Trump H-1B visa tech foreign governments

Major technology companies and foreign governments are rushing to respond after President Donald Trump late Friday announced plans to impose a $100,000 fee on H-1B visas, threatening to upend the program that underpins America’s technology workforce.

The fee would apply to new H-1B applicants, not renewals or current visa holders, according to a White House official. It will first apply in the upcoming lottery cycle, and it does not apply to 2025 lottery winners, the person said. The White House also clarified that the new $100,000 fee is not an annual charge, as previously reported by several media outlets.

The move could deal a massive blow to companies — primarily in the technology and finance sectors — that rely heavily on highly skilled immigrants, particularly from India and China.

The announcement sent shockwaves through some of the country’s biggest tech and finance companies:

• Amazon’s immigration team advised its H-1B and H-4 visa holders to remain in the U.S. and for those overseas to return before 12:01 a.m. ET on Sept. 21, according to internal messages viewed by CNBC.

• JPMorgan Chase’s law firm sent a memo asking H-1B visa holders at the firm to remain in the U.S. and avoid international travel until further guidance, according to a person familiar with the matter.

• Goldman Sachs told employees holding H-1B visas to exercise caution when traveling internationally based on guidance from immigration services firm Fragomen, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.

• Microsoft also has reportedly advised H-1B visa holders to remain in the U.S. and for those overseas to return, warning that international travel could jeopardize their immigration status, according to emails seen by Reuters.

The fee represents the administration’s most aggressive move yet to restrict legal immigration. Since taking office in January, Trump has advanced a broad crackdown on both illegal and legal entry into the U.S., but Friday’s announcement marks the most significant attempt to clamp down on employment visas.

Amazon employed the most H-1B holders — more than 14,000 as of the end of June. Microsoft, Meta, Apple and Google had over 4,000 such visas each, among the top 10 recipients for the fiscal year 2025.

CNBC has reached out to all of the public companies on the top 10 H-1B recipient list for comment. The White House didn’t immediately respond to an email asking for comment.

“President Trump promised to put American workers first, and this commonsense action does just that by discouraging companies from spamming the system and driving down wages,” Taylor Rogers, a White House spokeswoman, told CNBC. “It also gives certainty to American businesses who actually want to bring high-skilled workers to our great country but have been trampled on by abuses of the system.”