After Trump's visa innovations, Silicon Valley is talking about offshoring
US tech giants may begin the process of moving jobs abroad.
According to Reuters, the Trump administration's $100,000 annual fee for all new H-1B visa applicants (for highly skilled foreign workers) has sparked conversations within companies in Silicon Valley and beyond about the possibility of moving more jobs overseas.
It is noted that the confusion surrounding the "visa" innovation and the high cost of fees are forcing companies to stop recruiting, planning, and budgeting.
"I have had several conversations with corporate clients ... where they have said this new fee is simply unworkable in the U.S., and it's time for us to start looking for other countries where we can have highly skilled talent. And these are large companies, some of them household names, Fortune 100 type companies, that are saying, we just simply cannot continue," said Chris Thomas, an attorney at Holland & Hart.
According to Pew Research, about 141,000 new H-1B visa applications were approved in 2024, with the majority of new approvals being for computer technology-related jobs.
The Trump administration and critics of the H-1B program said the day before that it was being used to depress wages, and that cutting it creates more jobs for American technology professionals. Trump's statement also said that the H-1B visa program has made it harder for college graduates to find jobs in IT.
"We probably have to reduce the number of H-1B visa workers we can hire. Some companies may have to outsource some of their workforce - hire maybe in India or other countries just to walk around this H-1B problem," said Sam Liang, CEO of popular startup Otter, which is engaged in data transcription using artificial intelligence.
Analysts also note that the new policy could lead to a reduction in talented immigrants, who often later start new companies.
According to Bilal Zuberi, founder of Silicon Valley venture capital firm Red Glass Ventures, who began his career in the US on an H-1B visa, if the courts do not soften this innovation, we will see an outflow of the smartest people.
As we wrote earlier, Trump also announced a new "golden card" program that will replace the EB-1 and EB-2 visas for people with "outstanding abilities" (artists, athletes, educators and leaders) or advanced academic degrees. To receive a "golden card", the applicant must prove "exceptional value to the United States" by making a contribution of $ 1 million. If the candidate is sponsored by a company, the amount can increase to $ 2 million. It is quite clear that within the framework of this new program, financial capacity, rather than professional skills, will be the decisive factor.
After the new fee was announced, large companies also began urgently informing their employees about the risks. The uncertainty caused panic among companies, as it was initially unclear whether the new fee would apply to current visa holders. Current H-1B holders will be able to leave and return to the United States freely.
Read also: India will reduce the rotation of IT specialists in the US due to the H-1B visa fee