HSBC had a hectic weekend because of the first uncertainty about how the change would be applied and maintained. | Photocredit: Dado Ruvic
HSBC Holdings PLC said that the increase in visa costs for foreign employees in the US is “manageable” for the lender, because it has fewer employees there than some of his colleagues or large technology companies.
“We don’t have a huge amount of visa holders,” Michael Roberts, who leads the business and institutional banking department of the British lender, told Bloomberg Television in an interview on Monday. “It is manageable for us.” It can be a “much bigger problem” for other financial service providers and technology companies that he has added.
According to the USCIS website, various HSBC units in the US received H1-B-VISA for 54 employees in the tax year 2025. That is comparable to 2,440 at JPMorgan Chase & Co, the financing company with the largest cohort in the data set.
The Trump administration has increased the application costs for H-1B-VISA to $ 100,000 as part of the efforts to protect US jobs and to strengthen national security. The move has fueled chaos and alarm at some worldwide companies, especially in the technology sector, which depend on the H-1B visa program for bringing skilled employees from abroad to the US. Financing companies and consultancy firms also use the facility.
Investor Cathie Wood said on Monday that she was surprised by the change and expects other countries to benefit in the short term.
“Other countries should regard this as an opportunity to draw the best and the smartest,” Wood said on Bloomberg Radio. “Like I said, I don’t think this is for the United States in the long term, but grabbing the moment.”
Companies with the largest number of H-1B-VISA are Amazon.com Inc, Tata Consultancy Services LTD, Microsoft Corp, Meta Platforms Inc and Apple Inc, according to the US government data. JPMorgan Chase & Co and Walmart Inc are on the 8th and 9th.
Roberts said that HSBC, like other companies, had a hectic weekend because of the first uncertainty about how the change would be applied and maintained. An official from the White House ultimately clarified that the reimbursement only affects new visas – no extensions or current visa holders – and will be applied in the upcoming lottery cycle.
“It was unfortunate because the original policy was unclear whether it was retroactive or prospective,” said Roberts. “Now they have clarified.”
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Published on September 22, 2025
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