Trump’s H-1B changes would keep Jensen Huang’s family from immigrating
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said Wednesday that his family’s immigration to the United States “will not be possible” under the Trump administration’s current policy.
President Donald Trump announced in September that employers would have to pay a $100,000 fee for each H-1B visa, a temporary worker visa issued to foreign professionals with specialized skills.
Huang, who was born in Taiwan and later moved to Thailand, immigrated to the United States with his brother when he was nine years old. About two years later, their parents joined them.
“I don’t think my family could afford $100,000, and so the opportunity for me and my family to be here would not be possible,” Huang told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” he said.
Trump’s sudden price hike came as a shock to the tech sector, which is particularly dependent on foreign talent from India and China.
Amazon It was the top employer for H-1B holders in fiscal year 2025, sponsoring more than 10,000 applicants, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Technology juggernauts Microsoft, Meta, AppleAnd Google they also ranked among the top H-1B employers, with more than 4,000 approvals each.
“Immigration is the foundation of the American dream,” Huang said, “the ideal that anyone can come to America and build a better future for themselves through hard work and some talent.”
Huang added that his own parents came to the United States so his family could benefit from “opportunities” and “this incredible country.”
The CEO confirmed that Nvidia, which currently sponsors 1,400 visas, will continue to cover immigrant workers’ H-1B wages. Huang said he hoped to see some “improvements” in the policy so that there were “still some opportunities for it to happen with any luck.”
Although his own family’s trip will be hampered by Trump’s immigration policy, Huang said Trump’s changes will allow the United States to “continue to attract the world’s best talent.”
And other tech executives have also expressed support for the changes. netflix‘s Reed Hastings In a post on X, he called the fee a “great solution.”
“This will mean that H1-B is only used for very high value jobs, meaning no need for a lottery and greater certainty for those jobs,” Hastings wrote.
In September, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told CNBC’s Jon Fortt that he, too, supports Trump’s changes.
“We need to bring together the smartest people in the country, and streamlining that process and outlining fiscal incentives seems good to me,” Altman said.
