsheet said — key highlights in 10 points

1. The factsheet notes that the proclamation restricts entry for "aliens as non-immigrants" under the H-1B program unless their petition is accompanied by a $100,000 payment.

2. It also included the provision of allowing "case-by-case exemptions if in the national interest" — directing the Secretary of Homeland Security to restrict approvals for petitions that are currently outside the US and that are not accompanied by the payment of $100,000.

3. "The Proclamation requires employers to retain documentation of payment remittance, with the Secretary of State verifying payment during the petition process and the Departments of State and Homeland Security denying entry for non-payment for the relevant aliens and taking other relevant steps needed to implement the Proclamation."

4. The factsheet also claimed that the share of IT workers with H-1B visas has risen from 32 percent in FY 2003 to over 65 percent in recent years.

5. It highlighted that unemployment among recent computer science graduates reached 6.1 percent and 7.5 percent for computer engineering graduates — more than double the rates for biology or art history majors.

6. The factsheet further emphasised that American companies are laying off their American technology workers and seemingly replacing them with H-1B workers. "One company was approved for 5,189 H-1B workers in FY 2025, while laying off roughly 16,000 US employees this year," it said.

7. Citing more examples, the White House said, "Another company was approved for 1,698 H-1B workers in FY 2025, yet announced it was laying off 2,400 US workers in Oregon in July."

"A third company has reduced its US workforce by 27,000 since 2022 while receiving 25,075 H-1B approvals. Yet another company reportedly cut 1,000 American jobs in February despite receiving 1,137 H-1B approvals for FY 2025m," it added.

8. "American IT workers have even been reportedly forced to train their foreign replacements under nondisclosure agreements. The H-1B program is creating disincentives for future American workers to choose STEM careers, which threatens our national security," it added.

9. "The Trump Administration issued new guidance to ensure illegal aliens are not allowed access to federal workforce development resources and related grants, protecting job trainings for American workers," the factsheet said.

10. The White House said President Trump is imposing higher costs on companies seeking to use the H-1B program in order to address the abuse of the program, stop the undercutting of wages, and protect our national security.