Trump shapes immigration gilded age with $100,000 H-1B fee

Bloomberg Josh Wingrove and Spencer Soper President Donald Trump took his preponderance extensive step yet toward overhauling the US legal migration system with a pair of proclamations that explicitly favor the wealthiest of the world s prospective expat workers Trump on Friday slapped a application fee on the widely used H- B visa project a move that would drastically increase the cost of visas heavily coveted by certain of America s largest companies seeking to bring in skilled workers from abroad The president also unveiled a Trump Gold Card visa venture where for the price of million individuals could get US residency Businesses could buy residency permits for million per employee while a new platinum-level card set to be issued soon would cost million and allow the holder to come to the US for up to days a year without being subject to US taxes on non-US income Related Articles India expresses concern about Trump plan to hike fees on H- B visas that bring tech workers to US ICE denies using excessive force as it broadens immigration arrests in Chicago Letters Voters must turn back GOP tide of censorship Letters Trump s campaign of censorship reaches Jimmy Kimmel Trump signs proclamation imposing K fee for H- B visa applications The restrictions and fees go into effect on Sunday It all amounts to a plan for a new gilded age of immigration to America where those with the materials to invest are welcomed along with their wallets while at the same time new obstructions to entry are erected for those with lower means and others seen as taking away jobs that could be occupied by American workers The pomp with which the president released the programs echoed the theme over his right shoulder as he spoke to reporters in the Oval Office was an image of a gold card with Trump s face on it and other Americana including a bald eagle all in gold It s a stark shift from America s stance toward immigration historically which welcomed those of various economic backgrounds coming to the country legally in search of a better life and more freedom Key disadvantage Yet even while Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick mused about the prospects of a windfall for the US Treasury that could total billion or more immigration attorneys cautioned a rise of this magnitude would cause major disruptions several of them potentially very expensive to the US economic activity Cleveland-based lawyer David Leopold warned Trump s H- B changes including the fee would effectively kill the operation Who s going to pay for a petition Unless you want to make this an unique venture for extremely rich people disclosed Leopold a partner at UB Greensfelder whose clients include physicians on H- Bs Accenture Cognizant Mechanism and other IT consulting stocks hit session lows on Friday on the news of the visa fee This is a senseless terrible initiative for financial services firms that makes American firms less competitive in the global arena for talent mentioned Alexis DuFresne founder of recruiting firm Archer Search Partners DuFresne warned that while various mega funds won t be daunted by the prospect of new six-figure fee to import top talent it will have a substantial impact at the margins with mid-sized firms smaller firms and up and coming younger talent at a key disadvantage We have had clients who have commented in the past prior to this announcement that they do not want to have to sponsor a visa We anticipate that that will become a more prevalent part of our conversations with clients and their goal posts going forward A feature not a bug Various of that sentiment if it comes to pass may be seen by this administration as an asset rather than a concern Senior members of Trump s administration have repeatedly warned in blunt terms that too multiple immigrants are taking American jobs In a fact sheet the White House declared American workers are being replaced with lower-paid foreign labor and called it a national safety threat The dynamic is suppressing wages and disincentivizing Americans from choosing careers in STEM fields the White House reported Trump s proclamation does anticipate a scenario whereby it can work around the new costs if they became a major burden allowing for case-by-case exemptions if in the national interest That provision opens a possible window for certain companies or industries to seek an exception to the new fee However the intention to skew the H- B effort toward higher-paying jobs is clear Trump also plans to order the Labor Secretary to undertake a rulemaking process to revise prevailing-wage levels for the plan a move intended to limit the use of visas to undercut wages that would otherwise be paid to American workers Legal risks Courts may also scrutinize the expansive new fees The H- B application fee in particular is at menace of being struck down as excessive disclosed Becky Fu von Trapp an immigration lawyer in Stowe Vermont That s because federal law allows agencies to charge enough to recoup reasonable costs and the greater part work visa applications at the moment cost about Even the majority complex ones for certain commitment visas usually run less than in total The move could also incentivize machinery firms and other companies reliant on foreign workers to set up offices outside the US in order to avoid the application fee and associated hassles Companies will reassess the need of who they really need to bring to US and who can be based in Canada or Singapore where they still have good device infrastructure and can work remotely she noted The move may also have a chilling effect on international students seeking admission to US universities since a multitude of of them hope to find jobs through the H- B process upon graduation she mentioned Congress will also weigh in Lutnick revealed noting that lawmakers must also approve the planned platinum card initiative He predicted that could happen later this year That s easier revealed than done Republicans only narrowly control the House and the Senate Immigration has been a particularly challenging issue to legislate for the GOP in years past sparking clashes between the pro-business wing of the party that wants more high-skilled immigrants to come in and another group far more skeptical of immigration as a whole who ve sought to limit new arrivals no matter where they come from What s more Democrats are broadly furious about the president s stepped-up immigration enforcement including aggressive Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in major US cities As such they have little incentive to cooperate without demanding wholesale reversals to the president s existing immigration policies which he almost surely wouldn t accept With assistance from Katia Porzecanski and Hema Parmar Updates with effective date in fourth paragraph More stories like this are available on bloomberg com Bloomberg L P