Taxing Talent, Closing Doors

How America's Visa Wall Hurts India & Itself

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In an era where knowledge flows freely across borders, the United States has chosen to erect a new kind of wallnot of bricks, but of bureaucracy and cost.

President Donald Trump's proposal to impose a US$100,000 fee on H-1B visa applicants has sent tremors through India's academic institutions, tech corridors, and middle-class households. For many, the U.S. has long symbolized a gateway to opportunity. This policy threatens to redefine that promise.

The Price of a Dream

For years, the H-1B visa has symbolized more than legal entry-it has stood for aspiration. It offered Indian professionals, especially in engineering, science, and IT, a pathway to merit-based success and global impact. With nearly 70% of these visas granted to Indian nationals, many from institutions like IlTs and IIMs, their imprint on America's tech and research sectors is undeniable-from Silicon Valley startups to Al labs and financial analytics.

Now, a proposed US$100,000 fee threatens to turn that dream into a distant luxury. For talented individuals from middle-class families, the cost isn't just steep-it's exclusionary. Years of savings and sacrifice risk being undone by a price tag that converts merit into a transaction. The emotional fallout is real: ambitions stalled, futures reimagined, and trust shaken in a system once seen as fair and open.

Protectionism or SelfSabotage?