Bipartisan lawmakers urge Trump to end $100k visa fee

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(The Center Square) - A bipartisan group of lawmakers is urging President Donald Trump to end his $100,000 fee for H-1B visa holders.

On Sept. 19, Trump issued a proclamation imposing the one-time fee on new H-1B visa petitions. Employers seeking high-skilled foreign workers applications after Sept. 21 must pay the $100,000 fee. 

In a letter addressed to Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the Congressional members warned that businesses will struggle with the new fee and it will weaken American competitiveness globally. 

The H-1B visa is used to recruit high-skilled foreign workers to live and work in the United States. The visa requires applicants to hold at least a bachelor's degree and is often used by employers in the technology industry.

“It will bar those rapidly scaling American startups from recruiting and retaining critically needed talent, undermining their growth, reducing employment of U.S. citizens by those same employers, and imperiling our nation’s technological leadership and global competitiveness,” the bipartisan lawmakers wrote.

Trump’s visa fee proposal is under scrutiny in two distinct court cases so far, arguing the president does not have authority to impose a fee as a restriction to entry.

The lawmakers also acknowledged fears of competition with China in the effort to recruit foreign workers.

China recently launched its new visa program, the K visa, to recruit workers in science, technology and engineering fields.

The visa is designed “to promote exchanges and cooperation between young science and technology talents from China and other countries,” said Guo Jiakun, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson.

The lawmakers said startup businesses will be harmed by the proposed $100,000 fee. They argued many startups use H-1B employees, which allows them to advance into larger corporate entities.

“Startups with successful H-1B applications file an increased number of patents and have a higher chance of innovative breakthroughs, obtaining funding, and being acquired,” the letter reads.

According to data from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Amazon, Meta and Apple are among the top companies to petition for H-1B workers in 2025.

The lawmakers called on Trump to make deals with Congress that would restrict outsourcing firms from employing H-1B workers, counter wage suppression in the program, and revise eligibility classifications.

U.S. Reps. Sam Liccardo, D-Calif.; Jay Obernolte, R-Calif.; Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla.; Don Bacon, R-Neb., Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va.; and Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., signed the letter.

In July, Salazar introduced the Dignity Act of 2025, which would create a seven-year temporary legal status program allowing immigrants to live and work in the United States. The legislation also proposes using funds from the seven-year program to pay for increased border security.

Critics of the legislation argue that a new temporary work visa would not solve the problems with current programs.

“We urge that you work with Congress and the private sector to advance a modernized high-skilled immigration framework,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter to Trump. “Together, we can improve the H-1B visa program, both to mitigate its flaws, and to produce even greater benefits for the American people.”