The $100k H-1B Gamble for Big Tech 

While US President Donald Trump and commerce secretary Howard Lutnick initially announced that the H-1B visa fee would be revised to $100,000 annually, it was later clarified that this was a one-time fee, and wouldn’t affect existing visa holders or renewals.

It likely brought relief for companies like Amazon, which reportedly instructed employees to return to the US immediately, or not leave the country to avoid any troubles.

And even as the $100,000 is a one-time fee, it brings a massive change to the price tag of an H-1B visa. So, how are big tech companies going to deal with this?

The primary option is to relocate work and projects to offshore offices or GCCs if they struggle to pay the new fees. India is a leading hub for GCCs and hosts most of the big tech companies from the United States.

But how does this idea of remote work look in practice? After all, it costs nothing to obtain what is jokingly called a “TCP/IP visa” for an employee.

How Does Remote Work Sound?

“There is always a preference for working in the same time zone,” said Sriram Subramanian, founder at CloudDon, a market research firm. Companies still feel that, under in-person interactions, they can accomplish more,” he told AIM, adding that “collaborations, relationships, and camaraderie are invaluable aspects.”

Alongside difficulties arising in the work environment, remote work may also require additional investment. Neeti Sharma, CEO of TeamLease Digital, a staffing and recruiting firm, told AIM that “managing people across multiple time zones needs another level of people managers, adding to the overall costs.”

Additionally, employees working outside the US may lack access to essential infrastructure, labs, or specialised hardware, which can limit their performance.

Therefore, big tech companies shifting projects previously staffed by H-1B workers to GCCs will inevitably face trade-offs associated with remote work.

But what about startups and small-scale companies, which won’t be able to afford both the $100,000 visa fee and a physical presence in a country like India?

Hiring employees on a contractual basis in India is an option, but that presents its own challenges.

Sharma said that these companies will face issues stemming from contractors having to manage their own income tax and the lack of standard employment benefits, such as social security and insurance. This renders these employment contracts less appealing.

“Payments add another layer of complexity with cross-border transfers, forex charges, and compliance paperwork. On top of that, contractors often see these roles as short-term since they lack stability and career growth,” she added.

Several voices in the industry also collectively agree that small-scale companies and startups may be the worst affected by this new ruling.

Steady Growth of H-1B Visas

The H-1B visa is capped at 85,000 new slots annually, allocated through a lottery system, and granted for three years with an option to extend it up to six.

Amazon led all employers with 10,044 H-1B visa approvals in 2025, followed by Tata Consultancy Services with 5,505 and Microsoft with 5,189. Meta obtained 5,123 approvals, while Apple secured 4,202.

Note that these numbers include both new H-1B petitions and renewals/extensions of previously approved ones.

Over the years, albeit with mixed trends among a few companies, most have consistently secured new H-1 B visas every year, with no signs of significant decline.

Barney Hussey-Yeo, founder of Cleo, said in a post on X: “Spoke with a senior big tech exec [executive] about the H1-B changes today. They’re totally unaffected.”

“They’ll just hire the same people through their international offices for less, or pay the $100k when they really need someone in the US,” he added.

Is $100,000 Negligible for Big Tech?

George Fishman, a senior legal fellow at the Centre of Immigration Studies, argued that H-1B workers are paid less than locals for the same role. Big tech firms, in his opinion, will not hesitate in compensating H-1B workers alongside the new fee.

Citing a report from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), he wrote in a blog post that in 2023, the average annual salary that employers promised to their petitioned-for H-1B ‘computer-related occupations’ (CRO) workers for initial employment was around $99,000.

He estimated that if an employer had to pay the new one-time fee for an H-1B worker, the average H-1B salary would only rise to $115,667.

He also stated that the Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) data show that software developers at the 75th percentile earned $167,540 and at the 90th percentile $208,620 in 2023.

Under a one-time $100,000 fee, the average H-1B CRO worker would still earn $51,873 less than the 75th percentile and $92,953 less than the 90th percentile.

“These higher fees would not be unreasonable amounts for employers to pay for those H-1B workers who truly are ‘the best and the brightest,’” reasoned Fishman.

Several industry experts claim a minimal impact on a company’s expenditure if the new structure is implemented.

Deedy Das, partner at Menlo Ventures, estimates that the new H-1B visa costs would represent just 0.4 to 0.7% of total research and development expenditure across major technology companies, assuming new petitions comprise 35% of all applications.

Current data suggests this assumption may be generous.

Amazon, which secured the most H-1B approvals in fiscal year 2025 with 10,043 total petitions, filed ~1,700 new applications, less than 20% of the total. Maintaining similar petition levels going forward would cost Amazon roughly 0.4% of its fiscal 2024 marketing budget.

Yet, the significance of these sums remains debatable. The same technology giants that might absorb H-1B fees without difficulty have recently conducted mass layoffs affecting thousands of employees, generating savings of comparable magnitude.

Meanwhile, companies demonstrate a willingness to pay premium rates for exceptional talent. Meta was widely reported to have offered over $100 million to secure top AI researchers and engineers from competitors.

But no major technology company has issued public statements regarding the proposed changes, leaving critical questions unanswered.

Microsoft, Meta or Amazon did not respond to AIM‘s queries on this issue until the time of publication.

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