In a move that has stunned H1-B visa aspirants, US President Donald Trump has announced a steep annual fee of $1 lakh for each H1-B visa holder. The executive order, signed recently, is expected to heavily impact Indian multinational companies operating in the US.
Indian IT firms rely significantly on the H1-B visa programme to deploy skilled professionals in the US. Even American tech giants hire a large number of Indian workers through this visa route. The fee hike could change hiring strategies across the industry.
As per the latest data from US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Amazon received the highest number of H1-B visas in the 2024–25 fiscal year. Indian IT major TCS ranked second, followed closely by other key players in the tech sector.
Amazon.com Services secured 10,040 visas, while TCS got 5,505. Microsoft received 5,189 visas, Meta was granted 5,123, and Apple followed with 4,202 approvals. Indian firms like Infosys, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra were also among the top recipients.
The US administration claims the new policy aims to allow only highly skilled talent into the country. The goal, they say, is to protect American jobs from being replaced by foreign workers. “We need workers. We need great workers,” Trump said during the signing at the Oval Office.
