TRUMP’S $100,000 H1-B FEE TO HIT INDIANS THE HARDEST

SHARP INCREASE

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even as it obtained 1,100 H1-Bs. Experts said those unnamed companies were linked to India.

With the new $100,000 fee, the cost of sponsoring workers will rise dramatically from the existing few thousand dollars. If charged at each reentry, the total cost of a three-year stay may run into several hundred thousand dollars, experts warned.

While Silicon Valley giants may absorb these increases for highly specialised roles, but for Indian IT services firms that file thousands of applications annually, the bill will run into billions. Smaller consultancies, which have long relied on H1-B placements, could find their models unviable.

A senior executive at a top Indian IT company stated that the financial impact could be staggering. "Even if only 60,000 Indians are affected, the annual cost would total $6 billion (Rs 53,000 crore). A full-scale effect could raise India's liability to Rs 1.8 lakh crore," he told The Sunday Guardian. For a mid-level Indian engineer in the US earning $120,000, more than 80% of the income would be wiped out by the fee, making migration viable only for top earners. Indian students graduating from US universities and seeking H1-Bs would also be blocked, cutting off critical career pathways, he added.

Anurag Mehra, Director at Expert Panel, told The Sunday Guardian, "For many Indians, the H1-B visa has long been a pathway to better opportunities, higher income, and the dream of earning in dollars. To pursue this, thousands take on significant loans to cover relocation, visa costs, or even purchases like a car or home in the US. With the proposed $100,000 annual visa fee, this dream is becoming financially unfeasible. Many professionals may be forced to return to India or abandon their US plans altogether, all the while remaining burdened by substantial debt. This could lead to a sharp rise in loan defaults, both in India and the US, trapping borrowers through no fault of their own."