On September 19, 2025, President Donald Trump signed a sweeping proclamation that is set to overhaul the landscape for highly-skilled foreign workers and wealthy would-be immigrants seeking entry to the United States. The new order, which has already ignited fierce debate and is expected to face legal challenges, imposes a $100,000 annual fee for companies sponsoring H-1B visas—the main pathway for foreign professionals in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to work in the U.S. It also introduces a $1 million “gold card” visa, offering a fast-track to permanent residency for affluent individuals, and a $5 million “platinum card” granting extended stays without U.S. tax obligations on foreign income.
The H-1B visa program, established in 1990 and long capped at 85,000 annual slots, has been a lifeline for American tech companies seeking talent from around the world. Until now, the cost for an H-1B visa hovered around $215 in government fees, with additional administrative charges totaling about $1,500. The new annual fee marks a staggering increase, one that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says is fully supported by "all big companies." Speaking at the White House, Lutnick declared, "If you’re going to train people, you’re going to train Americans." He added, "If you have a very sophisticated engineer and you want to bring them in ... then you can pay $100,000 a year for your H-1B visa."
Yet, despite Lutnick’s assurances, the silence from the tech industry’s biggest players was notable. Representatives for Amazon, Apple, Google, and Meta did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and Microsoft declined to weigh in. That silence speaks volumes in a sector where H-1B visas have been a crucial tool for filling roles that require advanced expertise. According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data, Amazon was the top recipient of H-1B visas this year, with over 10,000 awarded, followed by Tata Consultancy, Microsoft, Apple, and Google. California remains the state with the highest concentration of H-1B workers, and India continues to be the largest source country, accounting for 71 percent of approved beneficiaries last year, with China a distant second at 11.7 percent.
The Trump administration’s move is framed as a crackdown on what it calls "abuse" of the H-1B system. Critics of the program argue that it has been used to bring in workers willing to accept lower wages, sometimes as little as $60,000 annually, undercutting American salaries and, in some cases, replacing U.S. employees. Consulting giants such as Wipro, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Tata in India, and IBM and Cognizant in the U.S. have been cited as major employers of H-1B workers, often contracting them out for entry-level positions rather than for the rarest skill sets the program was designed to attract.
Supporters of the H-1B system, however, contend that it is essential for maintaining America’s edge in technology and innovation. Deedy Das, a partner at venture capital firm Menlo Ventures, voiced concern on X (formerly Twitter), warning, "If the US ceases to attract the best talent, it drastically reduces its ability to innovate and grow the economy." Some experts, like eMarketer analyst Jeremy Goldman, caution that the new fees might force companies to move high-value work overseas, undermining the U.S. in the global race for technological supremacy. "In the short term, Washington may collect a windfall; in the long term, the US risks taxing away its innovation edge, trading dynamism for short-sighted protectionism," Goldman said.
The new "gold card" and "platinum card" visas add another layer of complexity to the immigration landscape. The gold card, priced at $1 million, offers a pathway to U.S. citizenship for wealthy individuals, while the platinum card, at $5 million, allows foreigners to spend up to 270 days in the U.S. without being subject to taxes on non-U.S. income. Companies wishing to sponsor an employee for a gold card face a $2 million fee. According to Lutnick, these new options would replace existing employment-based visas that currently offer paths to citizenship for professors, scientists, artists, and athletes—potentially reshaping the future of America’s skilled immigration system.
Not everyone is convinced these changes are legal or wise. Doug Rand, a senior official at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services during the Biden administration, called the proposed fee increase “ludicrously lawless.” He added, “This isn’t real policy — it’s fan service for immigration restrictionists. Trump gets his headlines, and inflicts a jolt of panic, and doesn’t care whether this survives first contact with the courts.” Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director of the American Immigration Council, echoed this skepticism, noting, “Congress has only authorized the government to set fees to recover the cost of adjudicating an application.”
The economic impact could be significant. Tahmina Watson, a founding attorney at Watson Immigration Law, warned the BBC that the $100,000 fee could be "a nail in the coffin" for startups and small businesses. "Almost everyone's going to be priced out. This $100,000 as an entry point is going to have a devastating impact," she said. "When employers sponsor foreign talent, more often than not, they're doing that because they have not been able to fulfil those positions." Jorge Lopez, chair of the immigration practice at Littler Mendelson PC, added, “A $100,000 fee will put the brakes on American competitiveness in the tech sector and all industries.”
The H-1B visa program has already seen dramatic shifts in recent years. In 2024, lottery bids for the visas plunged nearly 40 percent, a drop attributed to efforts to curb fraud and abuse—specifically, applicants submitting multiple entries to boost their odds. The U.S. government responded by limiting each employee to a single lottery entry, regardless of how many job offers they held. The AFL-CIO labor group has called for further reforms, advocating for visas to be awarded to companies that pay the highest wages rather than by random lottery—a change Trump also sought during his first term.
For Trump, the latest move is part of a broader push to tie immigration policy to domestic labor protection. The administration has also tightened rules for international students and imposed travel bans on several countries in the name of security and economic self-interest. The debate over H-1B visas has caused divisions even within Trump’s own team, with some advisers supporting the program and others, like former strategist Steve Bannon, pushing for its abolition. Trump himself has acknowledged the complexity of the issue, telling the All-In Podcast earlier this year, “You need a pool of people to work for companies. You have to be able to recruit these people and keep these people.”
As the dust settles, one thing is clear: The future of high-skilled immigration to the U.S. is more uncertain than ever, with the outcome likely to be shaped as much by court battles and congressional negotiations as by presidential proclamations. For now, companies, workers, and would-be immigrants are left to navigate a system in flux, with the stakes for America’s economy and global standing hanging in the balance.
