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2h ago

Lutnick Signals H‑1B Overhaul as $100,000 Fee Spurs Corporate Pivot to India

Officials forecast further changes before 2026, pushing employers to expand high‑end roles at India’s in‑house global capability centres.

A bipartisan duo in the Senate has drafted an unprecedented bill to curb the little-known but huge L-1 visa program, which allows multinationals to import hundreds of thousands of white collar workers while paying them home country wages.
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Trump’s H-1B Visa Crackdown Set to Accelerate US Firms’ Shift to India’s GCCs | Image: Reuters

Overview

  • A presidential proclamation set a $100,000 charge on new H‑1B petitions, with the commerce secretary citing February 2026 as the target window for the policy to take full effect.
  • Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick called the current system “just wrong,” questioned the lottery, said fixes are coming before 2026, and argued visas should go to highly paid, highly skilled workers rather than low‑cost tech consultants.
  • Industry reporting says U.S. companies are accelerating plans to move strategic work in AI, product development, cybersecurity and analytics to India’s Global Capability Centres, which number about 1,700.
  • Large H‑1B sponsors including Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet, JPMorgan Chase and Walmart maintain substantial India operations and are reassessing workforce strategies, with some executives also weighing nearshoring to Mexico, Colombia or Canada.
  • Policy flux continues as senators revive H‑1B/L‑1 reform proposals, analysts flag the HIRE Act’s potential 25% outsourcing tax, and the Labor Department launches Project Firewall to police employer abuse.