WASHINGTON—An industry group representing the country’s largest tech companies is urging the Trump administration to withdraw its proposal to charge companies $103,265 for most new H-1B visa applications, reigniting a fight between the White House and Silicon Valley over a popular program for highly skilled immigrants.
The H-1B issue became a concern for tech companies about a year ago, when Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suddenly announced via an executive order signed on a Friday afternoon that new and existing H-1B visa holders would have to pay a $100,000 fee. Because they weren’t sure if they would be allowed back into the country without paying the fee, the move set off a weekend scramble among tech companies, which raced to tell employees who were traveling abroad and already visa holders to return to the U.S..
TechNet also represents smaller companies, which analysts say would be hardest hit by the fee. More top scientists in the field from China, South Korea and Europe are staying at home, recent studies from organizations including the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank have found. Visa holders can eventually become eligible to apply for green cards, which let them stay in the country indefinitely.
Created by Congress in 1990, the H-1B program is the main pathway to the U.S. for highly skilled foreign workers, making it an engine of the tech industry and startup ecosystem.
TechNet, which filed the public comment, represents the biggest internet platforms as well as leading artificial-intelligence companies, including OpenAI and Anthropic, and said the policy could set the U.S. back in the AI race against China. “This proposal undermines the president’s championing of American global competitiveness, preventing U.S. companies from accessing the top talent from around the world they need to lead the world in innovation, build successful businesses and create prosperity for American communities,” the group wrote. CEOs including Jensen Huang of Nvidia, another TechNet member, have said that roughly half the world’s AI researchers are Chinese, meaning that restrictive policies could backfire on the U.S.
Hoping to force companies to hire American workers , the Trump administration has taken unprecedented steps to restrict legal immigration avenues, especially those that allow international students to remain in the U.S. for work and eventually become citizens. DHS proposed the new $103,265 fee last month. Because tech companies — which consistently oppose tightening access to immigration paths—have almost uniformly supported President Trump’s policies of minimal regulation and tax cuts, the sector’s opposition, filed Thursday as a public comment on the Department of Homeland Security’s pending H-1B fee rule, is significant.
