Immigration expert now say that the number of applications for the H-1B visa for skilled non-immigrant workers has plunged by as much as 50% as compared to last year after the sweeping policy changes under the Trump administration. As reported by Economic Times, the immigration experts feel that the hiked fee is one of the reason for this decline. “We are down about 50% filings compared to the previous year partly due to the $100,000 fee for H-1B petitions and partly due to wage-based selection,” Rajiv Khanna, managing director at Immigration.com told Economic Times.
New H-1B visa rules now reshape the demand
The US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) opened registration for fiscal 2026 on March 4, with the window closing on March 9. Usually, around 400,000 petitions are filed annually, of which 85,000 are selected through a lottery. But attorney Shilpa Malik of VisaNation Law Group expects filings to fall to between 250,000 and 300,000 this year.
The H-1B visa framework which introduced the $100,000 fee for fresh registrations and a wage-based lottery system has turned out to be a disadvantage for entry-level job roles. While USCIS has clarified that the hiked fee does not apply to F-1 students changing status to H-1B, attorneys say demand is still lower.
Impact on the employers
The experts also note that the sharpest impact of this increased fee is on the IT outsourcing firms and employers that historically relied on high-volume, entry-level filings. “That model is becoming economically unsustainable,” Malik said. Big tech companies, meanwhile, are expected to hire more selectively, focusing on senior and specialized roles that command higher wages.Indians, who accounted for 71% of all approved H-1B visas in FY24, are among the hardest hit. Lower-wage graduates face reduced odds under the weighted lottery, while outsourcing giants like Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys—among the top H-1B employers—must adapt to the new rules.
