Virginia employers face new costs from Trump’s $100k H-1B visa fee

With nearly 25,000 H-1B visas approved for workers tied to Virginia in 2024, the commonwealth’s companies and universities have a lot at stake following the Trump administration’s move to impose a $100,000 annual fee on the visas for skilled workers.

The Trump administration’s latest plan to overhaul the American immigration system, the $100,000 fee went into effect Sunday. In a Sept. 19 proclamation, President Donald Trump said that companies have “abused” the visa program, which, he wrote, “has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labor.” In particular, Trump singled out information technology companies for outsourcing jobs and paying lower wages to foreign workers.

Under the new program, companies would foot the bill for the $100,000 fee for a worker visa, which previously cost between $1,700 to $5,000. The $100,000 fee is scheduled to expire after a year, but it could be extended if the government determines that keeping it is in the interest of the United States.

The top employers with H-1B visa workers tied to Virginia last year were Amazon.com, which had about 15,000 H-1B visa beneficiaries, and subsidiaries of McLean-based Capital One Financial, which had 748 H-1B beneficiaries, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data. CGI Technologies and Solutions, a subsidiary of CGI, which offers IT services and consulting, had 655 H-1B workers.

For H-1B visas, the state listed is the mailing address of the employer, which is not necessarily where the employee will work. Nationally, Amazon has been the employer with the most H-1B workers approved each year since 2020, according to the Pew Research Center.

CGI declined to comment about the new fee on H-1B visas, and Amazon and Capital One did not immediately respond to requests for interviews.

However, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, Virginia’s junior Democratic senator, thinks the fee will wallop Virginia’s economy.

“Slapping a $100,000 fee on H-1B petitions is bad for our economy, especially for startups and small businesses that rely on these visas to hire workers with specialized skill sets,” he said in a statement. “Having a diverse workforce, including workers from all around the world, has been critical to Virginia’s economic growth and success over the years.”

The newly announced H-1B visa fees left some immigrant workers and their employers confused over the weekend, forcing the White House on Saturday to scramble to clarify that a new $100,000 fee on visas for skilled tech workers only applies to new applicants and not to current visa holders.

“Those who already hold H-1B visas and are currently outside of the country right now will NOT be charged $100,000 to re-enter,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a posting on X. “This applies only to new visas, not renewals, and not current visa holders.”

The White House in a social media post also sought to make clear the new rule “does not impact the ability of any current visa holder to travel to/from the U.S.”

But immigration attorneys said that the White House move threatened to upend the lives of many skilled workers and has far-reaching impact on American business.

Kathleen Campbell Walker, an immigration attorney with Dickinson Wright based in El Paso, Texas, said in a posting on LinkedIn that the White House move “inserts total chaos in existing H-1B process with basically a day’s notice.”

Lutnick on Friday told reporters that the fee would be an annual cost for companies.

But a White House official said Saturday that it’s a “one-time fee.” Asked if Lutnick’s comments sowed confusion, the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly about the matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the new fee “currently does not apply to renewals but that policy is under discussion.”

The change and the confusion could discourage skilled workers in other countries from considering the H-1B visa program altogether.

“I fear that steps like this — that have a whole lot more to do with the Trump administration’s hostility toward immigrants than what’s best for our economy — will only take us backward,” Kaine said in his statement.

Virginia’s universities were also scrambling to assess the change this week.

Virginia Tech has 298 employees with H-1B visa out of 9,300 total employees, according to Mark Owczarski, university spokesperson. As of now, Virginia Tech’s understanding is that the fee does not apply to university employees with H-1B visas who need extensions or need to amend petitions for changing job locations or duties, Owczarski noted. It also does not appear to apply to individuals who are currently outside of the country and need to apply for a new H-1B visa prior to returning.

“At Virginia Tech, all H-1B requests for extensions and amendments are currently being processed as normal,” Owczarski said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the University of Virginia is also working to understand and asses the impact, if any, of Trump’s proclamation on its workforce.

“Based on our preliminary analysis, we have informed current employees who hold H-1B visas that they are free to travel internationally, but that they should do so with caution,” U.Va. spokesperson Bethanie Glover said in a statement. “We will share more information with that population and others who are interested as we learn more.”

Virginia Commonwealth University has about 150 employees with H-1B visas, according to Michael Porter, the university’s associate vice president for public relations.

“Many are employed in highly specialized STEM or medical teaching and research roles,” Porter said in an statement. “After the guidance was announced last week, VCU’s Global Education Office sent an email to VCU’s H-1B visa workforce informing them of the proclamation and the need to receive additional clarification.”

Critics: H-1B visas undercut American workers

H-1B visas, which require at least a bachelor’s degree, are meant to hire foreign workers for high-skilled jobs that tech companies find difficult to fill. However, Critics say the program undercuts American workers, luring people from overseas who are often willing to work for as little as $60,000 annually. That is well below the $100,000-plus salaries typically paid to U.S. technology workers.

At least 60% of H-1B visas approved since 2012 have been for computer-related jobs, according to the Pew Research Center. But hospitals, banks, universities and a wide range of other employers can and do apply for H-1B visas.

The number of new visas issued annually is capped at 65,000, plus an additional 20,000 for people with a master’s degree or higher. Those visas are handed out by a lottery. Some employers, such as universities and nonprofits, are exempt from the limits, though.

Trump on Friday insisted that the tech industry would not oppose the move. Lutnick, meanwhile, claimed “all big companies” are on board. Representatives for the biggest tech companies, including Apple, Google and Meta, did not immediately respond to messages for comment. Microsoft declined to comment.

Lutnick said the change will likely result in far fewer H-1B visas than the 85,000 annual cap allows because “it’s just not economic anymore.”

“If you’re going to train people, you’re going to train Americans,” Lutnick said on a conference call with reporters. “If you have a very sophisticated engineer and you want to bring them in … then you can pay $100,000 a year for your H-1B visa.”

Critics say H-1B spots often go to entry-level jobs, rather than senior positions with unique skill requirements. And while the program isn’t supposed to undercut U.S. wages or displace U.S. workers, critics say companies can pay less by classifying jobs at the lowest skill levels, even if the specific workers hired have more experience.

As a result, many U.S. companies find it cheaper to contract out help desks, programming and other basic tasks to consulting companies such as Wipro, Infosys, HCL Technologies and Tata in India and IBM and Cognizant in the U.S. These consulting companies hire foreign workers, often from India, and contract them out to U.S. employers looking to save money.

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, Virginia’s senior Democratic senator, worries the fee will make the United States less competitive globally.

“[The] H1-B program is a critical tool that allows American companies and businesses to attract and retain the sharpest minds from around the world — especially those educated at American colleges and universities,” Warner said in a statement. “This policy will punish skilled foreigners who add to our economy and critical industries and will push the American dream out of reach for many American companies and communities. The Trump administration is once again undermining American innovation and handing our adversaries a victory.”