US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on September 19, 2025, under which the annual visa fee for foreign skilled workers coming to the US for work has been increased from $1,500 to $100,000.
It should be noted that skilled workers from India, China, Pakistan and other countries go to the US under the H1B visa (skilled visa). According to experts, tech companies in the US will be particularly affected, which depend on the skilled workforce of small countries.
It should be remembered that 71% of skilled workers went to the US in the fiscal year 2024 under the H1B visa program, and India ranks first in the list of skilled workers going to the US.
The most skilled software development and programming people from India went to the US under this visa. Which accounts for about 65 percent of their total visas, other skilled people are associated with the fields of engineering and education.
In second place among people going to the US under this visa is China (11.7 percent), followed by Canada, Taiwan, South Korea, Mexico, Nepal, Brazil and then Pakistan in ninth place.
During the fiscal year 2024, about 0.8 percent of skilled Pakistanis from Pakistan went to the US under the H1B visa. Among the skilled people going to the US from Pakistan, people belonging to the IT consultancy and software development sector went, while other sectors include engineering and health.
It can be clearly seen from these figures that skilled people going to the US from India and China will be affected the most under the H1B visa. This fee will be applicable on an annual basis for new applications, while it will not be applicable to existing visa holders or renewals. The move targets the tech industry and high-skilled immigration, which could hinder US companies from attracting foreign talent.
According to the White House, the fee will take effect on September 21, 2025, and will apply equally to citizens of all countries. The H-1B visa, which is for software engineers, doctors and other highly skilled professionals, has become the most expensive immigration category ever. The current fee, which was just a few hundred dollars, has now increased by 500 times.
The Trump administration claims that this step is to protect American jobs, as a large IT firm received 1,700 H-1B visas in 2025, while 2,400 American employees were laid off in the same year.
Which countries will be most affected?
The policy is applicable globally, meaning it will affect citizens of all countries, including India, China, Pakistan. However, countries like India and China, which receive millions of applicants every year, will be hit the hardest.
Indian IT companies like Infosys, TCS and Microsoft, which rely on H-1B visas, have already called it a disaster. The White House has made it clear that the fee will have to be paid by companies, not individual candidates, which will result in fewer companies sponsoring foreign talent.
How many people from Pakistan go to the US on H-1B visas?
The number of people going to the US from Pakistan is relatively small. According to data from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), 1,850 H-1B visa applications were approved from Pakistan in fiscal year 2019, which was just 0.4% of the total approvals.
Similarly, in 2018, the number was 1,871. This trend has continued in recent years, with around 1,800 to 2,000 Pakistani high-skilled workers traveling to the US on this visa each year. In 2015, Pakistan had 2,512 approvals, out of a total of 275,317 approvals.
The figures show that most H-1B visa recipients from Pakistan are software engineers and IT professionals who seek jobs in US tech companies. However, the process is already extremely difficult due to visas, interviews, document verification and other hurdles.
