Trump Wants to Make H-1B Workers More Expensive for US Employers
Donald Trump signing an executive order imposing a $100,000 fee for H-1B candidates in September 2025.
Photographer: Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post/Bloomberg
An entry‑level software engineer in San Francisco would need to be paid $162,000 a year to qualify for an H‑1B visa under a Trump administration proposal — almost 30% more than today. In Dallas, the minimum would jump by a similar rate to $113,000 and in New York to $132,000.
Those are the types of pay increases potentially in store for immigrants using the most popular path for white-collar workers to enter or stay in the US. It’s part of changes to the H-1B program that the Trump administration says will help prevent foreigners from undercutting Americans’ wages.