Published: 3:10am, 20 Sep 2025Updated: 3:20am, 20 Sep 2025
US President Donald Trump is expected to sign a proclamation as soon as Friday that would move to extensively overhaul the H-1B visa programme, requiring a US$100,000 fee for applications in a bid to curb overuse, according to a White House official familiar with the matter.
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Trump is set to sign a proclamation on Friday, requiring the payment and asserting that abuse of the H-1B pathway has displaced US workers.
The proclamation restricts entry under the H-1B programme unless accompanied by the payment, added the official, who was granted anonymity to discuss the policy before it was announced.
Trump also plans to order his labour secretary to undertake a rule-making process to revise prevailing-wage levels for the H-1B programme – a move intended to limit the use of visas to undercut wages that would otherwise be paid to American workers.
The move is the latest immigration reform by the Trump administration and will heavily affect the technology industry in particular, as it relies heavily on H-1Bs. The administration argues that the revisions will bring more certainty to legitimate filings under the programme by weeding out abuses.
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In a fact sheet set seen by Bloomberg News, the White House said American workers are being replaced with lower-paid foreign labour and called it a national security threat.