Trump ends the abuse and decrees a fee for H1-B visa applicants

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, signed a presidential decree this Friday that establishes the requirement to pay a $100,000 fee for any worker who wants to apply for an H-1B Visa, thus putting an end to one of the most abused visa systems in the current U.S. immigration regime.

The President signed the decree during an event in the Oval Office, in which he also separately introduced a "golden card" visa so that individuals can pay $1 million to expedite their immigration process.

Government officials said that this modification to the system for these visas guarantees that companies sponsor workers with the most outstanding skills and those most needed by the North American labor market.

Trump termina con el abuso y decreta una tarifa para los solicitantes de la visa H1-B

A system abused by large companies

The H-1B system emerged in the 1990s to boost the competitiveness of U.S. companies, which could take advantage of a government mechanism that allowed them to hire highly qualified foreign workers—with undergraduate or higher degrees—for positions that were difficult to fill with domestic talent.

However, the purpose of this program has been distorted and abused by large companies in the last decade. Instead of boosting domestic employment, corporations have used these visas to pay lower wages and impose fewer labor protections.

The companies that have taken the most advantage of this program are the technology giants. This year, Amazon was by far the company that requested the most H-1B style visas, with more than 10,000 applications granted by the U.S. government. Other multinationals such as Apple, Microsoft, and Google follow.

Those who are rewarded with this visa, which lasts between three and six years, are residents of China and India, representing 71% of those approved. Most of these workers settle and reside during that time in the state of California, where most of the technology giants are headquartered.