Trump’s $100,000 H-1B Fee Raises Legal Questions, Could Negatively Impact Wisconsin Businesses
More than 350 employers in Wisconsin use program to hire skilled workers.
MMAC CEO Dale Kooyenga. File photo by Graham Kilmer.
The White House’s planned $100,000 fee for new H-1B visa applications could substantially raise costs for some Wisconsin businesses. But an attorney in the state says it’s unclear whether the proposal will ultimately stay on track.
According to state data, 372 employers in Wisconsin employ a total of 2,245 people who have H-1B visas, which apply to highly skilled workers in specialty occupations. It previously cost employers a few thousand dollars per H-1B visa application, depending on the size of the company, according to the American Immigration Council.
The Trump administration says the fee is being put in place to “curb abuses that displace U.S. workers and undermine national security” and that it may allow special exemptions “if in the national interest.”
A group of employers filed a lawsuit earlier this month against the Trump administration, claiming the president lacks the authority to change the visa system established by Congress.
‘Prohibitively expensive for companies in the Midwest’
H-1B visas are most commonly used by tech, education and medical sectors. The top employer of H-1B visas in Wisconsin is the financial technology company Fiserv, according to data compiled by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“We’re reviewing President Trump’s proclamation and assessing any potential impact on our U.S. workforce. At this time, we don’t expect any immediate impacts to our operations or client service,” a Fiserv spokesperson said in a statement to WPR.
But the president and CEO of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, Dale Kooyenga, told “Wisconsin Today” the fee may disproportionately affect Midwestern companies with lower profit margins.
“The reality is a lot of companies that rely upon these are not high margin tech companies with billions of dollars in capital,” Kooyenga said. “Our fear is that it’s prohibitively expensive for companies in the Midwest, where the cost of living is lower and the margin for these mature industries is lower.”
Kooyenga also worries international companies like Fiserv will choose to keep their workforce offshore.
“With that type of fee, does it make sense to bring them to Milwaukee, Wisconsin? Or does it make sense to keep them in a part of the world where nearly all large companies have the ability to outsource parts of their workforce?” Kooyenga said. “If you have [the H-1B] program here, then you’re going to get these individuals to come here and [get] the company to invest here through these individuals.”
H-1B process already has strict requirements, disincentives
Grant Sovern is an immigration attorney at Quarles & Brady, where he regularly files H-1B petitions for Wisconsin businesses. He’s doubtful the new visa fee will go into effect, due in part to the lack of a clear process in place for collecting or enforcing the fee.
“There is no way to pay that fee or to show someone that you paid it so you could get into the country if you have an H-1B,” Sovern told WPR. “So I’m highly skeptical that it will actually go into effect.”
He said the increased cost for employers also raises legal questions.
“This $100,000 fee isn’t at all related to the cost of processing the H-1B petitions,” he said. “The law does require that any filing fee has to be related to what it costs to get it done.”
When announcing the fee, the White House said some employers “have abused the H-1B statute and its regulations to artificially suppress wages” for American citizens.
However, Sovern pointed out that regulations are already in place to prevent businesses from using the program for cheap labor.
Employers are required to pay the prevailing wage for that position at that location and post it for other employees to see. They’re also required to file paperwork ensuring there hasn’t been a layoff or that a strike is not a strike happening.
And the costs associated with filing the paperwork to comply with those requirements is a disincentive for an employer to abuse the system, Sovern said.
“Employers are only hiring if they really need somebody because of these extra costs,” Sovern said.
Trump’s H-1B fee raises legal questions, lacks payment clarity, Wisconsin attorney says was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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