Trump Raises Visa Costs For Foreign Labourers, Unveils New Price

Trump Raises Visa Costs For Foreign Labourers, Unveils New Price

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order increasing the sponsorship fee for H-1B work visas from $5,000 to $100,000 annually for U.S. companies hiring employees from Nigeria and other foreign countries.

The order, signed on Friday at the White House, also introduced a new “gold card” visa.

Under the scheme, individuals and corporations can pay between $1 million and $2 million, depending on the category, for expedited U.S. permanent residency.

“The main thing is, we’re going to have great people coming in, and they’re going to be paying,” Mr Trump told reporters at the White House. “You can prove exceptional value to the United States of America by contributing a million dollars to the United States of America.”

Previously, H-1B visas cost companies between $5,000 and $6,000 a year, enabling them to employ skilled foreign workers for an initial renewable three-year period, with a pathway to permanent residency.

Trump’s move comes as part of his intensified anti-immigration drive, with the administration arguing that firms had exploited the program to import cheap labor at the expense of American workers.

Defending the decision, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said, “If you’re going to train somebody, you’re going to train one of the recent graduates from one of the great universities across our land. Train Americans. Stop bringing in people to take our jobs.”

The drastic fee hike poses a major challenge for industries such as technology, finance, and healthcare, which depend heavily on the 85,000 H-1B visas issued annually to fill critical roles.