EDITOR’S NOTES: An earlier version of this story misstated the cost of the application fee in the headline. We regret the error.

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — President Trump signed a proclamation on Friday imposing a $100,000 application fee for H-1B visas, significantly increasing the cost for foreign workers seeking employment in the United States.

The H-1B visa program is designed to fill high-skilled jobs in the U.S. at major companies such as Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft. California leads the nation with the highest number of H-1B visa holders, making this change particularly impactful for the state’s economy.

“They also contribute to the economy, and many of these workers, eventually when they are sponsored, want to get permanent residency, green cards,” said Gabriel Espinosa-Ramos, an immigration lawyer.

Gabriel Espinosa-Ramos, an immigration lawyer who previously worked in tech, expressed concerns that the new fee could send ripple effects through Silicon Valley and beyond. He worries that the increased cost might push companies to outsource jobs overseas, rather than bringing workers to the U.S.

Critics of the H-1B program argue that it allows companies to pay lower wages than they would to American employees, and reducing the number of visas could encourage employers to hire more domestic workers. However, Espinosa-Ramos believes the opposite might occur, with companies opting to outsource jobs instead.

“My concern is that employers might feel that if they don’t have that combination of the diversity of thought, they might just want to allocate the jobs they would have sponsored to bring here, to take overseas which essentially would mean lost jobs here,” said Espinosa-Ramos.

Currently, roughly 85,000 H-1B visas are issued each year, typically through a lottery system. Espinosa-Ramos highlighted that while H-1B visas are the most common for attracting international talent, there are other options, such as the O-1 visa, which could serve as alternatives for those affected by the fee increase.

“I just don’t want people to lose hope that because of this, ‘this is their only avenue,’ there are other avenues,” said Espinosa-Ramos.

The exact date when the application fee change will take effect remains unclear, but the cap for 2026 has already been filled.

Watch the full report from KRON4’s Stephanie Rothman in the video player above.

All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KRON4. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KRON4 staff before being published.

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — President Trump signed a proclamation on Friday imposing a $100,000 application fee for H-1B visas, significantly increasing the cost for foreign workers seeking employment in the United States.

The H-1B visa program is designed to fill high-skilled jobs in the U.S. at major companies such as Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft. California leads the nation with the highest number of H-1B visa holders, making this change particularly impactful for the state’s economy.

“They also contribute to the economy, and many of these workers, eventually when they are sponsored, want to get permanent residency, green cards,” said Gabriel Espinosa-Ramos, an immigration lawyer.

Gabriel Espinosa-Ramos, an immigration lawyer who previously worked in tech, expressed concerns that the new fee could send ripple effects through Silicon Valley and beyond. He worries that the increased cost might push companies to outsource jobs overseas, rather than bringing workers to the U.S.

Critics of the H-1B program argue that it allows companies to pay lower wages than they would to American employees, and reducing the number of visas could encourage employers to hire more domestic workers. However, Espinosa-Ramos believes the opposite might occur, with companies opting to outsource jobs instead.

“My concern is that employers might feel that if they don’t have that combination of the diversity of thought, they might just want to allocate the jobs they would have sponsored to bring here, to take overseas which essentially would mean lost jobs here,” said Espinosa-Ramos.

Currently, roughly 85,000 H-1B visas are issued each year, typically through a lottery system. Espinosa-Ramos highlighted that while H-1B visas are the most common for attracting international talent, there are other options, such as the O-1 visa, which could serve as alternatives for those affected by the fee increase.

“I just don’t want people to lose hope that because of this, ‘this is their only avenue,’ there are other avenues,” said Espinosa-Ramos.

The exact date when the application fee change will take effect remains unclear, but the cap for 2026 has already been filled.

Watch the full report from KRON4’s Stephanie Rothman in the video player above.

All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KRON4. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KRON4 staff before being published.