Trump attaches costs of $ 100,000 for qualified workers visa candidates

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive decree which will add costs of $ 100,000 (£ 74,000) for candidates for the H-1B visa program for qualified foreign workers.

The proclamation mentions “the mistreatment” of the program and will limit the entry unless the payment is made.

Critics have long argued that H-1BS has undermined the American workforce, while supporters-including billionaire Elon Musk-argue that it allows the United States to attract the best talents around the world.

In another order, Trump has set up a new “gold card” to speed up visas for some immigrants in exchange for costs from 1 million pounds sterling.

On Friday, US secretary Howard Lunick joined Trump at the Oval Office.

“One hundred thousand dollars a year for H1-B visa, and all large companies are on board,” he said. “We talked to them.

“If you are going to train someone, you will train one of the recent graduates of one of the major universities in our land. Form Americans. Stop bringing people to take our jobs.”

Since 2004, the number of H-1B requests has been capped at 85,000 per year.

Until now, H-1B visas have transported various administrative costs totaling around $ 1,500.

Data from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) show that applications for H-1B visas for the next fiscal year fell to around 359,000-one lower over four years.

The largest beneficiary of the program The previous year was Amazon, followed by the giants of Tata, Microsoft, Meta, Apple and Google technology, according to government statistics.

Tahmina Watson, founding lawyer of Watson Immigration Law, told the BBC that the decision could be a “nail in the coffin” for many of its customers who are mainly small businesses and start-ups.

“Almost everyone will be assessed. This $ 100,000 as an entry point will have a devastating impact,” she added, noting that many small or medium-sized businesses “will tell you that they cannot find workers to do the work.”

“When employers sponsor foreign talents, most often they do it because they have not been able to fulfill these positions,” added Ms. Watson.

Jorge Lopez, president of the Immigration and Global Mobility Practice group at Littleler Mendelson PC, said that $ 100,000 costs “would put the brakes on American competitiveness in the technological sector and all industries”.

Some companies could consider setting up operations outside the United States, although it may be difficult in practice, he added.

The debate on H-1B had previously caused divisions within the team and Trump supporters, opposing those in favor of visas against criticism such as the former strategist Steve Bannon.

Trump told journalists at the White House in January that he understood “the two sides of the argument” on H-1BS.

The previous year – while seeking to attract the support of the technology industry while on the campaign track – Trump promised to facilitate the process of attracting talents, going so far as to offer green cards for university graduates.

“You need a pool of people to work for businesses,” he told Podcast All-in. “You must be able to recruit these people and keep these people.”

At the start of his first mandate in 2017, Trump signed an executive decree that increased control of H-1B requests, seeking to improve fraud detection.

The refusals reached a summit of 24% of all time during the 2018 financial year, against between 5% and 8% under Barack Obama, then between 2% and 4% under Joe Biden.

At the time, technological companies postponed, severely criticizing the H-1B order of the Trump administration.

The potential for additional restrictions on the H -1B program has aroused considerable concerns in countries like India – which is by far the largest source country for such visa applications.