Devastating impact Trump’s $100,000 price increase for popular US visa could have

President Donald Trump's latest executive order is set to have a devastating impact to one industry in particular, as well as a separate nation.

It takes aim at the businesses making the most of the H-1B visa program, hiking the fee up from $1,500 a year to $100,000.

The program allows skilled foreign workers to be employed in the US, often in science, engineering, and tech roles... but on some occasions, even models can secure it - as First Lady Melania Trump will tell you.

Effective tomorrow (September 21), no foreign worker on a H-1B can enter the US unless their employer pays up.

The Trump administration insists this is about protecting American jobs and only letting in the 'most skilled' talent, but for the hundreds of thousands of Indian professionals who dominate the H-1B system, the consequences are brutal.

Currently, Indian people hold over 70 percent of all H-1Bs. In 2024 alone, more than 200,000 were issued to Indian nationals. If even a fraction of those are hit, the financial toll is immense - $6 billion a year, according to estimates.

President Donald Trump signs a proclamation that would move to extensively overhaul the H-1B visa program (Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The cost could be even higher if the fee is applied at renewals or re-entries, as some officials suggest - and it’s not just new applicants being targeted.

Anyone already on a H-1B who travels abroad and needs a new visa stamp to return, could also be forced to pay, which means a mid-level Indian engineer earning $120K in the US would see over 80% of their salary wiped out by this single fee.

Tech giants like Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta - all heavy users of H-1B talent - are believed to have discussed the decision with the government, according to US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.

Meanwhile, over on Twitter, one user highlighted how the implementation of this latest executive order could have dire consequences to the medical industry.

First Lady Melania Trump made use of the H-1B visa when she flew over from Slovenia to the US in 1996 (Yui Mok - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

"This will be absolutely devastating in the medical field. ~30% residents are international medical graduates & ~10k of 43k residency spots are filled by docs with H1-B visas," they wrote.

"Previously the h-1B fee was <$5,000. No hospital will pay a $100k fee for a $55k resident salary."

Speaking to reporters, Lutnick added: “No more will big tech companies train foreign workers at low cost. They have to pay the government $100,000 and then pay the employee. It’s simply not economical.”

He confirmed that the $100,000 fee for the H-1B visa will need to be paid yearly for six years.

He said: "The company needs to decide... is the person valuable enough to have a $100,000-a-year payment to the government, or they should head home, and they should go hire an American."