- H-1B visa fees increased to over Rs 88 lakh (1 lakh dollar) by US President Trump
- Indian nationals made up 71% of H-1B visa holders last year
- O-1 and L-1 visas offer alternatives for highly skilled workers and intracompany transferees
H-1B Visa Fee Hike 2025: Donald Trump, President of United States increased the H-1B visa fees to over Rs. 88 lakhs (1 lakh dollar) to curb the immigration in the country. The move is aimed to ensure only "highly skilled" workers are brought in to the country. H-1B visa is one the most-sought after visa and imposing a high fee of 1,00,000 dollar could drastically impact the career prospects of several Indians.
H-1B visa holders will be required to renew their visas time to time and pay a fee of more than Rs. 88 lakhs each time. To avoid the high fees, many individuals would start preparing to return to their home country, but several big tech companies like Meta, Microsoft have asked their employees to not leave the country for at least 14 days and those residing outside have been asked to return to the US within 24 hours.
The increased fee highly impacts the people of India, as they made 71 per cent of visa holders, last year.
What is H-1B Visa?
A H-1B visa is for individuals or students aiming to work in a "specialty occupation" in the US. A specialty occupation requires individuals to have highly specialized knowledge in fields like Science, Technology, Mathematics, Education and a minimum of bachelor's degree. The company must sponsor the individual and file a petition on behalf of them and submit a verification letter through the project manager.
The H-1B3 visa is for fashion models aiming to pursue their career in the US. To be eligible for the visa, they only need to be a fashion model with a "distinguished merit and ability".
H-1B Visa Fees: Alternatives To H-1B Visa
O-1 Visa
The O-1 visa permits entry to individuals who have demonstrated a high level of achievement in their field, either in STEM or in the motion picture and television industry. Visa holders can stay in the U.S. for up to three years, with extensions possible if more time is required to complete the initial event or project
L-1 Intracompany Transferee Visa
This visa allows companies to transfer their executives or manager to their affiliated companies in the US.
According to the US Citizenship Immigration and Services, US has received enough petitions to meet the 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap and the 20,000 H-1B visa U.S. master's cap, for fiscal year 2026.
