#visa

Both dems and reps are talking about reforming the visas.

Everyone knows it is hot garbage.

The end is nigh.

Are there chances to be let go at MD level. Recently moved on L1 to the US. With the current visa situation and layoff news, seems a bit scary

Project Firewall is an enforcement initiative launched by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) on September 19, 2025, aimed at curbing abuse in the H-1B visa program. It focuses on investigating employers suspected of exploiting H-1B visas to displace American workers with lower-wage foreign labor, particularly in high-skilled STEM fields. The project prioritizes “America first” hiring by ensuring compliance with visa rules and rooting out fraud.
Key Aspects:
• Leadership and Scope: Led by the DOL’s Office of Immigration Policy, Employment and Training Administration, and Wage and Hour Division, with collaboration from the Department of Justice, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The Secretary of Labor can personally certify investigations for high-priority cases.
• Enforcement Measures: Investigations can start via secretary certification or standard channels, targeting violations like wage suppression, improper job displacement, and visa misuse. It aligns with a recent executive order by President Donald Trump requiring a $100,000 fee for H-1B petitions.
• Goals and Impact: As stated by Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, it ensures “highly skilled jobs go to Americans first” by ending abuses that undercut U.S. workers. Critics, however, warn of potential overreach affecting small businesses and innovation.
This initiative reflects the Trump administration’s broader immigration and labor priorities. For unrelated uses of “project firewall” (e.g., open-source software firewalls), the term typically refers to custom network security implementations, but the 2025 launch dominates current references.

There are many remote jobs available in the market, but you have to compete with visa workers who likely hold two or three jobs. Working five days a week from the office just isn’t worth it. Good luck!

Don't know, how many of us here are IT, but when I've heard about new TRUMP fee for indian workers - I started liking my president.
Currently the ratio if indian:non-indian in our IT is 9:1, and the major drawback of that (excepr the reverse discrimination) is knowledge leaking abroad and lower earnings level in the US.
Time and time again I saw indians cominfg in for a year or two, being traned and then replaced by their new "friends" - leading to constant training and losses.
What do you think?

Department of labor now investigating visa abuses.

https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/other/us-launches-project-firewall-to-protect-american-workers-in-h-1b-visa-program/ar-AA1MWreB

Here are the reasons why many people are upset with a certain group:

1.  One group takes up more than 70% of the entire H-1B program.
2.  As we all know, some consulting companies abuse the H-1B system because one person can apply multiple times, even if they don’t live in this country.
3.  Cultural issues: Some people only hire others from their own community and don’t really assimilate well.
4.  Quality concerns: Many products from this group are considered low quality.
5.  When the majority of people are having issues with one group, then something must be wrong.
6.  Please reflect on yourselves first—why are so many people from different countries(Canada, Australia, the US, New zealand, even Japan)having the same problems with you?

I can’t wait to see how much MORE Money AT&T will Lose for each H1B Visa replacing American workers. These Executives are highly skilled at Losing Money. 💸

With $100K per H-1B visa, all workers from India, Mexico, and Asia will return to their home country for good. Is this a good thing or is it a bad thing?

The Trump administration has announced a new $100,000 application fee for H-1B visas, in the latest move to crack down on immigration and protect U.S. workers. The move has rattled the tech sector, with top companies urging their employees holding the visa not to leave the U.S.

The impact: India has been the largest beneficiary of H-1B visas, accounting for 71% of the visa holders in the U.S. last year. Most of these visas go to STEM professionals, and outsourcing companies has seen the most H-1B approvals yearly since 2020. News of the H-1B application fee dragged top Indian tech stocks like TCS, Infosys and Wipro lower on Monday

The new $100,000 H-1B fee only applies when a U.S. company files a petition to bring a foreign worker into the United States on an H-1B visa. Ascension Healthcare outsourced IT to offshore workers in India who remain in India, those workers are not on H-1B visas and the fee does not apply. The cost would only come into play if Ascension or its vendor filed a new H-1B petition to bring one of those workers to the U.S.

This has to really impact the company with all the H1-B folks who work here. I wonder if suddenly the PIPs slow down and the company starts to value their local workforce a little more since I would expect the cost of using H1-B went way, way up.

Companies have been abusing the H-1B to replace US workers with lower-wage foreign workers.

People holding a H-1B visa will now feel insecure and are now planning for an exit from the USA. They now have a target on their back from the US government, telling them that they're not welcome.

Companies will now be reluctant to add additional H-1B visas, as it will be financially unfeasible in most cases.

No one can predict when the US government will instate legislation to once again change things around for the H-1B visa, which could be worse.

I have some personal advice for those here with an H-1B visa. Go and find something better either in your home country or another country that welcomes you. This company and country are not worth it.

I'm personally still with this company because I'm old and was hoping to retire with this company. Yes, I was stupid and have now missed the volunteer retirement boat. I thought I would ride it out for a few more years and eventually sign up for a retirement package or just get laid off. The work atmosphere not only su-ks for H-1B visa people, but it just su-ks for everyone. This once company that I was proud to work for has been long gone. I should have moved on long ago but was too lazy to believe what was coming; I was also a strong believer in Pat. I don't blame anyone except myself for not signing up for the volunteer retirement package that Pat offered.

H-1B visa holders, the present is the best time to plan for an exit. This is a chess match where there's no winning.

https://x.com/PressSec/status/1969495900478488745
1.) This is NOT an annual fee. It’s a one-time fee that applies only to the petition.

2.) Those who already hold H-1B visas and are currently outside of the country right now will NOT be charged $100,000 to re-enter.

H-1B visa holders can leave and re-enter the country to the same extent as they normally would; whatever ability they have to do that is not impacted by yesterday’s proclamation.

3.) This applies only to new visas, not renewals, and not current visa holders.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/L-1_visa

Fees changing to 100k. Google lowballs candidates hard so I doubt they will pay this unless the candidate is spectacular.

Wonder how this will effect EnGen and Highmark???

It applies to H‑1B visa applicants who are outside the U.S. seeking new entry or visa issuance. The rule requires that, for an H‑1B petition to be accepted (or, more precisely, for visa issuance / entry to be allowed if one is outside the U.S.), the employer must pay a supplemental fee of $100,000.

How do you think the recent announcement requiring $100,000 per year for H1B visas will impact VZ?

Recognizing that existing holders are exempt, what do you think the timing of any impacts will be?

Especially interested to hear from any current H1B or L1 visa holders.

It was already hard to explain why expats help the goal of cost reduction. Now we have to reduce more people to pay their way.
After this deadline, individuals cannot enter the U.S. on H-1B status without an additional $100,000 payment associated with their petition.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/white-house-scrambles-clear-h-002724934.html

All current H1b visa holders are safe including the ones who are entering the country with 2025 H1b cycle. The fees doesn't apply to renewals/transfers. It is one time fees per new petition, not an annual fees. The fees is legality is also questionable and will be contested in courts and likely be overturned. Someone asked me yesterday if I knew better than Trump and his cronies about the proclamation...so here is the proof. I knew better!

Enjoy...have a great weekend.

They told us on video this was 100k per year for all the H1B Visa holders, or all 600K. Now its a 1 time fee of 100K for 3 years, its only for non us grads so like only 60K out of the 80K new H1B Visa's. Talk about a walk back, that's like only 1/10th of the original stated headcount. What a let down.

You guys are about to pay for treating us Americans poorly... now thay H1bs are going to get way too expensive. You are going to need to fix your reputation and get rid of neveen and his sidekick. Plus pay much more.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-global/h-1b-100k-entry-fee-questions-explained-10261734/

Trump needs to sign an executive order for O1 visa and OPT F-1 student jobs as well. This is like a loophole in the foreign work visa system. Now, instead of H1B visa applications, many companies will shift to O1 visa applications where there is no limit on the number of applications approved and the fee is only $530. And those F1 visa students can get a job for 24 months on OPT and then apply for O1 visa employment.

Some forgot to tell him their are other visa which have no limit and keep abused like L1 T1 why those not have hefty fee ?
H1 are just 65000 per year across whole world but L1 is infinite

It looks like El Presidente Donald has increased H1B prices from $4,500 to $100,000 each for companies, curious on how/if this will change TIAA’s outsourcing efforts?

MICROSOFT'S INTERNAL H-1B GUIDANCE JUST LEAKED

Microsoft tells employees:

• If in US: "Remain in the U.S. for the foreseeable future" to "avoid being denied reentry"
• H-4 dependents: Also stay in US (even though proclamation doesn't mention them)
• If abroad: "Strongly recommend you return to the U.S. tomorrow before the deadline"
• Extensions/Status changes: Likely unaffected if you're currently in the US

Microsoft setting up individual tracking for employees outside US and admits "there isn't much time to make sudden travel arrangements"

Translation:

Even Microsoft with unlimited legal resources is telling H-1B workers to avoid international travel entirely.

If Microsoft is this cautious, everyone should be.

T and other companies in US might have a very big impact because of this.

Bye cheap labor! I voted for this

PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS: RESTRICTION ON ENTRY OF CERTAIN NONIMMIGRANT WORKERS

Proclamations

September 19, 2025

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

The H-1B nonimmigrant visa program was created to bring temporary workers into the United States to perform additive, high-skilled functions, but it has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labor.  The large-scale replacement of American workers through systemic abuse of the program has undermined both our economic and national security.  Some employers, using practices now widely adopted by entire sectors, have abused the H-1B statute and its regulations to artificially suppress wages, resulting in a disadvantageous labor market for American citizens, while at the same time making it more difficult to attract and retain the highest skilled subset of temporary workers, with the largest impact seen in critical science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. 

     The number of foreign STEM workers in the United States has more than doubled between 2000 and 2019, increasing from 1.2 million to almost 2.5 million, while overall STEM employment has only increased 44.5 percent during that time.  Among computer and math occupations, the foreign share of the workforce grew from 17.7 percent in 2000 to 26.1 percent in 2019.  And the key facilitator for this influx of foreign STEM labor has been the abuse of the H-1B visa. 

     Information technology (IT) firms in particular have prominently manipulated the H-1B system, significantly harming American workers in computer-related fields.  The share of IT workers in the H-1B program grew from 32 percent in Fiscal Year (FY) 2003 to an average of over 65 percent in the last 5 fiscal years.  In addition, some of the most prolific H-1B employers are now consistently IT outsourcing companies.  Using these H 1B-reliant IT outsourcing companies provides significant savings for employers:  one study of tech workers showed a 36 percent discount for H-1B “entry-level” positions as compared to full-time, traditional workers.  To take advantage of artificially low labor costs incentivized by the program, companies close their IT divisions, fire their American staff, and outsource IT jobs to lower-paid foreign workers. 

     Further, the abuse of the H-1B visa program has made it even more challenging for college graduates trying to find IT jobs, allowing employers to hire foreign workers at a significant discount to American workers.  These effects of abuse of H-1B visas have coincided with increasing challenges in the labor market in which H-1B workers serve.  According to a study from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, among college graduates ages 22 to 27, computer science and computer engineering majors are facing some of the highest unemployment rates in the country at 6.1 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively — more than double the unemployment rates of recent biology and art history graduates.  Recent data reveals that unemployment rates among workers in computer occupations jumped from an average of 1.98 percent in 2019 to 3.02 percent in 2025.

     Reports also indicate that many American tech companies have laid off their qualified and highly skilled American workers and simultaneously hired thousands of H-1B workers.  One software company was approved for over 5,000 H-1B workers in FY 2025; around the same time, it announced a series of layoffs totaling more than 15,000 employees.  Another IT firm was approved for nearly 1,700 H-1B workers in FY 2025; it announced it was laying off 2,400 American workers in Oregon in July.  A third company has reduced its workforce by approximately 27,000 American workers since 2022, while being approved for over 25,000 H-1B workers since FY 2022.  A fourth company reportedly eliminated 1,000 jobs in February; it was approved for over 1,100 H-1B workers for FY 2025. 

     American IT workers have reported they were forced to train the foreign workers who were taking their jobs and to sign nondisclosure agreements about this indignity as a condition of receiving any form of severance.  This suggests H-1B visas are not being used to fill occupational shortages or obtain highly skilled workers who are unavailable in the United States.  

     The high numbers of relatively low-wage workers in the H-1B program undercut the integrity of the program and are detrimental to American workers’ wages and labor opportunities, especially at the entry level, in industries where such low-paid H-1B workers are concentrated.  These abuses also prevent American employers in other industries from utilizing the H-1B program in the manner in which it was intended:  to fill jobs for which highly skilled and educated American workers are unavailable. 

     The abuse of the H-1B program is also a national security threat.  Domestic law enforcement agencies have identified and investigated H-1B-reliant outsourcing companies for engaging in visa fraud, conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, and other illicit activities to encourage foreign workers to come to the United States.

     Further, abuses of the H-1B program present a national security threat by discouraging Americans from pursuing careers in science and technology, risking American leadership in these fields.  A 2017 study showed that wages for American computer scientists would have been 2.6 percent to 5.1 percent higher and employment in computer science for American workers would have been 6.1 percent to 10.8 percent higher in 2001 absent the importation of foreign workers into the computer science field.
 
     It is therefore necessary to impose higher costs on companies seeking to use the H-1B program in order to address the abuse of that program while still permitting companies to hire the best of the best temporary foreign workers. 

     The severe harms that the large-scale abuse of this program has inflicted on our economic and national security demands an immediate response.  I therefore find that the unrestricted entry into the United States of certain foreign workers who are described in section 1 of this proclamation would be detrimental to the interests of the United States because such entry would harm American workers, including by undercutting their wages.

     Accordingly, by the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: 

• Section 1.  Restriction on Entry.  (a)  Pursuant to sections 212(f) and 215(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. 1182(f) and 1185(a), the entry into the United States of aliens as nonimmigrants to perform services in a specialty occupation under section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b), is restricted, except for those aliens whose petitions are accompanied or supplemented by a payment of $100,000 — subject to the exceptions set forth in subsection (c) of this section.  This restriction shall expire, absent extension, 12 months after the effective date of this proclamation, which shall be 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on September 21, 2025. 
       (b)  The Secretary of Homeland Security shall restrict decisions on petitions not accompanied by a $100,000 payment for H-1B specialty occupation workers under section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b) of the INA, who are currently outside the United States, for 12 months following the effective date of this proclamation as set forth in subsection (a) of this section.  The Secretary of State shall also issue guidance, as necessary and to the extent permitted by law, to prevent misuse of B visas by alien beneficiaries of approved H-1B petitions that have an employment start date beginning prior to October 1, 2026.
       (c)  The restriction imposed pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall not apply to any individual alien, all aliens working for a company, or all aliens working in an industry, if the Secretary of Homeland Security determines, in the Secretary’s discretion, that the hiring of such aliens to be employed as H-1B specialty occupation workers is in the national interest and does not pose a threat to the security or welfare of the United States.

• Sec. 2.  Compliance.  (a)  Employers shall, prior to filing an H-1B petition on behalf of an alien outside the United States, obtain and retain documentation showing that the payment described in section 1 of this proclamation has been made. 
       (b)  The Secretary of State shall verify receipt of payment of the amount described in section 1 of this proclamation during the H-1B visa petition process and shall approve only those visa petitions for which the filing employer has made the payment described in section 1 of this proclamation.
       (c)  The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State shall coordinate to take all necessary and appropriate action to implement this proclamation and to deny entry to the United States to any H-1B nonimmigrant for whom the prospective employer has not made the payment described in section 1 of this proclamation.

• Sec. 3.  Scope and Implementation of Restriction on Entry.  (a)  The restriction on entry pursuant to section 1 of this proclamation shall apply only to aliens who enter or attempt to enter the United States after the effective date of this proclamation as set forth in section 1(a) of this proclamation.
       (b)  No later than 30 days following the completion of the H-1B lottery that immediately follows this proclamation, the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall jointly submit to the President, through the Assistant to the President and Homeland Security Advisor, a recommendation on whether an extension or renewal of the restriction on entry pursuant to section 1 of this proclamation is in the interests of the United States.

• Sec. 4.  Amending the Prevailing Wage Levels.  (a)  The Secretary of Labor shall initiate a rulemaking to revise the prevailing wage levels to levels consistent with the policy goals of this proclamation consistent with section 212(n) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1182(n).  
  (b)  The Secretary of Homeland Security shall initiate a rulemaking to prioritize the admission as nonimmigrants of high-skilled and high-paid aliens, consistent with sections 101, 212, and 214 of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1101, 1182, and 1184.  

• Sec. 5.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
          (i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
          (ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
       (b)  This proclamation shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
       (c)  This proclamation is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
nineteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fiftieth.
                        DONALD J. TRUMP

For those in US with upcoming visa renewals or transfers, sooner is better before changes to prevailing wages happen.

"Sec. 4. Amending the Prevailing Wage Levels. (a) The Secretary of Labor shall initiate a rulemaking to revise the prevailing wage levels to levels consistent with the policy goals of this proclamation consistent with section 212(n) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1182(n)..”

Oops Kyndryl! Time to rewrite your Business Plan!

https://apnews.com/article/h1b-visa-trump-immigration-8d39699d0b2de3d90936f8076357254e

$100K renewal fees

I'm not sure who started this movement within Intel, but it worked. I really did not think that I could make a difference, but I did and we did.

I'm now giving myself a pat on the back for picking up the phone and making a call to my senator. For all those who also reached out to a member of Congress, please also give yourself a pat on the back.

We can make Intel USA Great Again!

Our chips should say 100% designed & manufactured in the USA!

Intel USA!

One can only hope the executive order goes into effect and gets fully enforced.

https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/trump-mulls-adding-new-100000-fee-h-1b-visas-bloomberg-news-reports-2025-09-19/

Need to get rid of the whole program since there is no longer a shortage of American tech workers.

President Donald Trump signed an executive action on Friday to impose a $100,000 application fee for H-1B visas — in an effort to curb what his administration says is overuse of the program

Microsoft asks all its foreign staff to return to US by Sunday after Trump's H1-B bombshell.

Time is running out for a similar call from Cisco - do they care?

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/work/microsoft-urges-h-1b-visa-holders-to-stay-in-us-for-foreseeable-future-after-trump-announces-100000-visa-fee/articleshow/124009637.cms