New Delhi: The Trump administration has proposed a major change to how H-1B visas are given out. Instead of using a random lottery, visas would be offered first to jobs that require higher skills and pay higher wages. The H-1B visa is widely used by technology companies to hire foreign workers.
This proposal, announced on Tuesday, is President Trump’s latest effort to change the H-1B program, which critics say takes jobs from Americans. Earlier, the White House also introduced a USD 100,000 fee on new H-1B applications, effective September 21. The government later clarified the fee applies only to new applications, not renewals. Both the new fee and the wage-based selection plan are likely to face court challenges.
Every year, only 85,000 new H-1B visas are available, although universities and research institutions are exempt from this cap. In the past, employers entered a lottery, and if their registration was selected, they could file a petition.
During Trump’s first term, rules were finalised to prioritise higher-paid positions and limit visas for lower-paid roles. The Labor Department also tried to narrow the types of jobs eligible for H-1B visas under the “Buy American, Hire American” policy. However, President Biden later withdrew those rules.
Business groups warned that prioritising only higher wages would harm their ability to hire young professionals, such as recent US graduates. They also objected to using government wage levels to judge a worker’s skill. Many lawyers said the plan might be illegal because the law requires visas to be issued in the order applications are received.
Last year, US Citizenship and Immigration Services changed the lottery to give every worker an equal chance, no matter how many employers applied for them. This change followed concerns that some companies were abusing the system by submitting multiple registrations without genuine job offers, which caused a surge in applications.
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