CAN INDIA'S IT SECTOR WEATHER TRUMP'S VISA STORM? THE LATEST H-1B SALVO TARGETING INDIAN IT SERVICES COULD COMPEL FIRMS TO RETHINK TALENT AND DELIVERY STRATEGIES.

ON SEPTEMBER 19, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a proclamation mandating tech firms to pay $100,000 per H-1B visa from next year. The reason? IT outsourcing companies are harming American tech talent by manipulating the non-immigrant visa to import workers with lower wages, according to the White House.

- BY RUKMINI RAO

Trump claimed giants such as Microsoft and Intel, among others, laid off U.S. workers even as they were bringing professionals on H-1B visas. Without explicitly naming any firm, the proclamation read: “One software company was approved for over 5,000 H-1B workers in FY25; around the same time, it announced a series of layoffs totalling more than 15,000 employees. Another IT firm was approved for nearly 1,700 H-1B workers in FY25; it announced it was laying off 2,400 American workers in Oregon in July.”

The fee hike targets fresh visa applications. But the proclamation hints that extension or renewal of existing H-1B visas is expected to come under greater scrutiny starting 2026. Currently, the regular H-1B visa cap is set at 65,000, while the master’s cap (for advanced U.S. degree) is at 20,000. A lottery process decides who gets it.