President Donald Trump will seek to increase the cost of a temporary H-1B visa by almost 1,000% via a future proclamation. The program applies to foreign workers with a baccalaureate and job offers for American employers in certain specialized professions.
As of Friday, reports Bloomberg, Trump plans to sign a proclamation prohibiting entry under H-1B without payment of $ 100,000. This is a marked increase compared to the costs of $ 995 currently required by H-1B candidates (registration fees of $ 215, as well as $ 780 for the petition for the employer).
MSNBC’s economics in economics Catherine Rampell described this decision as coherent with other Trump administration decisions about to compromise the “role of America as a world leader in science and innovation”, in particular to eliminate the public service, cancel research subsidies and expel international students.
“These are visas for skilled workers – women, scientists and engineers,” wrote Pramila Jayapal representative, a progressive democrat, on X. “This decision will harm us in innovation and exacerbate an already serious shortage of health professionals. In what world does it make sense?”
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, scholarship holder of the American immigration council, observed That this decision would aggravate a continuous shortage of doctors in the United States: “Each year, hundreds of doctors obtain H-1B visas to help fill these shortcomings,” he noted. “If the hospitals were to pay additional costs of $ 100,000, it is possible that they simply abandon and do not even try to provide positions.”
Reichlin-Melnick also stressed that the action is “likely to be canceled before the courts”, since the United States government does not have “the statutory authority to impose costs designed to limit the use of a visa”. Sam Peak of the Economic Innovation Group also predicted that the administration “will be continued and lost” during this decision, since the Ministry of Internal Security “has a calendar of biannual costs where they can modify the costs after notice and comments”.
