Congress’s Pawan Khera highlights challenges from extended $100,000 H-1B visa fee for
Congress’s Pawan Khera highlights challenges from extended $100,000 H-1B visa fee for Indian IT professionals
M.U.H
19/09/20266
Khera outlined four specific impacts: “F-1 → H-1B: Harder for Indian students to enter the U.S. workforce. Fewer jobs: Smaller firms may avoid sponsorships altogether. Talent drain: More professionals may look to the UK, Canada and Australia. Remittance risk: Lower migration could mean lower remittances to India over time.”
He criticised the Indian government’s approach towards US President Donald Trump, stating, “Modi bent over backwards to appease Trump. Trump got the appeasement. India took the humiliation and the hit.”
The Trump administration previously tightened oversight of the H-1B visa programme, directing the US Departments of State, Labour, and Homeland Security to scrutinise applications from employers with recent or planned layoffs of similarly situated US workers. It also renewed the USD 100,000 fee requirement for certain H-1B visa petitions, initially imposed on September 19, 2025.
A White House fact sheet detailed that President Trump signed an Executive Order and a Proclamation to strengthen programme integrity, improve interagency coordination, and address abuses of the H-1B system. The Executive Order instructs relevant departments to consider employer layoffs when reviewing H-1B applications and to collaborate with the Departments of Commerce, Education, and the Small Business Administration to gather additional labour market data.
The extension aimed to curb practices displacing US workers and national security risks. According to the fact sheet, since the fee’s introduction in 2025, H-1B registrations by the largest IT outsourcing firms decreased by 92%. Additionally, consular processing requests declined by nearly 97%, and there was a shift towards higher-skilled and higher-wage H-1B workers.
The administration stated, “More work must be done to improve interagency coordination in the assessment of H-1B visa petitions.” It further claimed that the programme’s abuse lowers wages for skilled American workers by increasing the availability of cheaper foreign labour. The fact sheet alleged that some employers laid off large numbers of highly qualified American workers before hiring typically lower-skilled and lower-paid H-1B visa holders.
The administration also criticised outsourcing practices where jobs held by H-1B workers are moved outside the US. It highlighted recent tax and workforce measures enacted in July 2025, which included No Tax on Overtime and Tips, safeguarding millions of American jobs, protecting over half a trillion dollars in wages, and establishing Workforce Pell Grants for those entering skilled trades.
According to the fact sheet, real wages increased by USD 822 in 2025, while real household income reached its highest recorded level. The administration is reportedly pursuing H-1B visa fraud investigations and examining practices it considers favour visa holders unlawfully over American workers.
The latest measures signify the White House’s intent to increase scrutiny of the H-1B visa programme through enhanced federal agency coordination, employer layoff considerations, and continued application of higher fees for selected visa petitions.
