Trump signs proclamation creating $100,000 application fee for H-1B visas

Fee paid by companies acceptable to alteration high-skill enactment visa system, upon which exertion assemblage relies heavily.

United States President Donald Trump has signed a proclamation requiring a $100,000 exertion interest for companies seeking to sponsor workers H-1B visas.

Trump signed the proclamation during an lawsuit successful the Oval Office, portion besides introducing a abstracted “gold card” visa for individuals to wage $1 cardinal to expedite their immigration.

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Administration officials said the alteration to the H1-B programme would guarantee that companies would lone sponsor workers with the astir rarified accomplishment sets.

“We request large workers, and this beauteous overmuch ensures that’s what’s gonna happen,” helium said.

However, specified a prohibitive interest volition apt vastly alteration the H-1B system, which was created successful 1990 successful an effort to boost industries with high-skilled, hard-to-fill jobs, peculiarly successful science, technology, engineering and math.

The visas are reserved for radical with bachelor’s degrees oregon higher and person historically been awarded via a lottery system.

The programme has travel nether accrued scrutiny from the Trump medication amid a wider crackdown connected immigration, which Trump has tied to boosting home labour.

As portion of that campaign, the Trump medication has besides sought to present much restrictive policies connected planetary students studying successful the US, including requiring entree to societal media accounts and a ban connected overseas travellers from respective countries.

The medication has antecedently considered changing the H-1B visa rules to favour higher-paying employers, fundamentally doing distant with the lottery system.

Supporters of the H-1B programme accidental it brings the champion and brightest to enactment successful the US, creating an borderline against overseas competitors.

Critics person agelong charged that companies person abused the programme, utilizing it to wage little wages and to enforce less labour protections.

The exertion assemblage would beryllium the hardest deed by immoderate large change.

This year, Amazon was by acold the apical recipient of H-1B visas, with much than 10,000 awarded. The institution was followed by Tata Consultancy, Microsoft, Apple and Google.

Geographically, California has the highest fig of H-1B workers, according to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Meanwhile, India was the largest beneficiary of H-1B visas past year, accounting for 71 percent of approved beneficiaries. China was a distant 2nd astatine 11.7 percent, according to authorities data.

The H-1B visas are approved for a play of 3 to six years.