$14.1 billion cost of H-1B visa? Big Tech moving more jobs overseas

[ERRATUM: The initial report incorrectly cited the figure as $14.1 trillion. However, upon recalculation—and as accurately noted by Gulf News reader Gino Paul—the correct amount is $14.1 billion. We regret the error.]

US President Donald Trump’s new $100,000 H-1B visa fee for skilled foreign workers is prompting Big Tech, among the largest employers of staff from outside the US, to seriously consider moving more jobs overseas.

It's an ironic outcome that the H-1B visa price hike was supposed to discourage.

Trump reckons that by making foreign employees too expensive to hire en masse, US companies will be encouraged to recruit from home. 

However, this is not how corporations view it.

In 2024, 141,000 new applications for H-1B visas were approved in the US, which at today’s new price, would have cost firms about $14.1 billion.

The launch of the staggering $100,000 fee for each new H-1B visa application has sent shockwaves through the tech industry.

The economic implications are massive. 

Originally intended to push companies to “hire American”, the steep fee appears to be backfiring. 

Many US firms, particularly in Silicon Valley, rely heavily on skilled foreign workers to fill roles in engineering, AI, and software development — roles that remain chronically understaffed domestically.

“This is having the exact opposite effect of what the administration wants,” Chris Thomas, a partner at law firm Holland & Hart, told Reuters.

“I’ve had several conversations with corporate clients who say the new fee is simply unworkable in the US, and it’s time for us to start looking for other countries where we can have highly skilled talent.” 

According to Bloomberg, several tech giants — including Meta, Google, and Oracle—have already begun evaluating expansion plans in Canada, Eastern Europe, and India, where hiring foreign workers is more cost-efficient and regulatory burdens are lighter.

Critics warn that the fee hike risks gutting the US tech sector's global competitiveness. 

“Talent is global,” noted the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) in a recent policy brief. “Artificially capping or pricing out access to it in the US means it will go elsewhere — and fast,” the NFAP policy brief stated.