Better shot at visa lottery, more talent for Global South: How will new H-1B fees affect tech world?

This article was originally published in Rest of World, which covers technology’s impact outside the West.

It’s been a turbulent week for the global tech industry.

On September 19, US President Donald Trump announced a $100,000 fee for new applicants of H-1B visas, which allow highly skilled workers to live and work in the US for up to six years. Trump framed the order as a crackdown on “abuse” of the visa programme.

The decision triggered a frenzy across the tech industry, which extensively uses the popular visa category. Some of the US’s largest companies – Amazon, Google, and Microsoft – have been among its biggest beneficiaries in recent years. Between 2020 and 2024, Amazon consistently clocked the highest number of approvals and received over 56,000 H-1B visas.

While companies have not yet explained how they plan to navigate this new change, some experts believe it could threaten the global talent pipeline. Others said it would have less impact because employers would be willing to pay the high fee, especially at a time when the competition for top AI researchers and engineering talent is fiercer than ever.

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