₦airaland Forum

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that will add a $100,000 (£74,000) fee for applicants to the H-1B visa programme for skilled foreign workers.

At the exchange rate of N1,500 to a dollar, this amounts to a staggering N150 million by Nigerian skilled worker visa applicants.

The proclamation mentions "abuse" of the programme and will restrict entry unless payment is made.

Critics have long argued that H-1Bs undercut the American workforce, while supporters – including billionaire Elon Musk – argue it allows the US to attract top talent from around the world.


In another order, Trump set up a new "gold card" to fast-track visas for certain immigrants in exchange for fees starting at £1m.

Joining Trump in the Oval Office on Friday was US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

"A hundred thousand dollars a year for H1-B visas, and all of the big companies are on board," he said. "We've spoken to them.

"If you're going to train somebody, you're 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."

Since 2004, the number of H-1B applications has been capped at 85,000 per year.

Until now, H-1B visas have carried various administrative fees totalling around $1,500.

Data from US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) shows that applications for H-1B visas for the next fiscal year fell to about 359,000 - a four-year low.

The greatest beneficiary of the programme the previous fiscal year was Amazon, followed by tech giants Tata, Microsoft, Meta, Apple and Google, according to government statistics.

Tahmina Watson, a founding attorney at Watson Immigration Law, told the BBC that the ruling could be a "nail in the coffin" for many of her clients that are mostly small businesses and start-ups.


"Almost everyone's going to be priced out. This $100,000 as an entry point is going to have a devastating impact," she added, noting that many small or medium-sized companies "will tell you they actually can't find workers to do the job".


"When employers sponsor foreign talent, more often than not, they're doing that because they have not been able to fulfil those positions," Ms Watson added.


Jorge Lopez, the chair of the immigration and global mobility practice group at Littler Mendelson PC, said a $100,000 fee "will put the brakes on American competitiveness in the tech sector and all industries".


Some companies might consider setting up operations outside the US, though doing so can be challenging in practice, he added.


The debate over H-1Bs had previously caused splits within Trump's team and supporters, pitting those in favour of the visas against critics such as former strategist Steve Bannon.

Trump told reporters at the White House in January that he understands "both sides of the argument" on H-1Bs.

The year before – while seeking to attract support from the tech industry while on the campaign trail - Trump vowed to make the process of attracting talent easier, going as far as to propose green cards for college graduates.

"You need a pool of people to work for companies," he told the All-In Podcast. "You have to be able to recruit these people and keep these people."

Early in his first term in 2017, Trump signed an executive order that increased scrutiny of H-1B applications, seeking to improve fraud detection.


Rejections rose to an all-time high of 24% in the 2018 fiscal year, compared to between 5% and 8% under Barack Obama and then between 2% and 4% under Joe Biden.

At the time, tech companies pushed back, harshly criticising the Trump administration's H-1B order.

The potential for additional restrictions to the H-1B programme has caused considerable concern in countries such as India – which is by far the largest source country for such visa applications. (Adapted from a BBC report)

LagosOrigin:
Good

I love this .

Let all those who support irresponsible government in Nigeria because of tribalism only to run back to America can now stay back in Nigeria and enjoy the useless president or government that they supported.

No more America .

SmartPolician:
Bit by bit, this man is wrecking America and nobody wants to get the Congress to stop him. By the time he has spent 4 years in office, all attention will move to China because those guys will define the future.

LagosOrigin:
Good

I love this .

Let all those who support irresponsible government in Nigeria because of tribalism only to run back to America can now stay back in Nigeria and enjoy the useless president or government that they supported.

No more America .

Ezeama400:
You can’t succeed in China if you’re not business inclined..

Again, Chinese don’t even speak English..

US, Uk , Canada and Australia remain good destinations for people from commonwealth countries, unfortunately those countries are beginning to shut down their borders against immigrants …

Vote the right people and fix your country

SmartPolician:
The comment you quoted has nothing to do with Nigeria. I'm writing about global attention. The founders of all big US companies investing in China don't speak English, yet they have businesses worth billions of dollars in China.

By the time Donald Trump is done dealing with America, every reasonable investor in America will pull their businesses out of the country.

It has already started happening, but the guy is too blind to see it. A country that used to create over 300k jobs every month is now creating 22k jobs. Donald Trump is America's nemesis.

LagosOrigin:
Good

I love this .

Let all those who support irresponsible government in Nigeria because of tribalism only to run back to America can now stay back in Nigeria and enjoy the useless president or government that they supported.

No more America .

Dogalmighty17:
The US is shooting itself in the foot here. At a time when China and India are positioning themselves to dominate, the US decides to shut the door on the large pool of talent it needs to stay competitive. Anyways, that's their loss.

Dogalmighty17:
The US is shooting itself in the foot here. At a time when China and India are positioning themselves to dominate, the US decides to shut the door on the large pool of talent it needs to stay competitive. Anyways, that's their loss.

Eboofa:
Pool of talent my foot......70% 0f the beneficiaries of the visas have bogus skills! Even Nigerians have better skills...........this has just been one big Indian scam that has lasted for years! The Tech firms just want to cut labor costs.........

Eboofa:
Pool of talent my foot......70% 0f the beneficiaries of the visas have bogus skills! Even Nigerians have better skills...........this has just been one big Indian scam that has lasted for years! The Tech firms just want to cut labor costs.........

EvilMerodack:
To you, it's about Nigeria

Dude, the world doesn't revolve around your thoughts. Governments make policies, Powers change hands ,Life happens and none is for or against anyone in particular


You think all Tinubu supporters outside Nigeria are in the USA or those outside the USA don't su-cc-ee-d where they are

Understand how life works

Slytiger:
Nigeria is not even in the top 10 H1B holders in America.

LagosOrigin:
Good

I love this .

Let all those who support irresponsible government in Nigeria because of tribalism only to run back to America can now stay back in Nigeria and enjoy the useless president or government that they supported.

No more America .

SmartPolician:
The comment you quoted has nothing to do with Nigeria. I'm writing about global attention. The founders of all big US companies investing in China don't speak English, yet they have businesses worth billions of dollars in China.

By the time Donald Trump is done dealing with America, every reasonable investor in America will pull their businesses out of the country.

It has already started happening, but the guy is too blind to see it. A country that used to create over 300k jobs every month is now creating 22k jobs. Donald Trump is America's nemesis.

SmartPolician:
Bit by bit, this man is wrecking America and nobody wants to get the Congress to stop him. By the time he has spent 4 years in office, all attention will move to China because those guys will define the future.

adenigga:
Source: https://newsexpressngr.com/news/276593/bombshell-trump-to-increase-us-skilled-worker-visa-fee-by-100000-n150-million