H-1B visa fee surge shuts door on Korean students’ US job hopes
A U.S. flag, passport and H-1B visa application form are seen in this photo illustration taken Monday. Reuters-Yonhap
The sharp increase in U.S. H-1B visa fees is forcing many Korean students to abandon hopes of working in the country after graduation, with immigration experts warning that the change could lead to a wave of early returns to Korea.
“It has become impossible to even consider applying for an H-1B visa now. Many Korean students in the United States will have no choice but to give up on local employment after graduation and return home,” said Jun-hwan Kim, a 58-year-old Korean American immigration lawyer based in California, in a phone interview on Monday.
The H-1B visa allows foreign professionals to work in the U.S. for three years, with possible extensions, but the annual quota is limited to 85,000. U.S. President Donald Trump recently raised the application fee from $1,000 to $100,000.
The H-1B has long been notoriously difficult to obtain. Of the 85,000 visas, 20,000 are reserved for applicants with advanced degrees and 65,000 for those with bachelor’s degrees.
Last year, 780,000 people applied, while 350,000 applied this year, Kim said. Indians accounted for 71 percent of the quota last year, Chinese for 12 percent and Koreans received only about 1 percent.
Kim estimated that fewer than 4,000 Koreans annually secure new employment through H-1B sponsorship.
Even before the fee increase, the cost was a major hurdle. “For companies with more than 50 employees, the actual fee was around $18,000 per application, and with expedited processing and legal fees, it often exceeded $20,000,” Kim said. “With the new fee, the H-1B has effectively become a privilege that only large corporations can afford.”
The White House said the increase applies only to new applicants, but the presidential proclamation indicated it would cover all H-1B petitions, including renewals and entries, for one year. The new fee took effect Sunday.
“Current H-1B holders may face demands for $100,000 when applying for extensions after three years," Kim said. "Some companies will simply refuse and tell employees to go back.”
The new Trump Gold Card, a visa program to be overseen by the Secretary of Commerce that will "facilitate the entry of aliens who have demonstrated their ability and desire to advance the interests of the United States by voluntarily providing a significant financial gift to the nation" is displayed in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Friday. EPA-Yonhap
A ticking time bomb
The pressure is expected to build by April next year. For the 2026 fiscal year quota, which runs from October 2025 to September 2026, the lottery in March saw roughly 35 percent of applicants selected.
Yet about half of those typically fail in the review process and never obtain visas. The 2027 fiscal year lottery will not be held until next year. Kim predicted that once the $100,000 fee is enforced, many firms will abandon foreign hires altogether.
Kim noted that while U.S. immigration law has long focused on limiting blue-collar labor, the job market has tightened for foreign white-collar graduates in recent years. He cited the recent arrest and detention of more than 300 Korean workers at a Hyundai-LG Energy Solution battery plant in Georgia as an example of outdated immigration laws and protectionist policies backfiring.
He cautioned against ad hoc diplomatic compromises that overlook visa requirements for technical workers dispatched to U.S. plants, saying such arrangements could undermine legal stability and fairness.
Instead, Kim suggested that the Trump administration could use its authority to expand H-2B visa quotas for countries making large-scale investments in U.S. manufacturing. The H-2B program allows the hiring of foreign workers for temporary non-agricultural jobs when U.S. labor is insufficient.
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.