Officials unsure of impact from H-1B program’s fee increases

Dami Odunewu: Employers are more wary about discussing foreign-born workers.

The Sept. 19 announcement by President Donald Trump to impose a new $100,000 fee on H-1B visas resulted in confusion among companies that use the program and with immigrant workers, as both groups struggle to measure its impact.

Trump signed a proclamation requiring a $100,000 payment to accompany H-1B visa applications submitted after Sept. 21. The sum is a significant increase from the previous fee, which was $215. Initially, the new policy didn’t clarify whether the new charge applied only to new applications or also to those currently holding H-1B visas or seeking renewals.

Guidelines released two days later by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services confirmed the $100,000 fee on H-1B visas is a one-time charge and applies only to new applications. Those who had valid H-1B visas issued before Sept. 21 are not affected, and neither are their visa renewals.

The H-1B visa program allows U.S. employers to temporarily hire skilled foreign workers with at least a bachelor’s degree or equivalent in specialty occupations in industries such as health care, technology and finance, and other STEM-related fields. The intent of the H-1B provisions is to help employers who cannot otherwise obtain needed skills from the U.S. workforce by authorizing the temporary employment of individuals with specialized knowledge.

“The H-1B nonimmigrant visa program was created to bring temporary workers into the United States to perform additive, high-skilled functions, but it has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labor,” Trump said in his proclamation.

The local impact of the new policy is unknown and could face legal challenges, said Dami Odunewu, founder and CEO of Purpose Connect Inc. The Springfield-based hiring and staffing firm operates software that eliminates resumes and also specializes in international student hiring assistance for employers.

“It’s going to make it harder for smaller businesses and startups who are in a place where they need to hire talent that’s a lot more difficult to find,” she said. “We have employers who wait eight, nine months to find people that have the specific skill set that they need. If you are not able to sponsor them when the time comes because there is a $100,000 fee, that’s going to make it difficult for the employers at that point if they don’t have capacity for it.”

Additionally, the Department of Homeland Security is seeking to replace the program’s lottery system with a weighted selection process that would generally favor the allocation of visas to higher-skilled and higher-paid workers, according to a department document. Registrations for beneficiaries would be separated into four categories. Level IV workers would be entered into the selection pool four times, while Level I workers would be entered one time. 

The document was published to the Federal Register on Sept. 24 and has a 30-day public comment period from that date.

In usage
According to data from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 2,878 beneficiaries have been approved in Missouri among 471 employers for fiscal 2025. In comparison, California has the highest number of H-1B workers for fiscal 2025, with 61,841 among 7,592 employers.

In the past, H-1B visas have been distributed through lottery. This year, Amazon was by far the top recipient of H-1B visas with more than 10,000 awarded, followed by Tata Consultancy Services, Microsoft Corp., Meta Platforms Inc., Apple Inc. and Google LLC, according to USCIS data.

Locally, CoxHealth and Missouri State University each had 10 H-1B visas approved in fiscal year 2025, tying them for the most in the Springfield area. Bass Pro Shops was next with six, followed by O’Reilly Technology Services Inc., which is affiliated with O’Reilly Auto Parts,  and Mercy Springfield Communities at five each.

“CoxHealth is aware of the proclamation regarding H-1B workers signed by President Trump,” officials with the health care provider said in a statement provided to SBJ. “The proclamation does allow for the Secretary of Homeland Security to make exceptions, and we are aware that there have been preliminary discussions of a potential exemption for physicians. This is a quickly evolving situation, and we will continue to monitor potential impacts and work with our legislative teams.”

It’s also a wait-and-see approach for MSU. Emily Letterman, public relations strategist for the university, said via email the school “is awaiting additional detail and information from the Trump administration so that we can evaluate how those changes might impact our operations/employee base.”

Officials with Bass Pro, O’Reilly and Mercy didn’t respond to requests for comment by press time.

Emily Reed, executive director with Springfield Tech Council, a local technology industry association, said after consulting with her board that the H-1B visa reform will likely have a fairly low impact on tech companies in the Springfield area.

Ericka Schmeeckle, assistant director for the city of Springfield’s Workforce and Economic Vitality Department, said the Missouri Job Center in 2017 operated a federal Labor Department grant, dubbed America’s Promise, that, in part, targeted H-1B industries and occupations. For the $3 million grant the city received, it aimed at health care positions such as registered nurses and behavioral health support workers. She said the grant took the employer fees and utilized them to fund training and employment opportunities.

That grant program was the only knowledge Schmeeckle said she had of H-1B visa involvement in her department.

“The majority of our grants focus on connecting underserved people to training and employment options, and H-1B visa holders already have both,” she said via email.

As for where H-1B visa beneficiaries came from last year, India was the largest source country, accounting for 71% of approved visa holders, while China was in second at 11.7%, according to government data.

The number of new visas issued annually in the U.S. is capped at 65,000, plus an additional 20,000 for people with a master’s degree or higher. Some employers, such as universities and nonprofits, are exempt from the annual numerical limits.

Reform for the H-1B program has been sought over the years by both Republicans and Democrats, according to media reports. Critics have accused some employers in the high-tech sector of exploiting the program to import cheap labor from overseas.

A 2021 report by the Economic Policy Institute noted that thousands of visa holders working at one of the leading subcontracting firms, which provided visa workers to U.S. corporations, including Disney, FedEx and Google, appear to have been underpaid by $95 million annually.

Impactful action
For Purpose Connect, Odunewu said the H-1B visa update isn’t much of a concern.

“The students that we’re connecting to jobs, into internships and part-time, full-time opportunities, they usually do not require sponsorships,” she said, adding her organization’s focus isn’t necessarily to get employers to sponsor students. “Our focus is to guide them through the hiring process so that they’re able to access and leverage international students on a F-1 visa.”

An F-1 visa is for full-time international students pursuing academic studies, according to USA.gov. Odunewu said she’s concerned that the Trump administration decision will further erode interest from U.S companies to hire foreign workers. That makes work for her organization potentially more challenging when communicating with employers, who may be struggling to find talent in STEM fields.

“It impacts us from the standpoint of people are a lot more wary about just discussing foreign-born workers, period,” she said. “From that standpoint, we have to educate more. When there’s a policy shift like this, that’s exactly why we’re existing, so that we can help clarify how do we proceed? How do we move forward?”

Odunewu said she’s also apprehensive about what impact the H-1B visa fee could have, not only for small employers needing specialty occupation help, but also for students looking to study in America.

“What I would bet would happen if I were an international student, America will become less and less of a prospect for me because of everything that’s happening,” she said.