H-1B Visa Row: Current Process 'Wrong', Says Trump Aide Lutnick, Slams Entry of 'Inexpensive' Tech Consultants

United States Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick warned that the H-1B visa process will be going through "a significant number of changes", days after US President Donald Trump imposed a sky-high fee on them. Lutnick added that while the changes will take place before February 2026, he criticised the current process for being "wrong" and said that it allows the entry of “inexpensive” tech consultants along with their families.

He also specified that engineers being hired through the program should be “highly-paid” and not "inexpensive" ones who bring with them their families.

During an interview with the NewsNation, he said that the new procedure will be effective from from February 2026, which implies it will go through very significant changes till then. This was also his response when he was asked to clarify whether the $100,000 fee on the H1-B visa was yearly or one-time and whether it will only apply to new applicants or existing visa holders too.

He added that the $100,000 fee on applications will prevent the visa process being overrun with people and that he expects "a real thoughtful change" going ahead.

The US secretary of commerce also said that there is a change that the lottery system may be abandoned. He questioned whether there should be a lottery system at all and said all will be ascertained by February.

"This H1-B is a lottery. Yesterday, I talked to the heads of two of the top five tech companies in the world and they said doing a lottery for skilled workers coming into America is bizarre. I mean why when you’re trying to take in skilled workers would you do it by a lottery? That just does not make any sense. So everyone agrees that the process that was set up in the 1990 and sort of butchered along the way needs to change," he stated.