President Donald Trump has launched a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. visa system, imposing a $100,000 annual fee on H-1B applications — a move that could reshape how California’s tech giants hire foreign talent. The fee marks a dramatic increase from the current $215 charge and is part of a broader immigration crackdown aimed at curbing reliance on overseas workers.
Alongside the fee hike, Trump unveiled a new “Gold Card” visa, offering permanent residency for a $1 million payment by individuals or $2 million by corporate sponsors. The program is designed to attract what Trump calls “extraordinary workers,” likening the cost to a signing bonus in professional sports
“It’s going to hopefully bring some great people to our country,” Trump said during the Oval Office signing ceremony. “A corporation — sort of like a signing bonus in baseball or football — will be able to get them to stay in the country.”
The administration says the new H-1B fee will discourage companies from using the program for entry-level roles and ensure only top-tier talent is brought in.
California leads the nation in H-1B visa usage, with more than 78,000 foreign workers hired in 2024 alone. Since 2009, the state has accounted for over 1 million H-1B recipients, driven by Silicon Valley’s demand for specialized skills in engineering, software, and data science
Here’s what you need to know about the H-1B program, both nationwide and in California, including how many H-1B workers were hired in California in 2024.
What is the H-1B visa program?
The H-1B program allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers to fill positions in specialized fields such as engineering, medicine, education, and the arts, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency.
Supporters say the H-1B program is critical in shoring up shortages of qualified workers in important fields such as engineering and maintaining the United States’ competitive edge against other countries. Critics, however, allege that the program is being used to replace qualified American workers with lower-paid foreign counterparts.
The H-1B program has a congressionally mandated cap of 65,000 workers each year, according to USCIS. The program also has an additional exemption of 20,000 workers for people with advanced degrees, such as a master’s degree or higher.
Who were the top California employers for new H-1B visa workers in 2024?
In California, the H-1B program was used to hire just more than 78,000 workers in 2024, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency.
Most 2024 H-1B recipients were in the tech industry, with Silicon Valley powerhouses Google, Meta (Facebook’s parent company), and Apple leading the hires.
Since 2009, California has had the highest number H-1B recipients of any state, with just over 1 million workers, driven by the tech industry.
Since 2009, India-based IT services company HCL has led all California employers with just over 41,000 H-1B recipients, followed by Google with just over 40,000. The other leading H-1B-hiring companies include Silicon Valley-based companies Google, Apple and Meta.
California’s tech industry relies on the government’s H-1B visa program to hire foreign skilled workers to help run its companies, a labor force critics say undercuts wages for American citizens.
Who were the top US employers for new H-1B visa workers in 2024?
Amazon was the top U.S. employer for its number of H-1B visa approvals last year, hiring 9,265 foreign workers through the end of September, according to the latest data from USCIS.
Infosys, a global digital and IT service company founded in India, was No. 2 with 8,140 H-1B visa hires during the same period.
Tech companies also accounted for most of the top 10 H-1B visa workers approved nationwide, including familiar names such as Google, Facebook parent company Meta, Microsoft, Apple, and IBM.
Nationwide, since 2009, the top five companies with the highest number of H-1B recipients were all IT service providers, with four based in India and one in Ireland.
India was the largest beneficiary of H-1B visas last year, with 71% of approved beneficiaries, according to government data. China was a distant second at 11.7%.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Trump proposes H-1B changes. Here’s how many workers in California hold visas
Reporting by Jason Hidalgo and James Ward, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
