US signals H-1B overhaul days after Trump’s fee hike, calls influx of cheap tech consultants with families ‘just wrong’
Just as India was grappling with the H-1B visa fee hike, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has now indicated that the H-1B visa process will undergo an overhaul before February 2026, when the newly announced fee of USD 100,000 (over ₹88 lakh) takes effect. Declaring that “a significant number of changes” will be implemented, Lutnik also criticised the notion of “inexpensive” tech consultants entering the United States with their families, calling it “just wrong”.
He said that the incoming reforms in the H-1B visa system would tighten it well ahead of the steep fee hike.
