Washington, Sep 2026 : US President Donald Trump has endorsed a proposed new fee on H-1B visa petitions, arguing that the measure would encourage American companies to hire and train domestic workers before turning to skilled professionals from overseas.
Trump highlighted the proposal in his Labour Day proclamation issued on Monday, placing the politically sensitive H-1B visa programme at the centre of a message focused on manufacturing, trade, tariffs and protecting employment opportunities for American workers.
“To ensure we are hiring and training American workers, we are proposing a new fee on H-1B visa petitions that will encourage companies to invest in qualified Americans before looking overseas for labour,” Trump said.
The fee referenced by Trump, however, did not come into force with the proclamation. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) last month proposed a $103,265 charge for H-1B petitions subject to the annual numerical cap, including petitions eligible for the advanced-degree exemption.
Under the proposed regulation, the fee would be payable when an eligible petition is filed and would come in addition to other immigration-related charges. The administration has said the proposed levy would help cover federal expenses associated with administering the lawful immigration system.
The H-1B programme is widely used by US technology companies and other employers to recruit highly skilled foreign professionals for specialised positions. Indian nationals have traditionally represented the largest group of H-1B beneficiaries, making any significant changes to the programme a matter of considerable interest among Indian professionals, technology companies and the wider Indian-American community.
Trump framed the proposed fee as part of his broader economic agenda, which he said is designed to strengthen the position of American workers and encourage companies to invest domestically.
“After decades of disastrous trade policies that surrendered our industrial strength to foreign nations, companies are now returning home, investing trillions of dollars into the United States economy, and adding over 900,000 American jobs,” Trump said.
The President also credited his administration's tariff policies with protecting US workers from foreign competition and claimed that American manufacturing had expanded for six consecutive months.
“Our Nation is entering a bold new era of American manufacturing, technological innovation, and economic prosperity -- powered by the might of the American worker,” he said.
Trump's Labour Day proclamation formally designated September 7 as Labour Day and called on Americans to recognise the contributions, resilience and achievements of workers.
The latest H-1B proposal follows Trump's earlier attempt to impose a separate $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas. That measure faced legal challenges, with a federal judge in Massachusetts striking down the fee in June after ruling that the administration had exceeded its legal authority. A federal appeals court subsequently rejected the administration's request in July to suspend the ruling while the legal proceedings continue.
The proposed $103,265 fee is being pursued through the federal rulemaking process and is therefore not immediately applicable. Employers are not required to pay the proposed amount merely because Trump endorsed it in his Labour Day proclamation.
The proposal will have to proceed through the regulatory process before it can take effect. Until then, the existing H-1B fee structure remains applicable, while employers and foreign professionals await further developments on the administration's plans for the visa programme.
(Disclaimer :The content of this article is sourced from a news agency and has not been edited by the Mavericknews30 team.)
