Trump’s AI Dream Likely To Put Check On H-1B Visa Restrictions?

US President Donald Trump seems to have adopted two contrary policies, which could hit the economy of the nation.

On one hand, the Trump administration is imposing strict rules to restrict the hiring of H-1B visa holders and on the other, America is planning to lead the world on artificial intelligence.

America’s dream to excel in AI would go for a toss, without the hiring of H-1B visa holders as skilled workers alone can give the impetus for growth in the new technology. Moreover, economists also find that AI investments in US-based tech giants have contributed to the economic growth, which underscores the key role played by the H-1B visa holders in improving the financial resources of the nation.

According to a National Foundation for American Policy analysis, nearly 80% of labour condition applications approved for new H-1B visas in FY2025 for various tech giants like Meta, Amazon, Google, Apple and Microsoft were related to AI-based jobs.

The US President hiked the fee for new H-1B visa applications abnormally to $1,00,000 to restrict the tech companies from hiring foreign nationals for the skilled occupations, and encourage recruiting Americans for those jobs.

However, the tech companies are heavily relying on foreign nationals for the high-skilled jobs as they would have spend much more if they wish to hire American professionals with similar qualifications and experience.

The H-1B temporary visas are the only way for high-skilled foreign nationals to work in the US for a long term. The annual limit for H-1B visas is 65,000 with an exemption to hire 20,000 more for employees with masters or a higher degree from a US university. When companies go for campus recruitment, it is found that they are hiring over 70% of the international graduates in AI-related fields.

This indicates that companies need to hire foreign nationals, giving minimum preference to US engineers, to succeed with their AI plans.

Meanwhile, economic experts predict that any policies by the Us government aimed at protecting jobs to Americans and reducing immigration would encourage companies to move their offshore jobs abroad.