U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as he sits subsequent to a “Trump Gold Card” signal, within the Oval Workplace on the White Home in Washington, D.C., U.S., Sept. 19, 2025.
Ken Cedeno | Reuters
Main expertise firms and international governments are dashing to reply after President Donald Trump late Friday introduced plans to impose a $100,000 annual charge on H-1B visas, threatening to upend this system that underpins America’s expertise workforce.
The Trump administration mentioned the charge would apply per employee, per yr, probably dealing a large blow to firms — primarily within the expertise and finance sectors — that rely closely on extremely expert immigrants, significantly from India and China.
The announcement despatched shockwaves by company America. Amazon’s immigration group suggested its H-1B and H-4 visa holders to stay within the U.S. and for these abroad to return earlier than 12:01 a.m. ET on Sept. 21, in keeping with inner messages considered by CNBC.
JPMorgan Chase’s regulation agency despatched a memo asking H-1B visa holders on the agency to stay within the U.S. and keep away from worldwide journey till additional steering, in keeping with an individual accustomed to the matter.
Microsoft additionally has reportedly suggested H-1B visa holders to stay within the U.S. and for these abroad to return, warning that worldwide journey might jeopardize their immigration standing, in keeping with emails seen by Reuters.
The transfer represents the administration’s most aggressive transfer but to limit authorized immigration. Since taking workplace in January, Trump has superior a broad crackdown on each unlawful and authorized entry into the U.S., however Friday’s announcement marks essentially the most important try and clamp down on employment visas.
Amazon employed essentially the most H-1B holders — greater than 14,000 as of the top of June. Microsoft, Meta, Apple and Google had over 4,000 such visas every, among the many high 10 recipients for the fiscal yr 2025.
CNBC has reached out to the entire public firms on the highest 10 H-1B recipient record for remark. The White Home did not instantly reply to an e-mail asking for remark.
‘Humanitarian penalties’
The announcement additionally disrupted the established order abroad, the place international governments scrambled to evaluate the influence of the brand new guidelines on their nations.
India’s Ministry of Exterior Affairs mentioned it’s learning the visa restrictions and their implications, stressing that each Indian and U.S. industries share an curiosity in sustaining competitiveness in innovation. It additionally highlighted the possible disruption to particular person households.
“This measure is prone to have humanitarian penalties by the use of the disruption induced for households. Authorities hopes that these disruptions could be addressed suitably by the US authorities,” India’s Ministry of Exterior Affairs mentioned in a press release.
South Korea’s international ministry additionally mentioned it’s assessing the implications for Korean companies and expert staff.
Under is a searchable record of the highest 100 U.S. firms which have been H1-B recipients in fiscal yr 2025.
— CNBC’s Annie Palmer contributed to this report.
