On September 19, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that imposes a $100,000 fee for applicants to the H-1B visa program for skilled foreign workers.

The H-1B program enables employers in the United States to temporarily hire foreign workers in positions that demand highly specialized knowledge and a minimum bachelor’s degree in a particular specialized field, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

President Trump’s order cites some concerns with H-1B visas, suggesting “abuse” of the program that allows employers to hire foreign workers at a significant discount compared to American workers, while making it more difficult for U.S. citizens to find jobs in specific fields.

“The number of foreign STEM workers in the United States has more than doubled between 2000 and 2019, increasing from 1.2 million to almost 2.5 million, while overall STEM employment has only increased 44.5 percent during that time,” reads the document.

Per the president’s order, information technology (IT) companies have widely abused the H-1B program, “significantly harming American workers in computer-related fields.”

Some big tech names are now caught up in the nightmare, unsure how the order applies and whether their current foreign workers are affected.

Tech companies have the highest number of foreign workers. 

Google, Amazon, and Microsoft warn employees with H-1B visas

Image source: TheStreet On Sept. 19, the White House said the order would take effect on Sunday, Sept. 21.

Amazon  (AMZN) , Alphabet  (GOOGL) , Microsoft  (MSFT) , and many other tech companies urged their employees with H-1B visas currently outside of the country to return to the U.S. on Sept. 21 and abort plans to leave the country, according to a Bloomberg report.

Related: Intel has a $13 billion headache Before the Trump administration clarified on Sept. 22 that the fee will affect only new visas, not renewals and current holders, and that the order will be applied in the upcoming lottery cycle, some tech giants and other large businesses issued memos to their employees.

The proclamation creates a travel restriction starting September 21, 2025, at 12:01 a.m. EDT (9:01 p.m. PDT tomorrow). After this deadline, individuals cannot enter the U.S. on H-1B status without an additional $100,000 payment associated with their petition, reads Amazon’s memo, according to Business Insider.

Amazon, Google, and Microsoft advised their employees with H-1B visas to stay in the country if they are there, and if they are outside the United States, to try to return before Sept. 21 and cancel any plans to travel past that date.

“Complete chaos,” expert warns about the impact of H-1B visa change on U.S. economy

The official White House Rapid Response account on X posted a clarification, explaining that the order doesn’t apply to current visa holders.

The Proclamation only applies to future applicants in the February lottery who are currently outside the U.S. It does not apply to anyone who participated in the 2025 lottery, reads the post on X.

Despite the clarification, the majority of employers remain uncertain and confused around how the changes will be applied.

Speaking to Bloomberg, several visa holders said the order is disruptive and upsetting. One of them, Lawrence, was prepared to relocate from the United Kingdom to the Bay Area on Sept. 22 for his new engineering job. He put his house up for rent and was ready to move, but his company’s immigration lawyers advised him to stay in the UK until further notice.

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Rakhel Milstein, an immigration lawyer and founder of Milstein Law Group, projects “complete chaos.”

Additionally, Alvaro Pereira, chief economist at Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), told France 24 that skilled immigrants are crucial for the U.S. economy.

We do think that continuing to attract high-skilled individuals from the United States or from around the world is a key strength of the U.S. economy, Pereira said.

Companies with the highest number of H-1B employees:

According to USCIS data, these are the top foreign employers by the number of beneficiaries approved in 2025:

  1. Amazon: 10,044
  2. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.: 5,505
  3. Microsoft Corporation: 5,189
  4. Meta Platforms Inc.: 5,123
  5. Apple Inc.: 4,202
  6. Google: 4,181
  7. Cognizant Technology Solutions: 2,493
  8. JPMorgan Chase and Company: 2,440
  9. Walmart Associates Inc: 2,390
  10. Deloitte Consulting LLP: 2,353

President Trump says everyone is happy, while experts warn about startups

On the day President Trump signed the order, he was asked what he thought about how the companies mostly affected by the order would react.

“I think they’re going to be very happy. Everyone’s going to be happy. And we’re going to be able to keep people in our country that are going to be very productive people. And in many cases these companies are going to pay a lot of money for that and they’re very happy about it,” the president said, as reported by The Fortune.

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Despite President Trump’s statement that companies would be “very happy” about the order, analysts and company leaders expressed concern about potential downsizing and workforce disruption.

Some companies might work around the H-1B visa fee by hiring talent in countries like India, where Big Tech is already building innovation hubs, experts told Reuters.

We probably have to reduce the number of H-1B visa workers we can hire. Some companies may have to outsource some of their workforce. Hire maybe in India or other countries just to walk around this H-1B problem, said Sam Liang, CEO of artificial intelligence transcription start-up Otter.

Deedy Das, a partner at venture capital company Menlo Ventures, which backed some AI startups, also cautioned that the White House order would disproportionately affect startups.

For larger companies, the cost is not material. For smaller companies, those with fewer than 25 employees, it’s much more significant. Big tech CEOs expected this and will pay. For them, fewer small competitors is even an advantage. It’s the smaller startups that suffer most, said Das, as reported by Reuters.

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