H-1B Visa Fee Change Rankles Tech Companies

The White House has clarified that H-1B holders can leave and re-enter the United States as normal and will not be charged upon re-entry.

The announcement also appeared to single out Microsoft, Amazon, Salesforce, and Intel for making heavy use of the H-1B program while conducting layoffs this year.

Apple, Meta Platforms, and Nvidia together used 35,000 of the 85,000 available H-1B visas this year.

Amazon used more than 14,000, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has discretion to waive the new fees for companies entirely, Janet H. Co and Adam Levine reported for Barron’s Daily.

Part of the confusion may stem from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s recent remarks, when he said companies must decide whether employees are “valuable enough to have a $100,000-a-year payment.”

The White House clarified that the fee applies to the next lottery cycle.

Legal experts are also questioning whether the executive branch can make this change under the statutes cited in the announcement.

The president has broad power to exclude classes of visa applicants, but this prerogative has never before been tied to a fee.

The announcement also appeared to single out Microsoft, Amazon, Salesforce, and Intel for making heavy use of the H-1B program while conducting layoffs this year. Salesforce did not respond to a request for comment, and Intel also declined.

The federal government currently owns 275 million shares of Intel.