For many years, U.S. firms have turned to the H-1B visa to draw prime scientists, engineers, and builders from all over the world. Regardless of flaws, shortcomings, and a few controversy, this system has fueled innovation — and served as a formulation for financial success.
However the mannequin that many firms have come to depend on has collided with a brand new political actuality: President Donald Trump’s administration, seeking to promote its America First enterprise framework, has launched vital adjustments to the H-1B program. These embody a $100,000 price on new H-1B petitions and a proposed weighted choice course of that favors higher-paying roles.
These adjustments, whether or not they result in constructive or detrimental outcomes for the U.S., are creating new challenges for employers. “These insurance policies will have an effect on and disrupt industries and the financial system for years to come back,” mentioned Tahmina Watson, an immigration lawyer primarily based in Seattle. “A wholly completely different immigration surroundings is rising.”
For CIOs and different executives, it is clear {that a} new period of labor is rising. Organizations should navigate an more and more pricey and sophisticated expertise surroundings, however in addition they should search for expertise in new locations or think about reconfiguring workplaces and partnerships, to higher reap the benefits of nearshoring and contracting with labor specialists in different nations.
“The $100,000 price has acquired quite a lot of press consideration, however there are fairly just a few proposals and structural adjustments that may have a major impression on organizations, together with universities and hospitals which have traditionally been cap-exempt,” mentioned Jeremy Neufeld, director of immigration coverage on the Institute for Progress, referring to the annual numerical restrict on H-B visas set by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Providers. The Institute of Progress is a science and innovation suppose tank primarily based in Washington, D.C.
H-1B Overhaul: Navigating New Guidelines and Prices
It is no secret that the H-1B program has been beneath scrutiny in recent times. Whereas few observers argue towards its historic deserves, critics have accused firms of abusing the H-1B program, together with paying wages under prevailing market worth, displacing U.S. staff, and gaming the H-1B lottery, which presently has a cap of 85,000 per yr. For perspective, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Providers (USCIS) acquired 343,981 eligible H-1B registrations unfold throughout 57,600 distinctive employers for fiscal yr 2026.
The truth is, the concept of reforming and modernizing the U.S. immigration system is not new. Along with political objections to this system, it has lengthy been mired in inefficiency and issues. The Biden administration proposed a number of adjustments in 2023, together with overhauling the lottery course of, modernizing eligibility guidelines, and nominally updating H-1B charges. Whereas some price will increase passed off, bigger structural adjustments languished as a result of Congress didn’t act.
In September 2025, an enormous transfer was lastly made: President Trump issued a proclamation requiring a $100,000 price on new H-1B petitions. Individually, the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) proposed a wage-weighted choice course of for the lottery.
“A few of these adjustments make sense. Reforming and modernizing the system is an effective goal,” Neufeld mentioned. “Nonetheless, the best way this course of is going down most likely will not obtain the outcomes the administration hopes to realize.”
How H-1B Payment Hikes May Backfire
The most important downside is the concept that firms can cough up $100,000 per applicant to acquire an H-1B visa. “If the purpose is to successfully cease the hiring of international staff and halt immigration, then the price will doubtless be efficient,” states Giovanni Peri, a professor of economics on the College of California, Davis, and a number one professional on immigration.
Bigger firms with deep pockets — the likes of Apple, Google, Microsoft, Meta and Nvidia — usually tend to clear these hurdles, whereas many midsize and smaller firms will doubtless discover themselves priced out of the H-1B market. In addition to struggling to pay the $100,000 price, most lack the authorized sources to shepherd candidates via the immigration maze.
Though critics of the H-1B program argue that firms can and may flip to People, that is simpler mentioned than finished. “It may be extraordinarily troublesome to seek out the precise experience you require,” mentioned Thomas O’Connor, CEO of PlayEveryWare, a gaming co-development studio with workplaces in Seattle and Yokohama, Japan. “The $100,000 cost is not a rounding error; it is an existential risk.”
A Firm Grapples With H-1B Prices, Expertise Loss
PlayEveryWare’s story is not uncommon. The 50-person firm operates on low margins and excessive quantity, with an emphasis on high-quality manufacturing. As a result of the agency works with an array of worldwide firms, workers require international language abilities, an understanding of cultural norms, and a excessive degree of technical proficiency.
The corporate has one worker presently on an H-1B visa and one other within the utility pipeline. The worker looking for a visa is in her remaining yr of faculty and wasn’t chosen in two prior lotteries. “That is her final shot to acquire her H-1B,” O’Connor mentioned. If she’s chosen, the $100,000 cost would not apply if USCIS approves a change from F-1 scholar standing to H-1B whereas she stays within the U.S. Nonetheless, if she is not chosen within the subsequent lottery and has to begin over — the price and uncertainty would make it inconceivable for PlayEveryWare to retain her within the U.S., O’Connor mentioned.
One chance can be to put her within the firm’s Japan workplace. PlayEveryWare can be contemplating opening an workplace in Seoul, South Korea. “It might be extraordinarily troublesome to lose her. We have now spent years coaching her. She is performing high-level engine and rendering work inside a proprietary code base. She is certainly one of our top-performing workers. If we needed to prepare another person, it will come at an enormous value to the corporate,” O’Connor explains.
Along with the short-term ache inflicted on companies like PlayEveryWare, there are doubtless long-term penalties. “A rustic that desires to steer in innovation should appeal to the neatest folks from everywhere in the world,” Peri mentioned. “There is a lengthy historical past of foreign-born college students graduating U.S. universities and going to work for firms or beginning corporations that create an unlimited variety of jobs for native U.S. residents.”
Neufeld mentioned he believes immigration reform should not be framed as an either-or situation. “It is doable to reform H-1Bs and faucet into the worldwide expertise pool whereas coaching folks and constructing abilities domestically,” he mentioned. “Immigrants are about 14% of the U.S. inhabitants, however they account for 40% of the Nobel prizes [in chemistry, medicine, and physics since 2000]. Will we wish to lose entry to this expertise pipeline?”
CIOs’ Function In H-1B Expertise Crunch
Amid a shifting labor panorama, CIOs should take an energetic position in sourcing and retaining expertise. It is necessary to mannequin eventualities, diversify labor pipelines, study the prices and ROI related to nearshoring and offshoring, and discover alternate options such because the O-1 visa for prime performers in addition to L-1A and L-1B visas for intracompany transfers. It is also important to remain knowledgeable as coverage and litigation points change.
There’s additionally no assure that the $100,000 price and different rule adjustments will stick. Two main lawsuits are already within the works: one filed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and one other by a broad coalition of organizations in healthcare and training. And since most of those adjustments stemmed from a presidential proclamation, a future administration might unwind them.
Some, like Watson, say enterprise leaders should additionally let Congress and the president know that whereas H-1B reform is a legitimate goal, the method should be carried out in a considerate and constructive method.
“Folks pour their hearts and souls into constructing companies, and lots of of them rely upon extremely expert international expertise,” Watson mentioned. “If we reduce that off, we danger dropping what has made America nice.”
