From Elon Musk to Microsoft's Satya Nadella, these tech leaders were once H-1B visa holders 

President Donald Trump is looking to restrict and overhaul the H-1 B visa program, which has allowed U.S. companies to prosecute overseas endowment successful occupations specified arsenic IT, healthcare and engineering for decades.

The programme has been a taxable of statement among lawmakers successful Washington for years, with galore opponents arguing that it removes occupation opportunities for U.S. nationals and is rife with abuse.

In response, Trump announced a program to enforce $100,000 fees connected H-1B applications, which could severely interaction American companies' quality to enactment the visas.

One happening that can't beryllium disputed, however, is that the programme has been portion of the travel of a sizeable fig of American exertion and concern leaders since its inception successful 1990.

Here is simply a database of immoderate of the highest-profile ones. 

Elon Musk, the world's richest antheral and the laminitis of a raft of salient tech companies successful the U.S., is not lone 1 of the astir salient H-1B visa recipients but besides 1 of the astir vocal advocates of the program.

Originally calved successful South Africa, Musk moved to the U.S. successful 1992 erstwhile helium transferred to the University of Pennsylvania to prosecute his studies. He aboriginal attended Stanford earlier dropping retired to prosecute entrepreneurial ventures successful Silicon Valley. 

While immoderate details of his early visa concern person been debated, Musk has gone on grounds saying the crushed helium is successful the U.S., on with "so galore captious radical who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of different companies that made America strong," was the H-1B visa. 

Still, the billionaire, who has go highly progressive successful U.S. and planetary politics, has besides supported the overhaul and reformation of the H-1B strategy successful the past. 

Eric Yuan,  the 55-year-old laminitis and CEO of Zoom, immigrated to the U.S. from China successful 1997 connected an H-1B visa, though his travel was thing but easy.

Yuan was sponsored for his H-1B visa to enactment arsenic an technologist astatine Cisco-Webex, but was lone approved for it connected his ninth try, helium said successful a Cloud Giant podcast successful 2020.

Despite speaking very small English upon his accomplishment successful the U.S., helium would spell connected to motorboat Zoom successful 2011. The company's IPO successful 2019 valued Yuan's shares successful the billions.

While Yuan has not publically commented overmuch astir the H-1B visa program, helium told CNBC successful 2019 that the United States' openness to migration is steadfast and that helium expects that civilization to persist.

Born and raised successful India, Satya Nadella, president and CEO of Microsoft, is besides a erstwhile recipient of an H-1B visa, though his circumstances were rather unique. 

Having been successful the U.S. since 1990, helium held a highly coveted greenish paper until helium gave it up to bring his wife into the state done a successful, but different risky, H-1B visa exertion successful 1994. 

"The thought that you person to springiness up your greenish paper to get an H-1B is, successful retrospect, silly. And truthful so fto america successful information instrumentality the betterment truthful that it works for us, some our information but arsenic good arsenic our competitiveness," said Nadella successful a 2017 interrogation with CNBC. 

Back successful 2017, speaking connected the 'Make Me Smart' podcast, Nadella defended the H-1B visa program, saying that it provided Microsoft with high-skilled labour that helped it stay globally competitive, though helium welcomed an enforcement bid reviewing H-1B for abuses nether the archetypal Trump administration.

Jayshree Ullal, CEO of unreality networking institution Arista Networks, was calved successful the United Kingdom and raised successful New Delhi, earlier she moved to the U.S. astatine the property of 16 and began her studies astatine San Francisco State University.

After finishing a master's astatine Santa Clara University, she worked for salient tech companies similar Fairchild Semiconductor, Advanced Micro Devices and Cisco.

Somewhere successful that time, Ullal had been a recipient of an H-1B visa, a typical of the CEO had previously disclosed to Forbes. Arista did not respond to a petition for remark from CNBC.

While details of Ullal's H-1B travel are unknown, she has voiced enactment for migration betterment and easier pathways for overseas workers to the U.S. successful the past.

Speaking to Times of India successful 2023, she said the migration process had go overly challenging with imperishable residence visas taking up to 15 years to secure, which is "a ample chunk of a nonrecreational person's enactment life."

"At Arista, we judge that the champion developers tin travel from anyplace and determination is simply a planetary organisation of engineering endowment — virtual oregon physical," she added.

Ullal is 1 of the fistful of migrant billionaires successful the U.S. contiguous with a nett worthy of $6 billion, according to Forbes.

Jeff Skoll, the archetypal President of eBay — present a philanthropist and president of Capricorn Investment Group — is different erstwhile H-1B visa holder who has defended the program, portion supporting reforms.

As a Canadian, helium graduated from the University of Toronto successful 1987 earlier helium came to America to survey astatine Stanford University. He would aboriginal get an H-1B visa successful 1996 erstwhile helium began moving for eBay and its founder, Pierre Omidyar. 

In December past year, Skoll was alongside Elon Musk defending the H-1B visa, portion besides advocating for improvements and definite reforms to the program.

"For maine personally it was a beingness [and] decease combat to get and support an H-1B visa, adjacent though I had travel retired of Stanford Business School, worked with Pierre Omidyar connected [a pupil enactment visa] portion we built eBay from scratch," helium said successful an X post.

Skoll said helium astir needed to permission the state aft being turned down for an H-1B visa hold if it hadn't been for his beardown connections astatine the time.

He added that eBay and his different organizations person tally into countless problems applying for H-1Bs, adjacent though the enactment required was precise specialized successful astir cases, and determination were nary home applicants.