Trump’s H-1B Visa Fee Hike May Reshape Indian IT Strategy, But EPS Impact Likely Muted, Says Motilal Oswal

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Motilal Oswal Report

President Trump has signed an executive order that raises the annual H-1B visa application fee from $1,000 to $100,000 per applicant. This represents a 100x jump and applies prospectively to new applications.

The program’s mechanics remain the same otherwise: employers must still sponsor foreign workers for roles requiring specialized skills, but now at a sharply higher cost.

Since H-1B lotteries and petitions are typically run in Q4–Q1, the first impact would likely be seen in FY27 petitions. We note that situation is still evolving and may change drastically, however we also observe following implication for Indian IT:

Implications for Indian IT services

Shrinking H-1B dependence:

Over the last decade, Indian IT vendors have reduced their reliance on H-1B visas. With localization drives in the US and higher local hiring, only ~20% of employees are currently based on-site. Of this, 20–30% are on H-1B visas, implying that H-1B holders represent just 3–5% of the active workforce for a typical vendor.

Big tech vs IT services:

While the H-1B program is often portrayed as an ‘India IT’ visa channel, in practice, Big Tech companies (Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, etc.) account for a larger share of fresh applications than Indian IT.

For IT vendors, localization and subcontracting are already baked into their delivery models, making them relatively better placed to adjust.

Timing of impact:

Visa applications for FY26 are already locked in. The $100,000 fee will start to impact from FY27 onwards, when new petitions are filed.

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