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How the White House's $100,000 H-1B visa fee is impacting America's ability to attract global talent

By Shanelle Kaul

/ CBS News

Hyderabad, India — The city of Hyderabad has been called the Silicon Valley of India.

"Google, Facebook, and all the other bigger companies are here," Rajesh Jaknalli, who has worked for a U.S. tech company in Hyderabad for about 10 years, told CBS News.

"This place is actually called High Tech City, but because of the many companies that we have, the term 'Cyberabad' has come," Jaknalli explained.

Jaknalli says he has worked here with one goal, to get an opportunity to one day move to the U.S.

"Our dream was to perform, give you 100%, and then probably, we'll get a chance to move to the U.S.," Jaknalli said.

But in September 2025, the Trump administration announced that it would require that a $100,000 fee be added to new applications for H-1B visas for skilled foreign workers. The White House argued the move would protect American jobs.

Prior to this, H-1B visas had ranged in cost from anywhere between $1,700 and $4,500.

Hameed Abdul thought his Amazon job in Hyderabad would eventually take him to the U.S., but that outlook has changed.

"I got this news, and I was really devastated," Abdul said. "...It's not beneficial for any employer, to be honest. Nobody's going to hire you and give $100,000," said Abdul, who disclosed that the fee means he has "decided to move to Canada."

Xavier Fernandes, who founded the immigration agency Y-Axis, says the H-1B visa created a pipeline of tech talent that eventually fueled America's IT sector.

"It's definitely America's loss," Fernandes said of the fee. "…Many CEOs are from Hyderabad. It's just a breeding ground of tech."

According to numbers from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, more than 70% of H-1B visa holders in 2024 were Indian.
 
"Indians are the new oil, coal, or gas, it's brain power to run the modern day industries," Fernandes said.

Pressed on whether he believes that same "brain power" exists in the U.S., Fernandes responded: "That kind of talent you can't manufacture. It's not a thing that you can get it locally."

It's something even President Trump admitted to in an interview on Fox News last November, telling host Laura Ingraham that "you also do have to bring in talent."

When Ingraham countered that the U.S. has "plenty of talented people here," Mr. Trump responded, "No you don't...You don't have certain talents, and people have to learn."

Fernandes believes the new policy "definitely" threatens the trajectory of U.S. innovation.

"Many Indians will stay back and build in India," Fernandes said.

Countries like Canada, China and Australia are now scrambling to lure skilled foreign workers by making their visa processes easier.

"I'm currently applying to Australia," Jaknalli said. "The process is pretty straightforward there."

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