Donald Trump’s USD 100,000 H1-B visa fee sparks concerns for Indians in US

In a move that could adversely impact Indian professionals on visas in the US President Donald Trump on Friday signed a proclamation that will raise the fee for H1B visas to a staggering USD 100000 annually the latest in the administrations efforts to crack down on immigrationWhite House staff secretary Will Scharf said the H1B nonimmigrant visa programme is one of the most abused visa systems in the countrys current immigration system and it is supposed to allow highly skilled labourers who work in fields that Americans dont work in to come into the United StatesThe Trump administration said that the USD 100000 fee is aimed at ensuring that the people being brought into the country are actually very highly skilled and do not replace American workers The move is aimed at protecting American workers while ensuring that companies have a pathway to hire truly extraordinary people and bring them to the United States Companies pay to sponsor H1B applicantsWe need workers We need workers We need great workers and this pretty much ensures that thats whats going to happen Trump said as he signed the proclamation in the Oval Office in the presence of Commerce Secretary Howard LutnickLutnick said that historically the employmentbased Green Card programme let in 281000 people a year and those people earned USD 66000 a year on average and were five times more likely to participate in assistance programmes of the government So we were taking in the bottom quartile below the average American It was illogical the only country in the world that was taking in the bottom quartile Lutnick saidWe are going to stop doing that Were going to only take extraordinary people at the very top instead of those trying to take jobs from Americans Theyre going to create businesses and create jobs for Americans And this programme will raise more than USD 100 billion for the treasury of the United States he addedTrump said that the country will use that amount to cut taxes and pay down debt We think its going to be very successful Trump said Lutnick added that the fee of USD 100000 dollars will be charged annually The move is going to significantly impact Indian technology workers who are hired by tech companies and others on H1B visas The visas are valid for three years and can be renewed for another three yearsIf a company sponsors an employee for the Green Card the visas can be renewed till the permanent residency comes through However Indians on work visas in the US are caught in a decadeslong wait for Green Cards and the new move could have an impact on whether they can continue to stay in the US if their companies decide not to pay the USD 100000 fee annually now required to retain the visasSo the whole idea is no more will these big tech companies or other big companies train foreign workers They have to pay the government USD 100000 then they have to pay the employee So its just not economicIf youre going to train somebody youre going to train one of the recent graduates from one of the great universities across our land train Americans Stop bringing in people to take our jobs Thats the policy here And all of the big companies are on board Weve spoken to them about Lutnick saidTrump said that the tech companies love it They really love it They really love it They need it The main thing is were going to have great people coming in Trump also signed an executive order entitled The Gold Card aimed at setting up a new visa pathway for foreigners of extraordinary ability who are committed to supporting the United StatesUnder the Gold Card programme individuals who can pay USD 1 million to the US Treasury or USD 2 million if a corporation is sponsoring them will get access to expedited visa treatment and a path to a Green Card in the countryWere taking in hundreds of billions of dollars The Gold Card will be taking in hundreds of billions of dollars and companies will be able to keep some people they need They need people of expertise great expertise I think its going to be a fantastic thing and were going to take that money and were going to reduce taxes were going to reduce debt Trump saidWhen asked if the new USD 100000 fee will apply to the H1B visa holders already in the country to renewals or to those applying for the first time from abroad Lutnick said Renewals first times the company needs to decide Is that person valuable enough to have USD 100000 a year payment to the government or they should head home and they should go hire an AmericanIt can be a total of six years so USD 100000 a year So either the person is very valuable to the company and America or theyre going to depart and the company is going to hire an American Thats the point of immigration hire Americans and make sure the people coming in are the top top people Stop the nonsense of letting people just come into this country on these visas that were given away for free The president is crystal clear Valuable people only for America Stop the nonsense Lutnick saidOn whether the technology CEOs who hire foreign workers on H1B visas are concerned about the new move Trump said theyre going to be very happy Everyones going to be happy And were going to be able to keep people in our country that are going to be very productive people And in many cases these companies are going to pay a lot of money for that and theyre very happy about it he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever