Amid growing tensions over the recent hike in H-1B visa application fees, the White House released a fact sheet justifying President Donald Trump’s decision to impose a USD 100,000 fee on new H-1B visa applications. 

Citing facts from the factsheet, the White House pointed out that the share of IT workers on H-1B visas has increased from 32% in FY 2003 to over 65% in recent years, while unemployment among recent computer science graduates reached 6.1% and 7.5%.

“Unemployment among recent computer science graduates has reached 6.1% and 7.5% for computer engineering graduates – more than double the rates for biology or art history majors. The number of foreign STEM workers in the US has more than doubled between 2000 and 2019, while overall STEM employment only increased 44.5% during that time,” the White House said.

Job Losses Among American Workers

The White House cited several examples of companies hiring large numbers of H-1B workers while laying off thousands of American employees. 

“Another company was approved for 1,698 H-1B workers in FY 2025, yet announced it was laying off 2,400 US workers in Oregon in July. A third company has reduced its US workforce by 27,000 since 2022 while receiving 25,075 H-1B approvals. Yet another company reportedly cut 1,000 American jobs in February despite receiving 1,137 H-1B approvals for FY 2025,” the factsheet said.

H-1B Visas Fee Hike

On Friday, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation imposing a USD 100,000 fee on H-1B visas, aimed at restricting the entry of non-immigrant workers. 

US Issues Clarification  

One day after the introduction of the USD 100,000 H-1B visa application fee, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) clarified that the new charge applies solely to new applicants and does not affect petitions submitted before September 21.

In a memorandum issued on Saturday, USCIS Director Joseph B Edlow said, “This proclamation only applies prospectively to petitions that have not yet been filed. The proclamation does not apply to aliens who: are the beneficiaries of petitions that were filed prior to the effective date of the proclamation, are the beneficiaries of currently approved petitions, or are in possession of validly issued H-1B non-immigrant visas.”