JPMorgan Identifies India as a ‘Promising Landscape’ Amid H-1B Fee Surge
In a contentious move, U.S. President Donald Trump has unveiled a substantial increase in the H-1B visa application fee, escalating it dramatically from $10,000 to an astonishing $100,000. This alteration, enacted by the Trump administration, has sparked a palpable sense of disarray within the technology sector.
JPMorgan Chase, the nation’s largest banking institution, has pronounced that this policy could precipitate a notable decline in immigrant work authorizations across the United States.
5,500 Work Authorizations Potentially at Stake Each Month
A recent analysis from Bloomberg reveals that economists Abiel Reinhart and Michael Feroli of JPMorgan estimate that this new legislative shift may jeopardize approximately 5,500 work authorizations each month.
Such reductions are anticipated to have a disproportionately adverse effect on technology firms and skilled workers from India.
While the economists concede that these cancellations may seem modest in the context of the broader U.S. labor market, the ramifications will primarily resonate within sectors heavily reliant on foreign expertise.
Indian Tech Professionals Most Vulnerable
The Bloomberg report further underscores that computer-related occupations accounted for nearly two-thirds of H-1B approvals during fiscal year 2024, with a significant portion linked to professional, scientific, and technical services.
Notably, around 71% of these approvals were granted to Indian nationals, rendering them particularly susceptible to the new fee structure.
Out of the 141,000 H-1B applications for new employment that received approval last year, an estimated 65,000 were processed abroad—applications that are now most endangered by the exorbitant fee.
Critics Warn Policy May Undermine H-1B Framework
Loujaina Abdelwahed, a senior economist at Revelio Labs, has cautioned that this sweeping fee increase could be tantamount to dismantling the H-1B visa system itself. She suggested that this shift may potentially eradicate up to 140,000 new jobs each year within U.S. companies that depend on skilled foreign labor.
“The dramatic spike in fees effectively dismantles the H-1B framework, posing a threat of eliminating approximately 10,000 jobs monthly for employers reliant on specialized knowledge,” Abdelwahed conveyed to Bloomberg.
According to Bloomberg’s economic assessments, the direct repercussions of this fee increase will predominantly affect the allocation of visas, redirecting them toward higher-paying professions in technology, finance, and healthcare, while marginalizing lower-wage positions in sectors such as education.
They have noted that the current H-1B workforce should remain intact, as the fee affects only new applications, not renewals. Nevertheless, experts warn that the larger ramifications may extend to the offshoring of positions that may no longer be feasible domestically.
Source link: Timesofindia.indiatimes.com.
