How Trump's visa crackdown could make payments more expensive

• What's at Stake: Banks and payment companies are among the top users of H-1B visas. 
• Supporting Data: A $100,000 petition fee could cut the number of applicants, according to payment experts. 
• Forward Look: The cost of payments technology could go up. 
  

President Trump's tighter controls over immigration are extending to skilled worker visas, which U.S. banks and payment companies use to source overseas talent in technology and related disciplines. The administration's latest move is to charge fees for H-1B visa petitions, which the White House says is designed to curtail abuse in the program. It could also make payment and fintech innovation more expensive, costs that may be passed on, according to payment experts. 

"The cost of employing skilled foreign workers under the H-1B visa program is going up, therefore, everything else being equal, demand for them will go down," Eric Grover, principal at Intrepid Ventures, told American Banker. 

Banks and payment companies will pay more for the H-1B visa workers they add and will pay more to hire American workers, according to Grover. "So while it may be hard to measure, the $100,000 fee on H-1B visa workers is inflationary. What consumers and businesses pay for financial services and payments will go up."

What Trump is doing

The Trump administration's H-1B proclamation charges a $100,000 fee for new H-1B petitions submitted after Sept. 21, including the 2026 lottery. It's a one-time fee, and does not bar travel in and out of the U.S. for H-1B visa holders, according to the administration's press release.

Some companies, such as Google and Amazon, have issued advisories recommending against travel outside of the U.S. or urging workers to return to the U.S., citing potential difficulties in reentry. Goldman Sachs has urged its H-1B workers to exercise caution when traveling. And JPMorganChase CEO Jamie Dimon told CNBC the announcement "caught everyone off guard." Dimon told the Times of India: "For us, visas matter because we move people around globally — experts who get promoted to new jobs in different markets. The challenge is that the U.S. still needs to remain an attractive destination," he said, adding that his grandparents were Greek immigrants.

U.S.-based companies file H-1B applications on behalf of workers, according to GovFacts. Employers file a form with the Department of Labor ensuring they will pay either the wage for similar jobs for U.S. workers at the company; or the prevailing wage for similar jobs in the local area — whichever is higher. The employers are required to disclose the use of H-1B applicants to a union, if the company has one, or via a posting, and must pay filing fees without requiring employee reimbursement.

And the job in question cannot be part of a strike or other labor dispute. The visas cover three years, though the term can be extended. There's an 85,000 yearly cap for H-1B visa recipients, which is determined by a lottery. The typical ratio for applicants to beneficiaries is 7-1, according to GovFacts.. 

Despite the wage rules, H-1B workers earn about 10% less than U.S. workers in comparable jobs, according to the Journal of Business Ethics, citing data from Deloitte, which also reported that the H-1B program does not directly lower wages for U.S. workers. The Economic Policy Institute said that aggregate wages for H-1B workers were nearly $100 million lower than corresponding U.S. workers in similar jobs in the past year.

"American companies rely on hiring holders of H-1B visas because they cannot find well-qualified American candidates. The $100,000 fee makes these candidates more expensive and will have some effect in reducing demand for such hiring, but this reduction will result in a specific pattern of re-allocation," Nicholas Economides, professor of economics at the NYU Stern School of Business, told American Banker, adding that with the new fee, employers who use H-1B workers for lower paying jobs may not apply, leaving higher-priced jobs that are more difficult to fill with U.S. workers. "So, the total number of H-1B visas utilized will be the same (85,000), but they will go to the top paid workers," Economides said.

On its website, the Trump administration said, "American workers are being replaced with lower-paid foreign labor, creating an economic and national security threat to the nation."

Liberal politicians in the past have also criticized the H-1B program. Before the $100,000 announcement, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) said the H-1B program "is disastrous for American workers, and it can be very harmful to guest workers as well, who are often locked into lower-paying jobs and can have their visas taken away from them by their corporate bosses if they complain about dangerous, unfair or illegal working conditions."

H-1B visas in banking and payments

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services employer hub tracks H-1B for fiscal years, with the most recent report covering the first three quarters of fiscal year 2025, ending June 30. The USCIS defines the H-1B program as enabling employers in the U.S. to "temporarily employ foreign workers in occupations that require the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge and a bachelor's degree or higher in the specific specialty, or its equivalent." The employer hub reports employers that submitted petitions to employ H-1B nonimmigrant workers. In some cases, different units for large companies are listed separately.

Among companies in insurance and finance, three corporate units associated with Goldman Sachs were among the firms with the most approved beneficiaries in the three quarters ending June 30: Goldman Sachs and Co. LLC had 798 petitions, Goldman Sachs Services 326 and Goldman Sachs Bank 137.

Among other financial institutions, Citibank NA had 788; American Express Travel Related Services 677 and American Express Company 117; PayPal 672; U.S. Bank 598; Capital One Services 563 and Capital One National Association 305; Bank of America 492; Visa Technology and Operations 462 and Visa USA 300; Morgan Stanley Services Group 447; Wells Fargo Bank 364; and Mastercard Technologies 321.

Others include Truist Bank with 180, Stripe 151, Ally Bank 101, Coinbase 95, Chime 94, Navy Federal Credit Union 93, M and T Bank 86, Affirm 67 and Remitly 62. "The main impact of this change is that it will reduce the competitiveness of American companies by restricting their ability to hire the highest-skilled employees from around the world," Aaron McPherson, principal at AFM Consulting, told American Banker. "Such employees will stay home and build companies there to compete with American firms." Ultimately, the United States economy becomes less dynamic, McPherson said.  

"This will really hurt the startup sector, which cannot afford to pay the fee, again reducing the number of startups, which make up a lot of the best jobs.  It's a short-sighted policy that doesn't reflect the realities of a global labor market."