Trump to impose $100k fee for H-1B worker visas, White House says

As a side effect, this could reduce the pipeline of foreign students coming in on F1 with plans to transition to a work visa over time.

F1 -> OPT -> H1 bridge is way more expensive now.

Universities are bound to lose a ton of money due to this. Those outside of the top 50 will likely get hammered.

This is a bit like robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Yes, it brings in more income for the government at the expense of universities.

It’s a great way to remove h1b fraud and abuse but you do burn down a bit of your garage in the process of getting rid of the rat.

Yes, 100%. Also, many universities will find it impossible to recruit new faculty as most Ph.D. students are international students who end up working in American universities.

"At the expense of universities" may not be the plan for this one, but to the current administration, it's certainly a bonus.

Is it really at expense of universities? From what I understand, most are getting Master Degrees but very few are doing research. I've seen plenty of H-1B coworkers with Master Degrees but very few did research, it was just extra computer science courses.

Majority of CS/EE/MBA type grad programs across all universities are heavily enrolled by foreign students. Most of them end up paying out of state fee.

This is a significant chunk of revenue for many colleges to keep their budget in shape.

Even in conservative states, lots of colleges are reliant on this stream of income. A loss of this stream is going to put a strain on them to balance their budget, or seek more help from govt.

I'm a little bit confused by the text of the proclamation. It says people outside the country have to pay a $100k fee. Isn't an F1 student on OPT inside the country and not subject to the fee? Or are they required to leave the country to apply and are subject to it.

The proclamation gives me the impression that foreign students are exempt from the fee.

American Universities are exempt from H1B fees. Anyone receiving an H1B to work at a US University is exempt from the fee and exempt from the lottery.

Anyone on H1B who is working in US or is arriving into US for work will have to pay. F1 on OPT is F1 Visa and not on H1B. If they choose to get a H1B at the same time, if they use it to work then they have to pay.

I guess you didnt read the proclamation... 100k payment is only enforced at entry. F1 students when they are ready to apply for h1b are already inside the US

They are not directly affected when applying for h1b but think about it what this means to both employers and students. It's a signal that immigration policy can change on a whim. For employers, hiring foreigners has always been cumbersome and now it's even worse due to the uncertainty. For students who starts working on h1b, you are in "immigration jail" in the US for years

Just like tariffs and the tax cuts

AFAIK after approval for the H1B, you usually have go through consular services in your home country to get the H1B stamped and to come back on it.

Change of Status H-1B petition doesn't require you to leave the US. Visa is only for entry.

https://www.wsmimmigration.com/immigration-resources/faqs/fi...

F1 is the same. You can have an expired visa but maintain legal student status in the US because visa is for entry only.