H-1B Visas Rule Changes Under Trump in 2025

Top 10 employers of H-1B visa holders as of June 2025

Incomes in dollars for workers with H-1B visas approved in FY 2024

Companies Are Trying To Adapt to H-1B Visas Rule Changes

Right after Trump signed it Friday, Microsoft, Amazon, and JPMorgan told their H-1B workers who were traveling to return to the US before the Sunday deadline.

The Trump administration tried to clear things up Saturday, saying the fee only applies to new applicants. But executives, lawyers, and HR departments played it safe this weekend. Many told workers to return immediately. Everyone watched White House social media for updates.

Microsoft told its 5,200 H-1B employees Friday evening to stay in the US "for the foreseeable future", even if it disrupts travel plans. "The critical thing is to stay in the U.S. to avoid being denied re-entry."

H-1B Visas Rule Changes Affects Technology Industry

The IT industry gets 60% of its revenue from the US.

Amazon hired the largest number of workers with H-1B visas: more than 14,000 by the end of June. Microsoft, Meta, Apple, and Google each had more than 4,000 such visas, making them among the top ten largest H-1B recipients in fiscal year 2025.

H-1B Visas Rule Changes Affects Startups

American startups will struggle most. Many operate for years without making money. Only the biggest companies can pay these fees. Smaller firms can't compete.

Business Insider has discovered that the biggest startups use the H-1B program the most. TikTok's owner ByteDance has the most H-1B permits this year with 1,360 slots. Databricks came second with 248, then Stripe with 151 and OpenAI with 76.

New rules make it harder for young startups to hire talent. They can't compete with well-funded companies. This rule can stop the next OpenAI or Anthropic from happening.

If you're hiring someone entry-level for $60,000 a year, no company will pay an extra $100,000.

For Apple, Microsoft, or Google, $100,000 is nothing. However, if you run a small technology company in Austin, Atlanta, or Denver, where engineers earn $130,000 to $150,000, an additional $100,000 means you have doubled your engineering cost.

H-1B Visas Rule Changes Affects Finance Industry

Banks are among the biggest H-1B sponsors. They need data scientists, quantitative engineers, and cybersecurity specialists - many are foreign-born. These roles drive the industry's digital transformation.

Immigration lawyers expect banks to save visas only for the most critical roles. Banks competing in AI, payments, and digital assets may slow innovation.

Indian IT companies like Tata and Infosys supply many contractors to American banks. These vendors will send fewer employees to US client sites and do more work offshore in India, Mexico, and the Philippines.

Banks already expanded operations in India and Latin America - hubs for data analytics, AI, and risk modeling. This change will speed that up. Banks will also compete harder for the limited pool of US citizens and green card holders in tech, driving up costs.

H-1B Visas Rule Changes Affects Education Industry

Universities would pay $100,000 to hire new professors or researchers from outside the country if they haven't filed petitions yet. The fee, plus other costs, basically stops most employers from hiring H-1B workers from abroad.

H‑1B Visa Rule Changes Affect Indian Companies Most

When Trump was president the first time, getting visas got harder for Indian IT companies. Rejection rates went up four times. Companies like Tata, Infosys, and HCL Tech have reduced their H-1B dependence. They hired more Americans and opened US delivery centers. Today only 8% of Infosys's staff work in the Americas. Since 2018, more than 90% of their new American hires have been locals. Infosys employs thousands across delivery centers in Texas, Indiana, and North Carolina.

However, today, the new visa fees are another problem India's IT services companies don't need. AI is already shaking up their business: generative AI tools now do much of the basic work these companies used to charge for. Gartner says that by 2029, AI will automate more than half of enterprise processes - a major source of revenue for Indian IT firms. India's $280 billion IT services sector already struggles with slow growth as customers cut tech spending.

H-1B visas remain important. They maintain client relationships in India's biggest market and let engineers work on-site for sensitive US projects. Higher costs mean fewer workers at client sites.

Indian outsourcers who send engineers to US client sites will see their profits shrink. The NIFTY IT index (which tracks major IT services firms) dropped 3% when the market opened after the news.

India's IT services companies employ over 5 million people. Some companies have already started cutting jobs. TCS laid off 12,000 employees in July (about 2% of their workforce) for "skill mismatch".

The visas rule change deepens already strained India-US relations. Lately, Trump imposed 50% tariffs on Indian goods, penalties on India's Russian oil imports, and threats of 100% tariffs on all BRICS members.

H-1B Visas Rule Changes Benefits Europe, UK and Canada

As a startup, you try to hire the best talent. There's limited AI talent, and many are foreign-born.

When a startup posts jobs on LinkedIn, 90% of applicants may be from outside the US. The US citizens who apply often don't have the advanced computer science skills needed. They also don't pass the strict interview process.

The shortage of engineering talent in the US is why they keep hiring employees abroad. Many founders are now hiring the same employees offshore and paying less.

They are looking at alternatives outside the US like the UK. The visa process there is already much simpler since there's no lottery system like in the US. The UK is now even considering removing visa fees for top talent, according to the Financial Times.

Talent now sees US immigration as uncertain. They don't like risk and will choose what they can control. America's loss could be nearshore countries gain. This could help them become the preferred destination for international talent.

European, UK and Canadian tech companies agree. They see this as a huge opportunity. Making nearshore more attractive to skilled workers helps them attract talent worldwide and strengthens the continent as an innovation hub.

Criticism of H‑1B Visa Rule Changes

If companies can't outsource onshore, they'll expand offshore or neashore.

Trump wants to protect US jobs, but this could backfire. American companies will pay more and expand their global capability centers in India faster. Microsoft, Google, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley already run large centers there.

Research by Wharton professor Britta Glennon shows H-1B restrictions push jobs overseas: "Policies aimed at reducing immigration have the unintended consequence of encouraging firms to offshore jobs abroad". The researcher looked at what has happened since visa restrictions got tighter in 2004. Companies that relied heavily on H-1B visas increased their overseas staff by about 25 percent. R&D jobs were among the first to move overseas. The winners are Canada, China, and India.

Multinational companies have set up "global capability centres" offshore. They handle everything from data analysis to research and development. In 2010, there were 700 of these centers only in India. Last year there were more than 1,700. Together they made $64 billion and employed 1.9 million people.

Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan called Trump's decision a mistake that "hurts startups" and is a "huge gift to foreign tech centers".

The American Immigration Lawyers Association plans to file a legal challenge seeking a temporary restraining order this weekend. 

H-1B visas alternatives

The O-1 visa is especially popular with startups. It lets people with "extraordinary abilities" work for up to three years. The EB-1 visa is one more alternative that offers a clearer path to permanent residence.

What's Next

Trump opposed H-1B visas since his first administration. Now, White House officials say the $100,000 restriction order helps companies prioritize hiring Americans. Some people see this as positive because it's easier to get a visa - you just need to pay.

Immigration hardliners say the visa program hurts Americans because companies hire foreigners for less money.

Critics argue that IT staffing firms bring in workers with salaries lower than what companies would have to pay American employees, gaming the system and taking away jobs that would otherwise go to Americans.

The current minimum annual salary that companies must pay H-1B visa recipients is $60,000 while critics argue that an American tech worker would receive $100,000 or more for the same job. By the way, nearshore outsourcing in Eastern Europe can cost even less than $60,000 for the same talent.

Trump officials will likely continue dismantling the immigrant talent pipeline. They plan to make it harder for international students to get H-1B status. This includes requiring fixed periods for student visas, cutting Optional Practical Training and STEM OPT programs, creating a new H-1B selection process that disadvantages international students, and adding more restrictions for companies.

Berenberg (German investment bank) recently lowered its United States economic growth forecast from 2 percent at the beginning of the year to 1.5 percent. However, economists warn that even the 1.5 percent forecast may soon seem optimistic.