Trump aide hints significant changes to H-1B visa days after $100,000 fee move

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that all questions about how the lottery system will operate for the H-1B visas will be resolved by February 2026.

There will be significant changes in the H-1B visa process before the revised fee of $100,000 comes into effect from February 2026, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said, as he dubbed the current visa process as “just wrong” that low-cost tech consultants are allowed to enter the US and bring their families.

Howard Lutnick, US commerce secretary, stands behind President Donald Trump at the Oval Office in the White House in Washington.(Photo: Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg)

“This procedure and process goes into effect in February of 2026, so my guess is going to be, there are going to be a significant number of changes between now and 2026,” Lutnick told NewsNation.

Donald Trump-led US administration recently imposed a steep fee of $100,000 on fresh H-1B visa petitions, including renewals. The White House later clarified that the existing visa-holders do not fall under the new system and can move in and out of the US without any fee.

Lutnick stood behind Trump in the Oval Office when he signed the H-1B proclamation and had said that USD 100,000 will be an annual fee for all H1B visas, including renewals and first-time applicants.

Lutnick said that with the USD 100,000 fee on applications, "at least it shouldn't be overrun with these people. But I think you're going to see a real thoughtful change going forward. And that's what I expect will happen."

“H1B visas are for tech consultants? Like, somehow, that's like important that tech consultants are onshore versus offshore. They're all in other countries anyway,” he said.

Lutnick said the lottery needs to be “fixed" and the US should only give "highly-skilled jobs" to the "most highly-skilled people".

Lutnick said doctors and educators with high degrees should be able to come in but if companies want to hire engineers, they should employ only the highly paid ones.

“The idea of having tech consultants and trainees who are inexpensive should be eliminated. I have a strong opinion that way. I think the President's right with me on those same topics...I am completely on the view that this idea that inexpensive tech consultants should be coming into this country and bringing their families, I find it just wrong, and so it sits wrong with me,” Lutnick said.

This month, the US Department of Labour announced the launch of ‘Project Firewall’, an H1B enforcement initiative aimed at safeguarding the rights, wages, and job opportunities of highly skilled American workers.

The initiative will ensure that employers prioritise qualified Americans when hiring workers and will hold employers accountable if they abuse the H1B visa process.

“Launching Project Firewall will help us ensure no employers are abusing H1B visas at the expense of our workforce,” US Secretary of Labour Lori Chavez-DeRemer had said in a statement. “By rooting out fraud and abuse, the Department of Labour and our federal partners will ensure that highly skilled jobs go to Americans first.”