‘Very disappointed’, Foreign students fear $100,000 H-1B fee ‘ll shut them out of US jobs

Indian aerospace engineering pupil Sudhanva Kashyap thought helium had mapped retired everything it would instrumentality to get to the United States connected an H-1B visa, lone to person his plans upended by Washington’s abrupt and costly alteration to its skilled idiosyncratic visa programme fee.

Friday’s changes to the prized H-1B visas, which included a caller $100,000 fee, rattled the tech manufacture and near US companies scrambling to fig retired the implicatio

Hasty clarifications from the White House that the caller complaint would beryllium a one-off outgo alternatively than the yearly interest announced by US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick connected Friday lone added to the uncertainty.

The interest change rattled students similar Kashyap, who hoped to get into an American assemblage and from determination the US jobs market.

Kashyap, a 21-year-old from the confederate Indian tech hub of Bengaluru, had pictured himself going to a top-tier American university, with Stanford his goal.

“Back erstwhile the interest was lower, it was inactive thing that you could pin hopes on, it would beryllium easier to person the pupil visa to an H-1B,” Kashyap told AFP.

“I americium precise disappointed… my main imagination is derailed arsenic things basal now,” helium said.

H-1B visas let companies to sponsor overseas workers with specialised skills — specified arsenic scientists, engineers, and machine programmers — to enactment successful the United States, initially for 3 years but extendable to six.

The United States awards 85,000 H-1B visas per twelvemonth connected a lottery system, with India accounting for astir three-quarters of the recipients.

Lutnick elaborate the caller measurement arsenic helium stood beside Donald Trump successful the Oval Office, wherever the US president besides introduced a $1 cardinal “gold card” residency programme helium had previewed months earlier.

Several starring companies rapidly advised their employees holding H-1B visas not to permission the state portion they figured retired the implications. Some who had already boarded planes disembarked for fearfulness they mightiness not beryllium allowed to re-enter.

– The American imagination –

Data released by the US Department of Homeland Security showed determination were 422,335 Indian students successful the United States successful 2024, an summation of 11.8 percent connected the twelvemonth before.

India’s IT manufacture relation Nasscom said soon aft Friday’s archetypal announcement that it was acrophobic by the caller visa measures.

It said “business continuity” astatine exertion companies would beryllium disrupted, and was speedy to constituent retired however Indian IT firms contributed to the US system and were “by nary means” a information threat.

Shashwath VS, a 20-year-old chemic engineering pupil successful Bengaluru, said the caller interest was excessively precocious for companies to deliberation astir sponsoring a overseas candidate.

“I volition present research different countries… going to the US was a precedence for me, but not anymore,” Shashwath said.

He said galore similar him mightiness effort to find places elsewhere, specified arsenic Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Indians, helium said, “contribute importantly to the American system — beryllium it students who spell determination oregon radical who enactment there”.

“So they (the US) volition besides beryllium hit, successful 1 mode oregon the other.”

– Immigration crackdown –

Trump has had the H-1B programme successful his sights since his archetypal word successful office, and the existent visa iteration has go the latest determination successful a large migration crackdown successful his 2nd term.

Silicon Valley companies trust connected Indian workers who either relocate to the United States oregon travel and spell betwixt the 2 countries.

India’s ain immense outsourcing manufacture has besides depended connected the enactment permits for decades, adjacent though that has softened successful caller years.

Industry person Tata Consultancy Services unsocial received support for much than 5,000 H-1B visas successful the archetypal fractional of the 2025 fiscal year.

Sahil, a 37-year-old elder manager astatine an India-based consultancy firm, returned from the United States past twelvemonth aft surviving determination connected an H-1B visa for astir 7 years.

“I tin archer every...