Donald Trump's $100,000 H-1B Visa Wall: A Talent Boost For Indian Startups?

Are there going to be fewer onsite assignments for Indian professionals in America? And will that result in a boost for key sectors and battlegrounds in the Indian startup ecosystem?

These two questions and many more plague thousands of Indian engineers and tech professionals after the Donald Trump administration on Friday slapped a $100,000 (around INR 88 Lakh) annual fee on foreigners working in the US on H-1B visa.

Indians, predominantly tech professionals, make up about 14% of all college-educated foreign migrants in the US, shows a study by Migration Policy Institute. The USCIS said 283,570 Indians got the H-1B visa in 2024, accounting for 71% of the total 399,395 visas Washington issued last year.

Under the new H-1B fee structure, which will be effective from September 21, the sponsoring employer will have to pay $100,000 as annual charge per visa, besides the existing fees of $215 for lottery registration and $780 for petition filing.

The new visa regime takes the cost of the H-1B visa to nearly $101,000 from $1,700 to $4,500, depending on the employer. The fee is applicable for each year the visa is valid, up to six years.

This is significant in terms of remittances, with Indians living in the US sending home $32 Bn out of a total inflow of $129 Bn in 2024. Making up nearly 28% of the kitty, the US is the single largest source of remittance after the Gulf countries, which generated $49 Bn or 38% of the total pie.

Industry body NASSCOM reacted sharply, stating that the adjustments of this nature could potentially have ripple effects on America’s innovation ecosystem and the wider job economy as well. “India’s technology services companies will also be impacted as business continuity will be disrupted for onshore projects which may require adjustments,” it said in a statement.

Industry observers largely believe that Indian IT professionals are likely to face reduced opportunities in the US, particularly in the entry-level and mid-level roles.

American Dream Turns Sour For Indian Techies

As the new visa regime is likely to slow down onsite hiring and, in turn, lower remittances, there could be a higher traffic towards global capability centres (GCCs), according to Kamal Karanth, who founded Xpheno, a Bengaluru-based talent solutions startup.

“While higher visa costs could slow down onsite hiring, it will only accelerate the offshoring momentum. MNCs will increase their reliance on GCC and IT service firms in India, which remain cost-effective even after factoring in a 25% cess,” he said. In the near term, the companies may become more aggressive in offering GCC-specific services, and an increased supply of talent could also lead to softer pricing for GCC staffing.

But, Shyam Nandan Upadhyay, a data centre consultant at American professional services firm JLL, has a different view. “It would decelerate out-bound mobility and pressure companies to rely more on expensive local hires in the short term that are likely to shrink margins by 100-150 basis points and add risks on account of delivery,” he told Inc42.

“GCCs within India should be able to catch a majority of the returning talent, though integration challenges and increased wage inflation will create near-term cost pressures,” he said.

Reverse Brain Drain On The Cards?

Industry insiders also suggest that the fee hike could redirect talent into the Indian startup ecosystem. People who might have considered moving abroad for work may now channel their expertise into Indian startups, while experienced professionals, including those laid off or looking for new challenges, are likely to explore entrepreneurship or consulting ooportunities, which means more talent flowing into domestic ventures, according to them.

“Even startups headquartered in the US but operating in India will continue to access talent, whether remotely or through short-term business travel,” JLL’s Upadhyay added.

The visa fee hike will have ripple effects on US corporations as well. Although local American jobs may see short-term growth due to fewer H‑1B hires, companies with critical operations in technology, banking, healthcare, and R&D cannot easily cut off access to global talent. Many firms may outsource or offload work to India, leveraging the cost advantage and deep expertise available there, according to the industry observers.

Over the long term, the global operating model is likely to remain largely unchanged, but the Indian IT and technology services are poised to benefit from increased offshoring and remote delivery.

The visa fee hike is also seen as a potential boon for India’s broader innovation ecosystem. Sanjay Tripathy, founder and chief executive of BRISKPE, a cross-border payments platform, said that the proposed $100,000 visa fee is nothing short of a wall against global talent. “By pricing out the world’s best doctors, engineers, and innovators, the US risks stalling its own engine of innovation,” he said.

On the contrary, Tripathi believes, it will accelerate India’s rise as the hub for research, patents, and startups. Cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, and Gurugram are ready to absorb this talent and channel it into India’s growth story.

Beyond H-1B: Gold Card Regime Kicks In

Apart from the H-1B visa price amendments, the Trump administration also launched a suite of cards like Gold Card, Platinum Card, and Corporate Gold Card programmes.

The H-1B Gold Card targets individuals with extraordinary abilities or high-impact business contributions, requiring a $1 Mn non-refundable payment. Eligible applicants, those who would qualify under EB-1 or EB-2 categories, receive permanent residency after vetting, with the same worldwide income tax obligations as US citizens.

Priced at $5 Mn, the Platinum Card offers greater flexibility, including the ability to stay in the US up to 270 days a year without taxation on foreign-earned income, though it requires the Congressional approval.

The Corporate Gold Card allows US-based companies to sponsor foreign employees for residency at $2 Mn each. Sponsorship rights can be transferred between employees, enabling corporations to manage global talent strategically.

Together, these programmes replace certain employment-based Green Card categories for exceptional talent and investors, but impose dramatically higher costs, signalling a shift in the US immigration policy towards financial contribution and business impact.

The new visa fees are set to have a major impact on Indian employees working in the US. For companies like TCS, Infosys, Wipro, and global tech giants such as Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Meta, which collectively sponsor thousands of Indian H-1B employees every year, this is a huge additional cost.

TCS alone, for example, had 5,505 H-1B visas approved in 2025, and Amazon had over 10,000. If the companies continue to sponsor these numbers, the cumulative cost could run into hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

Many companies may cut back on visa applications or prioritise only senior, highly specialised employees to justify the fee. Some Indian employees may be pushed to return to India, while others could be offered remote work or offshore assignments from Indian offices.

Edited by Kumar Chatterjee

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