Last fall, President Donald Trump’s executive order raising the fee for H-1B visas to $100,000 — like many of his immigration policies — immediately sparked chaos. Thousands of workers who had gone abroad to renew their visas. Stranded abroad. The details of who will be affected will be revealed only after the fact. Six months later, the fallout from the initial announcement is mostly gone. The H-1B registration season for the next fiscal year has just begun. With H-1B applications open until March 19, it’s unclear what impact, if any, the new rules will have on jobs, immigration and the workforce, but experts are warning that the impact will extend far beyond the tech industry.
Trump’s transition team was split between a local bloc led by longtime adviser Stephen Miller and headed by the president’s powerful new tech allies Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. The factions were divided on the issue of H-1B visas, which allow skilled foreign workers to come to the U.S. to fill specific jobs. The visa category is usually associated with Big Tech, and for good reason: Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft are the three largest employers of H-1B workers. Musk’s firing and the dissolution of his Department of Government Efficiency were the death knell for the Tech-MAGA alliance, setting the stage for the H-1B fee increase.
But while H-1Bs may bring lucrative software engineering jobs to mind, the policy change has affected other industries more. In fact, firms like Amazon can easily absorb the cost of increased fees and have found solutions to pay for it. Instead, the H-1B fee increase is disproportionately affecting rural schools and hospitals that already suffer from labor shortages. Simply put, Trump’s effort to punish Big Tech is actually hurting underfunded schools and hospitals, many of them in deep-red rural districts that supported his candidacy.
There are two major changes: the fee increase, which attracted the most attention, and a new priority system that favors applicants with higher incomes. Because there are more applicants than openings, H-1B visas are issued by lottery. But now, new applications will be weighted by income, and higher-paying jobs will have better chances of getting a visa. Applicants will now be divided into four wage levels: those at Level 1 will be entered into the lottery once, while those at Level 4 will receive four tiers. Immigration attorneys say that under this system, a higher-paid tech worker would be prioritized over a lower-paid teacher. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency that handles H-1B and other visa applications, did not respond. the edgeRequest for comment
Margaret Stock, an immigration attorney based in Anchorage, says the fee hike is already affecting public schools in her state. “We have a major labor shortage in Alaska,” he said, and that shortage extends to the school system. Stock represents several school districts that have hired foreign teachers on H-1B visas. Stock said teachers are held to union contracts that determine their salaries.
Partly because teachers are so hard to come by, Alaska is. One of the highest paying states Some counties also offer signing bonuses and moving allowances for teachers. But these resources can only go so far. “The state doesn’t have the money to pay $100,000 per teacher for an H-1B worker,” Stock said. “That would be millions of dollars that they would be paying the federal government for teachers.”
Alaska has approximately 600 international teachers, 341 of whom are on H-1B visas. According to Alaska Council of School Administrators. This is a small percentage of the total H-1B workforce. drinkIn 2024, 400,000 applications were approved, the vast majority of which were renewed – but the difference is huge in the least populated US state, Alaska. Alaska’s international teachers come mostly from the Philippines, Ghana, and India—countries with large English-speaking populations. Last year, before the fee hike, Nome, Bering Strait, and Kenai Peninsula school districts also Organized a recruitment drive. To the Philippines
The fee hike won’t just affect prospective immigrants, Stock said.
“Alaska is losing population, and one of the reasons for population loss is because people don’t want to live here when they can’t put their kids in a good school,” he said. “If the class sizes are too big, or there aren’t teachers, or there aren’t any activities, or there’s no health care, people won’t want to live here. It’s not just an H-1B issue. There are downstream effects on the entire economy.”
State and federal officials are hoping to get waivers for the fee hike. After announcing the fee increase, the administration clarified that the Department of Homeland Security would grant exceptions in “exceptionally rare” circumstances where hiring foreign workers is “in the national interest” and only if U.S. workers are not available to fill the roles. A waiver would be granted only in cases where the employer’s failure to pay would “significantly harm the interests of the United States.”
The only way to apply for an exemption is by email, and Stock hasn’t heard of anyone being approved.
The fee increase also affects Alaska Native corporations, 13 statewide regional companies whose shareholders are Alaska Natives. These companies often hire H-1B workers for specialized roles, Stock said. “I know an H-1B worker who is working on hazardous waste management related to military bases in Alaska,” Stock said. “There are all kinds of workers: engineers, health care workers, doctors, university and public school teachers. In Alaska, most H-1B workers are not technical workers.”
Alaska isn’t the only state facing a severe labor shortage. Rural clinics across the country have increasingly relied on migrant workers. Since the fee change was announced, some jobs have gone completely vacant. Last September, the National Rural Health Association and the National Association of Rural Health Clinics asked the Trump administration to implement a “blanket exemption for health care providers.” They didn’t hear back. (The National Rural Health Association did not respond. the edgeRequest for comment.)
Global Nurse Force, a nurse recruitment firm, Sued the Trump administration The fee hike last October is one of three federal lawsuits filed since the change went into effect.
At a February hearing in the Global Nurse Force case, government lawyers said: About 70 employers have paid the fee. So far, the administration claims that the low number of applicants proves that the increase “is not a tax because it is not raising revenue.” It may also indicate that employers have found ways to pay the fees.
Fariba Faiz, an immigration attorney based in San Francisco, said the fee has changed the way companies hire — but it hasn’t stopped them from hiring immigrant workers. “What we’re seeing in practice is a change in employer strategy rather than a complete abandonment of the H-1B program,” Faiz said.
The $100,000 fee only applies to first-time applicants applying from outside the United States. For example, a student in the US who applies for an H-1B visa will not be subject to the increased fee. The settlement means some companies are “prioritizing cases that can be filed as stateside transfers,” Faiz said, while others are hiring foreign workers remotely rather than bringing them into the country.
“The practical effect is that companies are adjusting hiring models to avoid fees rather than eliminating the need for high-skilled workers,” Faiz said. “In many cases, the skill is still being hired, but the job no longer exists in America.”
Despite these actions, the Trump administration’s broader immigration policies have made some companies more reluctant to hire immigrant workers. Some employers do not understand the new regulations.
“The questions I’ve answered about the $100,000 tax are endless,” said Matt Miona, a Boston-based immigration attorney. Mayona said he often talks to clients who don’t realize there are ways to get around fees. “But it’s not necessarily the $100,000 that makes companies not want to hire; it’s the environment, it’s the economy, and it’s the uncertainty of how their employees can get into the country or not, even if they’re doing everything right.”
In addition to going after so-called “criminal aliens,” the Trump administration is also cracking down on nearly all forms of legal immigration. Management recently Shortening the length of work permits for asylum seekers up to 18 months. Before the change, asylum seekers’ work permits lasted for five years. Administration too announced last August That he is reviewing the records of all visa holders — including H-1B holders — for any violations that could deport them. Since December, H-1B applicants have also been subject to enhanced vetting, and applicants who have worked in content moderation may have their applications rejected.
“$100,000 is something you can get an answer to,” Maiona said. “You can call an immigration attorney and we’ll say, ‘We really don’t think you have anything to worry about. It looks fine, you’re in good shape.’ But other things we can’t really promise. That’s really what’s driving a lot of it. That is fear.”