U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order requiring employers to pay $100,000/year for H-1B skilled worker visas, in a move anticipated to significantly impact the country’s tech industry.
The new measure, which will likely face legal challenges, comes into effect from Sept. 21 and will remain in place for a year—though the president has the option to extend it. The Homeland Security secretary can exempt individuals, entire companies, or entire industries from the order. Trump also signed another executive order introducing a $1 million “gold card“ for permanent U.S. residency.
“The main thing is, we’re going to have great people coming in, and they’re going to be paying,” Trump said of the orders to reporters at the Oval Office.
H-1B visas have come under increasing scrutiny under the Trump administration. They allow companies to sponsor foreign workers with specialized skills to work in the United States, initially for three years, but extendable to six years. However, critics argue it is used by companies to “import” cheap labor, sidelining domestic talent.
The U.S. annually awards 85,000 H-1B visas on a lottery system, with India accounting for around three-quarters of the recipients. Earlier this year, former Trump ally Elon Musk had come out in support of the program, claiming the U.S. lacks sufficient homegrown talent to fill important tech vacancies.
“All the big companies are on board,” maintained Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. “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,” he added.