Between September 2025 and February 2026, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security processed 87 percent fewer applications for H-1B visas subject to a new $100,000 tax than it did the year before, according to a March court filing. The data reveals how a 21-month series of federal immigration barriers — including visa cancellations, reduced interview slots, and attempted six-figure fees — has reshaped the flow of highly-skilled workers into American tech companies. IEEE Spectrum reported the findings in September 2026 after contacting 25 major U.S. tech firms, all of which either didn't respond or declined to comment on how they're adapting to the shifting rules.
The numbers tell a stark story. Only 85 companies paid fees for H-1B applications that qualified under the $100,000 tax between the September 2025 proclamation and mid-February 2026, the court filing showed. The government collected $20 million less in H-1B fees than the previous year because so few firms were willing to pay the new price for hiring workers from abroad. By March 2026, U.S. universities were reporting 20 percent fewer international students enrolled in bachelor's programs compared to the year before, with master's degree enrollments down 24 percent, according to Studyportals, a student placement advisory. Eighty-four percent of participating universities listed government policy as a major obstacle to enrollment. After a federal court struck down the $100,000 tax in July as illegal, the administration responded in August with a proposed rule to charge $103,265 for all 85,000 annual H-1B visas issued to for-profit companies — this time applying even to workers already in the country.
Former congressional immigration policy advisor David Bier, now at the Cato Institute, calls it "an unrelenting barrage of government-sponsored propaganda against highly-skilled workers." Sociologist Julia Gelatt at the Migration Policy Institute says some of those jobs "might just be relocated abroad," while other immigrant workers may have switched to different visa categories like L visas for internal company transfers or O visas for extraordinary ability. Economist Michael Clemens of Johns Hopkins University, in a non-peer-reviewed discussion paper, estimates that a proposal to put fixed four-year time limits on student visas could cost U.S. universities between hundreds of millions and several billion dollars annually. The administration is also studying a plan to charge students between $70,000 and $100,000 to stay one to three years after graduation — something they can currently do for free. "If there is a $100,000 fee for that, it's going to cut the talent pipeline," Gelatt told IEEE Spectrum.
Tech companies are quietly adapting by building offices and hiring workers abroad to work around the new rules, though none would speak on the record. Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Walmart advised some visa-holding employees not to travel internationally for fear they'd have trouble getting back in, and they lobbied the federal government, which narrowed the initial tax to applications from outside the U.S. Clemens says preliminary research shows fewer high-skill Indian tech workers are moving to the U.S. than in the past. The proposed $103,265 rule is open for public comments through September 24, and DHS must address those comments before finalizing it. Critics argue it exceeds the agency's legal authority and functions as an unlegislated tax that bypasses Congress. Whether the rule survives legal challenge or not, the message to global talent has already landed.