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Harvard could soon be forced to pay a $100,000 fee for every new worker the University sponsors through the H-1B visa program, part of an executive proclamation signed by President Donald Trump on Friday.
Between 2017 and 2024, Harvard sponsored an average of 125 new H-1B visa petitions that were approved each year, according to data from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. While Trump’s order only applies to new H-1B visa requests, the fee could place a significant financial burden on Harvard if it continues to sponsor a similar number of new H-1B visa applicants.
If Harvard continues to sponsor more than 100 new H-1B visa applicants each year, the University will annually pay more than $10 million in fees.
A University spokesperson declined to comment on whether Harvard plans to change how many new H-1B visa applications it sponsors as a result of the $100,000 fee. Trump’s order is also expected to face significant legal challenge.
H-1B visas, which allow workers in specialty occupations to temporarily stay in the country, are used by companies to hire around 730,000 employees across the country, according to immigration advocacy group fwd.us. At universities, faculty members, postdoctoral fellows, and researchers can qualify for H-1B visas.
The visas are limited to six years and typically require extension after the initial three-year period. Harvard sponsors H-1B visa applications for temporary academic appointments like postdoctoral or research fellows, but not for staff positions, according to the HIO’s website.
The Department of Homeland Security clarified on Saturday that the $100,000 cost is a one-time fee for new applicants. The guidance also stated that current H-1B visa holders will be able to enter and exit the U.S. according to their prior privileges.
Before the DHS memorandum was released, the Harvard International Office emailed affiliated H-1B visa holders on Saturday to recommend they consult with HIO advisers before traveling abroad.
“While we await further details about implementation, please be aware that by its terms, the proclamation applies to H-1B holders currently outside the U.S. who seek entry after the effective date,” the HIO email read. “The proclamation provides that the government may grant exceptions, but the situation remains fluid as guidance and rulemaking are anticipated in the coming weeks.”
On Sunday, the HIO updated visa holders with guidance from the DHS’ memorandum and wrote that Harvard was “working to understand the full impact of this proclamation.”
Though Harvard officials refrained from making sweeping recommendations, uncertainty over the order’s scope initially prompted universities across the country, including Yale and Dartmouth, to advise affiliated H-1B visa holders to withhold from international travel before the DHS clarified the order.
In the proclamation, Trump wrote that the “systemic abuse” of the H-1B visa program has threatened “both our economic and national security.” He cited the growing share of workers using H-1B visas in the technology sector, writing that the program currently makes it “even more challenging for college graduates trying to find IT jobs.”
Trump justified the order under a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act that grants the president authority to suspend the entry of noncitizens when deemed “detrimental to the interests of the United States.” The Supreme Court affirmed the president’s discretion to limit travel in the 2018 case Trump v. Hawaii, granting Trump’s attempt to block travel from several Muslim-majority countries.
Still, the new fee, which went into effect on Sunday, is legally contentious. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick — a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, a non-partisan organization advocating for equitable immigration policy — called the move “absurdly unlawful” in a Monday post on X.
“Trump doesn’t have this kind of power over H-1B visas,” he wrote. “The power to suspend entry that was upheld in Trump v. Hawaii simply cannot authorize a President to impose a fee on visa applications. Otherwise, the exception swallows the rule.”
—Staff writer Samuel A. Church can be reached at samuel.church@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @samuelachurch.
—Staff writer Cam N. Srivastava can be reached at cam.srivastava@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @camsrivastava.
