FILE - Fragment of H1B visa (for specialty workers) stamp in passport. (Getty Images)
The Trump administration on Monday released a proposed regulation that would require an unprecedented fee of $103,265 on new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers.
New H-1B workers face even higher fee
Dig deeper:
The revenue generated by the $103,265 would go toward running legal immigration systems, including funding for federal immigration courts and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to the Washington Post.
Big picture view:
The new fee dramatically raises the cost of visas that are heavily relied on in the tech, education and research sectors.
Companies who utilize the program have argued the H-1B program addresses the lack of skilled American workers.
The other side:
Critics say that H-1B visas undercut American workers, luring people from overseas who are often willing to work for less than American tech workers do.
Previous $100K fee struck down
The backstory:
A previous fee of $100,000, first temporarily imposed by President Donald Trump last year, was struck down by a federal judge in June.
This temporary fee is set to expire in September, one year after it was originally imposed.
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Trump admin to overhaul H-1B visas, lottery system
We are gathering more information tonight after the Department of Homeland Security announced it was changing its longstanding lottery system for H-1B work visas to a new approach. The Trump administration is aiming to prioritize skilled, higher-paid foreign workers according to the announcement. LiveNOW's Shawna Khalafi is speaking with Immigration Expert and Attorney, Pallavi Ahluwalia, about the potential impact of these changes.
About H-1B program
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the H-1B program applies to employers seeking to hire non-immigrants as workers in specialty occupations of distinguished merit and ability.
The law establishes certain standards in order to protect similarly employed U.S. workers from being adversely affected by the employment of the nonimmigrant workers, as well as to protect the H-1B nonimmigrant workers.
The H-1B program offers 65,000 visas annually, with another 20,000 visas for workers with advanced degrees, approved for three to six years.
Technology companies in particular rely heavily on workers who receive H-1B visas, with nearly three-quarters of approvals going to workers from India.
The states argued that using the H-1B program to fill vacancies for much-needed doctors and teachers was already difficult before the higher fee.
Employers seeking a visa for a foreign worker before Trump's proclamation typically paid about $2,000 to $5,000 in fees depending on various factors, according to Reuters. The fee does not apply to visas granted to foreign citizens already in the United States on student visas, who generally make up a large share of new H-1B recipients.
The Source: Information for this article was taken from reporting by Reuters and the Washington Post. Previous reporting by FOX Local also contributed. This story was reported from San Jose.