Drastic US visa fee hike

The United States, long considered a land of opportunity, is now erecting new barriers in the name of national interest. The latest blow comes in the form of an unprecedented increase in the H-1B visa application fee, from $1,000 to an eye-watering $100,000 per applicant. This 100-fold jump, enacted by the Trump administration, is not a minor adjustment but a calculated move to deter foreign professionals from entering the U.S. job market, particularly in the high-demand fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The H-1B program, which allocates 85,000 visas annually, has long served as a critical pathway for American companies — especially tech giants like Amazon, Google and Microsoft — to recruit highly skilled workers from around the world. For decades, this system has been a cornerstone of U.S. innovation and competitiveness. The new fee structure, however, effectively slams the door shut on thousands of engineers, scientists and researchers who once viewed the U.S. as a desirable destination. While framed as a policy to protect American workers, the meWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times