For two years now, the U.S. government has steadily raised the cost of bringing skilled workers into the country legally. Extensions have been revoked, interviews eliminated, and a $100,000 tax placed on some H-1B visas. In response, tech companies are shifting work and hiring abroad without speaking openly about their decisions.
To understand how U.S. tech companies are adapting to the changing environment, IEEE Spectrum reached out to 25 of them. None of them agreed to be interviewed for this story; all of them either refused to answer or declined to take part.
The New H-1B Tax and What Followed
By July 2025, the new presidential administration tightened visa interview requirements and imposed social media checks on new visa holders. International students were already showing less interest in studying in the U.S., which IEEE Spectrum reported at the time.
In September 2025, President Donald Trump announced a $100,000 tax on applications for new H-1B visas, an increase from around $5,000. These visas permit skilled workers to temporarily reside and work in the United States, and they often function as a pathway to permanent residency.
For workers employed by universities, hospitals, and other non-profit institutions, there is no limit on H-1B visas. By contrast, for-profit companies combined may hire no more than 85,000 H-1B workers per year nationwide, with those slots allocated through an annual lottery.
Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Walmart warned certain of their visa-holding staff against traveling abroad, telling them they might struggle to get back into the country. The companies also pushed the federal government, which eventually limited the rule to applications from outside the U.S.
A March court filing showed that most companies that could have brought in H-1B workers chose not to apply for visas for candidates subject to the $100,000 tax. Between the presidential proclamation in September 2025 and 15 February 2026, the Department of Homeland Security recorded only 85 qualifying applications that paid the required fees.
The department reported a decline of 87 percent in the number of applications processed for the H-1B visas subject to the tax compared with the prior year. With so few companies willing to pay the new price for hiring H-1B workers from abroad, the government earned $20 million less than it had the previous year on H-1Bs.
The Court Ruling That Struck Down the Tax
Earlier this year, there was a brief period when H-1B applicants had reason to feel more optimistic: In July, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (which covers Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico, and Rhode Island) upheld a lower court ruling that the September 2025 H-1B tax was illegal, taking that specific obstacle off the table.
A few weeks after that, the administration came back with a proposed rule dated 25 August. Under the rule, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would charge $103,265 for the 85,000 H-1B visas issued annually to for-profit companies. If adopted, the rule would touch a much larger group of people than the overturned 2025 proclamation did, since applicants who are already in the country would also be required to pay.
“This is a pivot to find another way to enact a policy that was ruled illegal in federal court,” says Michael Clemens, an economist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
DHS has to respond to public comments before issuing a final rule, and those comments can be submitted until 24 September.
How Companies Are Actually Responding
Washington, D.C.-based sociologist Julia Gelatt, who studies immigration demography at the Migration Policy Institute, suggested a way forward for those whose lives have been changed by the policy shifts.
“Some of those jobs might just be relocated abroad or maybe companies will make more efforts to recruit U.S. workers,” she says. “Some immigrant workers may have found a different pathway, like the L visa for transfers inside multinational companies or the highly-skilled may have been able to get O visas for extraordinary ability.”
The pressure Gelatt describes appears to be changing where tech work takes place. The evidence comes from the 25 companies that declined to talk to IEEE Spectrum, which chose silence rather than speaking up about their experiences.
The Student Visa Target
The U.S. government also continued targeting foreign students. In July, it set a fixed 4-year time limit on student visas. In the past, those visas lasted as long as the student’s course of study.
A plan under review by the federal government would make students on such visas pay between $70,000 and $100,000 to remain in the country for 1 to 3 years after graduating, a change from the current arrangement that allows them to stay without charge. That’s according to “If there is a $100,000 fee for that, it’s going to cut the talent pipeline,” Gelatt.
Clemens, whose work has not been peer-reviewed, puts the cost of placing time limits on student visas at between hundreds of millions and several billion dollars a year for U.S. universities. The figure does not include the broader economic hit that could follow. Many foreign students who stay in the country go on to apply for H-1B visas.
“For many talented individuals the H-1B is the only way to stay after studying here and eventually getting a green card,” Gelatt says.
The Court Decision and Its Aftermath
The court ruling in July struck down the $100,000 tax on new H-1B applications. But the administration’s response was swift: a proposed rule that would charge $103,265 for the 85,000 H-1B visas issued each year to for-profit companies.
The scope of the new rule is far wider than the original proclamation, since it covers applicants who are already inside the country rather than those applying from outside. As a result, its practical consequences may end up exceeding the reach of the tax that came before it.
Before DHS issues its final rule, it must first answer the public comments collected during the open comment period, which closes on 24 September.
The Silence From Tech Companies
When IEEE Spectrum reached out to 25 U.S. tech companies, all of them either did not respond to a request to comment or declined to participate in this story.
The quiet itself is significant. It points to firms choosing to adapt behind closed doors rather than confronting the policy publicly. Data on H-1B applications backs up this interpretation:
- Most businesses simply stopped submitting visa requests subject to the $100,000 tax.
- The department reported a decline of 87 percent in the number of applications processed for the H-1B visas subject to the tax compared with the prior year.
- With so few companies willing to pay the new price for hiring H-1B workers from abroad, the government earned $20 million less than it had the previous year on H-1Bs.
None of the firms that declined to respond offered an explanation for their choices. Instead, the information itself reveals what happened.
What Happens Next
A final version cannot be issued until DHS responds to the comments it receives. Those comments are due on 24 September, and the rule remains pending in the meantime.
Because the rule covers applicants who are already in the country, it applies to a wider group of people than the original tax did. This means the change is more sweeping than the court decision it follows.
A ruling from the court eliminated the tax. Now a suggested rule seeks to carry out the same policy by means other than the tax itself.
There is genuine doubt about what lies ahead, and businesses are acting on it by shifting work and recruiting to other countries.
Key Dates in the H-1B Fight
| Date | Action |
|---|---|
| July 2025 | Visa interview requirements tightened, social media checks imposed |
| September 2025 | $100,000 tax on new H-1B applications announced |
| 15 February 2026 | Data on collected fees and processed applications released |
| July | Court of Appeals upholds lower court ruling striking down the tax |
| 25 August | Proposed rule charging $103,265 for 85,000 H-1B visas announced |
| 24 September | Public comment period closes |
Our View
A new stage has arrived in the battle over H-1B visas. A court ruling overturned one effort, and the administration then put forward a replacement. In response, firms are shifting work abroad and recruiting overseas to keep their operations running.
The lack of noise from technology firms speaks for itself. Rather than publicly complaining, they are opting for silent adjustment.
The proposal is still under consideration, with the public comment period set to close on 24 September. Once that date arrives, the agency will need to respond to all of the feedback it has received before moving forward with a final rule.
Real doubt exists about what lies ahead. A new set of demands has appeared within the talent pipeline, and the suggested regulation may actually make it more difficult for students to remain where they are.
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