Trump adds a $100,000 fee to H-1B visa applications

President Trump continued his sweeping crackdown on immigration by signing a new proclamation to a visa program for skilled foreign workers. It adds a $100,000 fee for new applicants for H-1B visas, which allow foreign workers, such as software engineers, to be employed in the United States.

The H-1B visa is designed to help companies fill openings for which American workers with similar abilities cannot be found. But critics have long argued that the visa allows companies to replace American workers with foreign ones.

Congress passed legislation creating the H-1B program in 1990, as a labor shortage loomed. Employers have utilized these visas, which are valid for three years and can be extended, to hire foreign workers with specialized skills, primarily in science and technology. Employers submit a petition to the government on behalf of a foreign worker they want to hire, describing the job and the qualifications of the person selected to fill it. The H-1B program confers temporary status in the United States, not residency. However, many employers eventually sponsor workers with H-1B visas for a green card, which puts the person on a path to U.S. citizenship.

Elizabeth Chatham, Immigration Attorney, joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss more on how this new order affects big businesses and their international workers.