Washington, September 8: US President Donald Trump used his Labour Day proclamation to endorse a proposed new fee on H-1B visa petitions aimed at encouraging American companies to prioritise hiring US workers before seeking talent abroad.
"To ensure we are hiring and training American workers, we are proposing a new fee on H-1B visa petitions that will encourage companies to invest in qualified Americans before looking overseas for labour," Trump stated in his proclamation on Monday.
This presidential support places the politically sensitive H-1B visa programme at the centre of Trump's Labour Day message, which emphasised manufacturing, trade, tariffs, and protection of American jobs.
The H-1B programme is extensively utilised by US technology firms and other employers to recruit highly skilled foreign professionals. Indian nationals have traditionally formed the largest group of H-1B recipients, making any alterations to the programme significant for India and the Indian professional community in the US.
Last month, the Department of Homeland Security proposed a $103,265 fee for all H-1B petitions subject to the annual cap, including those eligible for the advanced-degree exemption. The fee would be payable upon petition filing and would be additional to existing immigration fees.
The administration said the revenue would help cover federal costs tied to administering the lawful immigration system.
Trump framed the new fee as part of a wider economic plan favouring American workers, noting, "After decades of disastrous trade policies that surrendered our industrial strength to foreign nations, companies are now returning home, investing trillions of dollars into the United States economy, and adding over 900,000 American jobs."
He attributed this resurgence partly to his "protective tariffs" which, he said, shielded US workers from foreign competition, and highlighted that American manufacturing had expanded for six straight months.
"Our Nation is entering a bold new era of American manufacturing, technological innovation, and economic prosperity -- powered by the might of the American worker," Trump added.
The proclamation officially designated September 7 as Labour Day and urged Americans to honour the efforts and resilience of workers nationwide.
This latest fee proposal follows a prior Trump administration attempt to impose a $100,000 charge on new H-1B visas, which a federal judge in Massachusetts struck down in June as exceeding the administration's authority. A federal appeals court later denied the administration's request to pause that ruling.
The current $103,265 fee proposal is undergoing the federal rulemaking process and has not yet taken effect. It applies to cap-subject H-1B petitions, but employers are not currently required to pay the new fee solely based on Trump's Labour Day proclamation.
