Global talent hubs see golden opportunity after Trump’s H-1B visa fee hike

U.S. President Donald Trump's surprise move to rise the H-1B visa exertion interest to $100,000 has near companies — and large economies — scrambling to marque consciousness of the imaginable implications.

For immoderate planetary endowment hubs, peculiarly those successful Europe, the Middle East and Asia, however, experts accidental it could connection a invaluable opportunity.

As portion of a propulsion to support American jobs, the Trump medication connected Friday raised the exertion fee for skilled overseas workers. The proclamation, which came into effect connected Sunday, requires companies to wage the interest to get the visas indispensable for caller employees entering the country.

Alongside fiscal companies, Big Tech firms person agelong counted connected H-1B visas to capable highly skilled roles with unit recruited from India and China, among different countries.

India, for its part, hit back astatine the Trump medication implicit the caller visa fee, saying the argumentation "is apt to person humanitarian consequences."

Charles-Henry Monchau, main concern serviceman astatine Syz Group, said the recently imposed six-figure interest for H-1B visas could present a changeable successful the limb to planetary endowment hubs seeking to pull skilled workers.

"It decidedly could beryllium achy for the U.S. successful presumption of innovation," Monchau told CNBC's "Europe Early Edition" connected Monday.

He added, however, that the fiscal interaction of the H-1B terms hike appears comparatively humble for Big Tech names, notably Amazon.

The U.S. e-commerce juggernaut employed by acold the astir H-1B holders — much than 14,000 — arsenic of the extremity of June, according to the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services. Microsoft, Meta, Apple and Google, meanwhile, each had implicit 4,000 of the visas during the fiscal twelvemonth 2025.

"It could beryllium an accidental for the U.K., it could beryllium an accidental for Europe, for locations similar Dubai, for instance, oregon possibly China … Because evidently if the U.S. becomes much stringent, this is simply a aureate accidental for galore of these countries to unfastened the doorway to offshore experts and workers," Monchau said.

Harry Stebbings, laminitis of VC money and podcast 20VC, shares this sentiment.

"The azygous biggest menace to European innovation is the nonaccomplishment of talent," Stebbings said Saturday successful a societal media post. "Trump has handed Europe the top opportunity."

Stebbings called connected the U.K. to springiness each H-1B visas a fast-track to the U.K. arsenic portion of a propulsion to marque the state a "talent magnet."

His comments travel arsenic the U.K. reportedly looks to research ways to abolish immoderate visa fees for apical planetary talent, a determination that would opposition sharply with the Trump administration.

One enactment being considered by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is simply a connection to driblet visa charges for top-level professionals, the Financial Times reported connected Monday, citing radical acquainted with the matter.

CNBC has asked Downing Street to comment. A Home Office spokesperson told the Financial Times that the country's planetary endowment routes "attract and clasp high-skilled talent, peculiarly successful science, probe and technology."

Barney Hussey-Yeo, CEO of British artificial quality startup Cleo, connected Monday described Trump's abrupt alteration to the H-1B visa programme arsenic "an unprecedented opportunity" that had triggered a precocious measurement of involvement from stateside workers.

"Since the H-1B turmoil this weekend, I've had implicit 1,000 nonstop messages from highly skilled professionals considering leaving the U.S. — Computer Science graduates from the world's apical universities present moving astatine elite tech companies. The calibre is exceptional," Hussey-Yeo said successful a statement.

"The U.K. should bash everything imaginable to go the default destination for this world-class talent," helium added.

In the U.S., meanwhile, immoderate firms person attempted to prehend the inaugural pursuing the H-1B visa interest hike.

For instance, the co-founder and main exertion serviceman of Metaview, a San Francisco-based firm, sought to leverage the quality arsenic a hiring opportunity.

In a LinkedIn post, Metaview's Shahriar Tajbakhsh encouraged workers to cheque retired the firm's careers page, saying it was "ready to determination fast" to prosecute apical talent.

"I'm seeing galore companies from different countries utilizing this arsenic an accidental to say, 'Come enactment successful state X.' That feels a spot hopeless to me," Tajbakhsh said.

He added that for his company, "$100k is simply a rounding mistake compared to the worth each subordinate of our squad creates."

— CNBC's Michael Considine & Yun Li contributed to this report.