US-based AI startup CEO on H-1B visa price hike: If your company doesn’t value you enough…

Shahriar Tajbakhsh, the Iranian CEO and co-founder of a San Francisco-based AI startup, Metaview, has a message for H-1B visa holders. In a public message shared on the professional networking site LinkedIn, Tajbakhsh addressed the employers of the H-1B workers amid the new $100,000 H-1B visa fee. His remarks came after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week to announce the increased fee for new H-1B applications. Tajbakhsh wrote, “If your company doesn’t value you enough to pay the $100k, check out to see if any of our roles might be a fit.” Tajbakhsh even promised to provide a yes-or-no decision on all applications within 24 hours. He reframed the fee as a “litmus test for company loyalty” and called the $100,000 fee “a rounding error” compared to the value a team member creates. The company’s pitch is seen as a new approach to recruiting talent in the wake of rising immigration costs.