Trump hits H-1B-VISA with $ 100,000 reimbursement, aimed at the program that Elon Musk and Instagram launched | Techcrunch

President Trump just made it much more expensive for companies to hire foreign employees through the H-1B program. The White House Announced on Friday That Trump signed a proclamation that obliged employers to pay a substantial fee of $ 100,000 for new H-1B visa applications, a huge leap compared to the current $ 215 lottery registration costs.

With H-1B-VISA, American companies can hire foreign employees in areas that usually require technical expertise, such as IT, Engineering, Mathematics or Medicine. The program is filled annually at 65,000 new visas, plus an additional 20,000 for foreign graduates with advanced degrees from American universities. The visas are awarded through a lottery system and usually last three years, although holders can expand them or request green cards.

The new move of the administration was designed to resolve it that the widespread abuse of the program calls it blaming for moving American employees. According to the White House, the share of IT employees with H-1B-VISA rose in 2003 from 32% to more than 65% today, while unemployment has hit 6.1% among recent graduates in computer science.

Silicon Valley will undoubtedly be in the arms about the initiative. The limitations are aimed at a program that has contributed to creating some of the greatest success stories in the region.

Elon Musk, Trump’s closest ally for the most part of this year, initially worked in the US on an H-1B after arrival as a student. Musk, who adopted a observed critic of the H-1B program on his platform X in December in December, tweeted To the individual that: “The reason I am in America, along with so many critical people who have built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong, is because of H1B. Take a big step back and F *** will be war against this issue that you cannot possibly understand.”

Mike Krieger, the co-founder of Instagram who became the main product officer at AI Giant Anthropic, is one of those above success stories. Stanford-Grad, born in Brazil, worked on the early instant Messaging platform MEBO on an H-1B visa.

Earlier this year, the National Venture Capital Association quarrel in a letter To the National Science Foundation that “increasing the annual limit of H-1B-VISA published every year on trained and highly skilled immigrants who work in jobs that require a considerable number of technical and specialized training, is fundamental to generating more successful immigrant-oriented companies.”

The NVCA noted that although “H-1B-VISA are not ideal for immigrants who want to find companies in the US immediately, they are still crucial for the success of established companies on immigrants because they offer valuable work experience and broaden the pipeline of potential starting starting of immigrants.” (The requirement of the employer-employee of the H-1B makes it practically impossible for founders to obtain directly, which makes them attached to employers for years before they get green cards with which they could launch their own startups. When Krieger Instagram wanted to set up his visa in 2010, and he said he said he said Almost leave the startup Before it was launched because of those complications.)

On Friday, technical leaders on X warned of talent who fled for more hospitable countries. And Amazon, Google and Microsoft reportedly told employees with H-1B-VISA to prevent foreign journeys and to stay in the United States for the time being.

In the meantime, in his proclamation on Friday, the Trump government was fully on his criticism of the program, pointing to specific companies that approved thousands of H-1B employees and at the same time dismiss American employees. According to the fact sheet of the White House, an unnamed company received approval for 5,189 H-1B employees this tax year, while around 16,000 American jobs are cut.

The proclamation – which says it is partially rooted in an attempt to “protect our national security” – includes wiggle room; Case-per case exemptions are possible if they are considered in the national interest.

It also instructs the labor secretary to revise the wage requirements to prevent the undermining of American salaries.

This message has been updated with reports on how Amazon, Google and Microsoft respond.