Trump signs proclamation adding $100K annual fee for H-1B visa applications
Washington (AP)-President Donald Trump signed a statement that requires a $ 100,000 visa fee for high-skilled foreign workers, and presented a $ 1 million “Golden Card” visa for US citizenship for US citizenship, and acting among the common difficulties that the congress is a congress.
If the movements are collected legally, it will provide surprising price increases. The visa fee for qualified workers would jump from $ 215. For investor visas, which were common in many European countries, fees would climb $ 10,000-20,000 a year.
H-1B visas, which require at least a license, are for high qualified jobs that technology companies find it difficult to fill. Critics say that the program is usually a pipeline for overseas workers, who are generally willing to work as less than 60,000 dollars a year, and is usually well below the $ 100,000 salaries paid to US technology employees.
On Friday, Trump insisted that the technology industry would not oppose the movement. Trade Secretary Howard Lutnick said the “all big companies” on board.
Representatives of the largest technology companies, including Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta, did not respond immediately to messages for comments on Friday. Microsoft avoided commenting.
Lutnick said that the change would probably result in a much less H-1B visa than the 85,000 CAP per year, because “not economic anymore”.
“If you will educate people, you will educate Americans.” Lutnick said at a conference meeting with journalists. “If you have a very sophisticated engineer and want to bring them … Then you can pay $ 100,000 a year for your H-1B visa.”
Trump announced that it will be Start selling a “Golden Card” visa 1 million dollars after the veterinaryism, leading to US citizenship. Sponsoring a employee for companies will cost $ 2 million.
The Tr Trump Platinum Card ”will be available for $ 5 million and will allow foreigners to spend up to 270 days in the US without taxation in the US in the USA. Trump announced a $ 5 million gold card in February to replace an existing investor visa – this is now the Platinum card.
Lutnick said that gold and platinum cards will replace employment -based visas that provide citizenship, including professors, scientists, artists and athletes.
The critics of H-1BS visas, who said that they were used to replace American workers, applauded the movement. US technology employees, a defender group, called the “next best thing to eliminate visas.
Doug Rand, a senior official in US citizenship and immigration services during the Biden administration, said that the proposed wage increase was “ridiculously unlawful”.
“This is not a real policy – fan service for migrant restrictives, Rand said Rand. “Trump takes the headlines and applies a panic tremor and does not care if this is the first contact with the courts.”
Lutnick said H-1B fees and gold cards can be introduced by the President, but the Platinum card needs congress approval.
Historically, H-1B visas were removed from the lottery. This year, Amazon was the best buyer of the H-1B visa, which is a given more than 10,000, and then Tata Consultancy, Microsoft, Apple and Google. Geographically, California has the highest number of H-1B workers.
Critics say that the H-1B points are rather than high-level positions with unique skill requirements. Although the program does not have to reduce US wages or replace US workers, critics say that even if employees have more experience, they can pay less by classifying the jobs at the lowest skill levels.
As a result, many US companies find the contract of help tables, programming and other basic tasks to consulting companies such as Wipro, InfoS, HCL technologies and TATA in India, and these consulting companies often hire foreign workers from India and make contract with foreign workers to save money.
First Lady Melania Trump, former Melania Knauss, was given an H-1B working visa to work as a model in October 1996. He was born in Slovenia.
In 2024, lottery offers for visas fell approximately 40%, which is more than one, sometimes suspicious applications to increase the chances of being elected, sometimes by sending suspicious applications, the system was caused by success against people.
Large technology companies using H-1B visas sought changes after major increases in offers. Probably fraud and exploitation, this year, USCIS, every employee is just a shot in the lottery, get a job offer or 50.
Critics welcomed the change, but said that more should be done more. Last year, AFL-CCO wrote that the changes in the lottery “contain some steps in the right direction”, and wrote that the necessary reforms were insufficient. The group of workers wants visas to companies paying the highest fee instead of random lottery, which is a change in Trump’s first period in the White House.
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Ortutay, California, Associated Press writers Adriana Gomez Licon’dan ft. Lauderdale, Fla. And Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report.
