September 20, 2025

US President Donald Trump dropped a bombshell on the H1B visa program on Friday. The new rule? A whopping $100,000 fee to apply! To put it simply, this huge fee is more than what most H1B visa holders make in a year. Yes, you read that right! For fresh workers, this visa fee actually beats their median salary, which is around $97,000 according to a 2025 US Citizenship and Immigration Services report. Imagine paying more for your visa than you earn! This can crush the hopes of many skilled workers who want to come to the US to work, especially Indians, who are the biggest winners of this program. Out of nearly 400,000 H1B visas approved in 2024, a staggering 71% went to Indians. China, the second largest recipient, only got about 12%. This shows just how tough the new visa fee will hit India – even more than the high tariffs Trump had put on Indian goods. What’s surprising is the change in fees itself. Normally, companies pay $215 to enter the visa lottery and $780 when sponsoring the visa. Now, Trump is proposing a jaw-dropping $100,000 application fee, which some reports say could be an annual charge too. Plus, there’s a new 'gold-card' visa scheme charging people $1 million to $2 million for entry, turning the dream of working or investing in the US into a golden, but costly, ticket. The Financial Times explained, "The six-figure ($100,000) application fee — which (US Secretary of Commerce Howard) Lutnick said employers would have to pay annually — marks a departure for the government. A White House executive order states that the payment is an application fee and does not mention an annual payment," adding some confusion about how this will exactly work. With these massive fees, it’s hard to imagine companies applying for H1B visas at all. This could effectively kill the program that has helped thousands of Indians build careers and contributed hugely to the US tech industry. Experts warn this move is “yet another debilitating blow to Indo-US relations.” The already tricky trade war and tariffs get a tough companion in this visa fee hike. Will India fight back? Will skilled workers find new paths? Or will this mark the end of an era for Indian professionals in America? The world watches closely as the story unfolds.

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Tags: H1b visa, Donald trump, Us-india relations, Visa fees, Immigration, India,