Days after US President Donald Trump announced a major hike in H-1B visa fees, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposed amendments to the regulations governing the issuance of work visas.
According to reports, the DHS plans to replace the existing lottery system with a “weighted selection process that would generally favor the allocation of H-1B visas to higher-skilled and higher-paid workers, while maintaining opportunities for employers to hire at all wage levels.”
The H-1B program, used by US companies to hire skilled tech workers—mostly from India—is capped at 85,000 new visas annually.
Last week, Trump signed a proclamation introducing a $100,000 fee for each new application.
Initially, confusion arose as many believed the fee would apply to existing visa holders. However, the White House later clarified that it would be a one-time fee applicable only to new visa applications.
“This is a one-time fee that applies only to petitions. It applies to new visas, not renewals or current holders, and will first take effect in the upcoming lottery cycle,” a White House official was quoted as saying by IANS.
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said the decision reflected Trump’s commitment to prioritizing American workers.
“This common-sense action discourages companies from spamming the system and driving down wages. It also gives certainty to American businesses that genuinely want to hire high-skilled workers, but have been undermined by abuses of the system,” Rogers said.