Trump signs proclamation creating $100,000 application fee for H-1B visas | Donald Trump News

Price paid by firms set to remodel high-skill work visa system, upon which know-how sector depends closely.

United States President Donald Trump has signed a proclamation requiring a $100,000 software payment for firms searching for to sponsor employees H-1B visas.

Trump signed the proclamation throughout an occasion within the Oval Workplace, whereas additionally introducing a separate “gold card” visa for people to pay $1 million to expedite their immigration.

Administration officers stated the change to the H1-B programme would guarantee that firms would solely sponsor employees with probably the most rarified talent units.

“We want nice employees, and this gorgeous a lot ensures that’s what’s gonna occur,” he stated.

Nevertheless, such a prohibitive payment will doubtless vastly rework the H-1B system, which was created in 1990 in an effort to spice up industries with high-skilled, hard-to-fill jobs, notably in science, know-how, engineering and math.

The visas are reserved for individuals with bachelor’s levels or increased and have traditionally been awarded by way of a lottery system.

The programme has come beneath elevated scrutiny from the Trump administration amid a wider crackdown on immigration, which Trump has tied to boosting home labour.

As a part of that marketing campaign, the Trump administration has additionally sought to introduce extra restrictive insurance policies on worldwide college students finding out within the US, together with requiring entry to social media accounts and a ban on foreign travellers from a number of nations.

The administration has beforehand thought-about changing the H-1B visa guidelines to favour higher-paying employers, primarily taking out the lottery system.

Supporters of the H-1B programme say it brings one of the best and brightest to work within the US, creating an edge towards international opponents.

Critics have lengthy charged that firms have abused the programme, utilizing it to pay decrease wages and to impose fewer labour protections.

The know-how sector could be the toughest hit by any main change.

This yr, Amazon was by far the highest recipient of H-1B visas, with greater than 10,000 awarded. The corporate was adopted by Tata Consultancy, Microsoft, Apple and Google.

Geographically, California has the best variety of H-1B employees, in accordance with the US Citizenship and Immigration Companies.

In the meantime, India was the biggest beneficiary of H-1B visas final yr, accounting for 71 p.c of accredited beneficiaries. China was a distant second at 11.7 p.c, in accordance with authorities knowledge.

The H-1B visas are accredited for a interval of three to 6 years.