Silicon Valley hiring in turmoil after new H-1B visa fees, move spurs offshoring talk

September 23, 2025 4:13 PM

Silicon Valley hiring in turmoil after new H-1B visa fees, move spurs offshoring talk

The Trump administration's hefty new visa fees for H-1B workers have prompted high-level talks inside companies in Silicon Valley and beyond on the possibility of moving more jobs overseas - precisely the outcome the policy was meant to stop. U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday announced the change to the visa program that has long been a recruitment pathway for tech firms and encouraged international students to pursue postgraduate courses in the United States. While the $100,000 levy appli...

US new H-1B visa fee will not apply to existing holders, White House says

September 21, 2025 12:26 PM

US new H-1B visa fee will not apply to existing holders, White House says

A new $100,000 fee for H-1B visas in the United States that goes into effect on Sunday will be levied per petition and will not be applied to existing visa holders re-entering the country, the White House said on Saturday. "This is NOT an annual fee. It’s a one-time fee that applies only to the petition," White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X on Saturday. A petition is a request by a company to bring a skilled worker from another country into the United States. FEE O...

Trump sides with Elon Musk in H-1B visa debate, says he’s always been in favor of the program

December 29, 2024 10:00 AM

Trump sides with Elon Musk in H-1B visa debate, says he’s always been in favor of the program

President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday sided with key supporter and billionaire tech CEO Elon Musk in a public dispute over the use of the H-1B visa, saying he fully backs the program for foreign tech workers opposed by some of his supporters. Trump's remarks followed a series of social media posts from Musk, the CEO of Tesla TSLA.O and SpaceX, who vowed late Friday to go to "war" to defend the visa program for foreign tech workers. Trump, who moved to limit the visas' use during his first p...