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

(www.reuters.com)
1245 points mriguy | 1 comments | 19 Sep 25 19:59 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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jatins ◴[19 Sep 25 20:32 UTC] No.45306204[source]▶
While the stated intention is to prevent abuse by consultancies, I think this effectively kills the H1B program. Who will be able to afford this?

Not startups. 100k is like 75% of base comp in most bay area startups

Among BigTech, maybe like ~20 companies will be willing to pay this per employee.

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zer00eyz ◴[19 Sep 25 20:40 UTC] No.45306293[source]▶
> Not startups. 100k is like 75%

I dont know of a single person here on a visa making less than 150k salary. They get the same stock, bonus and benefits that every one else gets.... it's well over 300k to have that staff member when all is said and done.

You're not adding on 100k a year, you're adding on 100k for a 3-6 year employee.

Even if that works out to 20k a year, it's pocket change in the grand scheme of things.

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leakycap ◴[19 Sep 25 20:46 UTC] No.45306351[source]▶
I don't think there is any reasonable evidence to suggest that most workers here on H1-B visas make more than 150k median salary, much less that they are awarded similar options as other employees.

I'm glad to hear this has been the environment you've worked in, but I don't believe it reflects the majority of skilled workers in the US on H1-B.

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cyberax ◴[19 Sep 25 20:59 UTC] No.45306516[source]▶
The H1b salaries are public. And the L4 prevailing wage for software engineers in the Seattle area is $200k.

H1b also only takes into account the actual salary, it completely ignores stock bonuses.

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leakycap ◴[19 Sep 25 23:12 UTC] No.45307902{3}[source]▶
If this is public information, I'd love to know what the median salary is rather than taking your word for it on a specific area I am not familiar with.
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cyberax ◴[20 Sep 25 00:51 UTC] No.45308669{4}[source]▶
https://h1bgrader.com/h1b-prevailing-wage/area/seattle-tacom... - filter by "Software". Level 4 is $212202, Level 1 is $117749.

The USCIS uses the BLS data for the prevailing wage. You can also check it on the BLS website if you want.

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1. leakycap ◴[20 Sep 25 03:11 UTC] No.45309944{5}[source]▶
Level 4 is also described as "This is the fully competent wage level. It is for anyone who have sufficient experience to plan and do work that requires judgement and do independent evaluation, selection, modification and skills. Usually these roles would have management or supervisory responsibilities."

Do you think that the median "Software" developer being brought over on a H1-B is Level 4? Even if you think a large number of them are L4, do you see the issue with trying to exceed a median salary at 150k if the L1 is 117k and the L4 (management or supervisory) is only 212k ... and we're using data from one of the most expensive corners of the US?