H-1B visas have helped launch the careers of high-profile entrepreneurs and CEOs such as Elon Musk (Tesla), Sundar Pichai (Google), Andrew Ng (DeepLearning.AI, Google Brain) and Eric Yuan (Zoom). The Trump administration recently announced a sweeping change to the visa program, increasing the fee for new H-1B petitions to $100,000. The move raises questions about the future of the U.S. tech industry, which has long relied on highly skilled foreign-born talent.
Startups and mid-sized firms would be hit hardest, say Northeastern University experts, while giants like Amazon and Google might absorb costs or shift jobs abroad. The H-1B holders fill specialized STEM roles where U.S. shortages persist. The policy could hurt U.S. competitiveness and weaken the country’s global edge in science and technology, they say. “It’s hard to know what the objectives of the administration are,” says Mindy Marks, an associate professor of economics at Northeastern University.
