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U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order requiring companies to pay a mandatory processing fee of $100,000 (Sh12.9million) to facilitate the employment of foreign workers under the H-1B visa program.
The order which came into effect from September 21 is a gamechanger that will see
Confusion surrounded the rollout of the directive with initial reports suggesting that the fee is annual, and would be applicable to holders of the H-1B visa seeking to return to the U.S.
Who is not affected by the directive?
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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has since clarified that the fees is a one-off payment and not annual as earlier reported by a section of the press.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt
This is not an annual fee. It’s a one-time fee that applies only to the petition.
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Holders of valid H-1B visas are exempted as it will only be applicable to those seeking the visa that allows foreigners to work in America for the first time.
Those seeking renewal are also exempted from the hefty fees which will lock out many workers from lucrative opportunities available in the U.S. as employers who are not able to make the payment will not be benefit from the services of foreign experts in specialised fields.
The H-1B visa has been a popular pathway for foreign nationals to secure employment opportunities in the U.S. and allows American businesses to enlist the services of qualified experts in specialised fields like technology, finance, engineering, healthcare, and education.
Purpose of the fees
To be eligible for the H-1B visa, a U.S. company must file a petition on behalf of the foreign worker and payment of the fees is among the requirements in the program that is implemented by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a department within the Department of Homeland Security.
According to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the fees is meant to protect the interest of qualified U.S nationals in line with the administration’s “America first” approach, guarding them from being edged out by foreign labour which is often cheaper and readily available.
“The high numbers of relatively low-wage workers in the H-1B program undercut the integrity of the program and are detrimental to American workers’ wages and labour opportunities, especially at the entry level, in industries where such low-paid H-1B workers are concentrated,” reads part of the order.
File image of U.S. President Donald Trump signing an Executive Order
It also seeks to level the playing field for both American workers and foreign experts, ensuring that the program is not misused to the disadvantage of American nationals.
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“These abuses also prevent American employers in other industries from utilizing the H-1B program in the manner in which it was intended: to fill jobs for which highly skilled and educated American workers are unavailable.” Adds the E.O.
According to immigration and criminal justice reform advocacy organization FWD.us, there are 730,000 H-1B visa holders in the US, with an additional 550,000 dependents (spouses and children).