Trump $100,000 H‑1B Fee Pushes Skilled Workers Toward Canada, Australia

CBS News reports from Hyderabad, India, that the Trump administration’s September 2025 decision to add a $100,000 fee to new H‑1B visa applications for skilled foreign workers—up from a previous range of roughly $1,700 to $4,500—is already reshaping global talent flows away from the United States. Indian tech workers in Hyderabad’s so‑called "Cyberabad," long a pipeline for U.S. tech firms, say the new price tag makes it unrealistic for employers to sponsor them, leading some to pivot to Canada or Australia, which are actively courting the same workers with simpler and cheaper visa processes. Immigration‑agency founder Xavier Fernandes argues the H‑1B program helped fuel the U.S. IT boom and warns the fee is "definitely America’s loss," noting that more than 70% of H‑1B holders in 2024 were Indian and that such "brain power" cannot simply be "manufactured" domestically. The piece juxtaposes the White House’s stated goal of protecting American jobs with President Trump’s own admission in a November Fox News interview that the U.S. still lacks certain high‑end skills and "has to bring in talent," highlighting tension inside the administration’s message. The story underscores concerns among employers and migration experts that a six‑figure H‑1B charge could undercut U.S. innovation competitiveness and accelerate a broader shift of advanced tech development to countries with more open high‑skill immigration policies.