Immigration lawyers say the H-1B chaos is forcing tough business calls

• Companies are revising their H-1B strategies after a series of rapid changes since September.
• Immigration attorneys say employers are tightening sponsorship rules and updating travel guidance.
• Some companies are even shifting some work overseas.

Since September, the H-1B visa program has been caught in a whirlwind of changes.

As a result, companies nationwide are scrambling to determine their next steps, rewriting travel guidance for foreign workers, and lining up backup staffing plans, including shifting some work overseas, according to five immigration attorneys who spoke with Business Insider.

"Unpredictability is one of the number one enemies for business," said Rohit Srinivasa, an immigration attorney based in Los Angeles who works with startups and medium-sized tech companies.

First came a $100,000 fee on new applications in September. Then came social media vetting requirements that left visa holders stranded abroad during the holidays. Now, a wage-based lottery system will favor the highest-paid applicants by giving them more chances in the annual H-1B lottery.

Immigration lawyers say the constant policy shifts have companies tightening sponsorship guidelines, re-budgeting for higher costs, and gaming out contingency plans for a program that keeps changing shape.

A cautious approach to H-1B visas

Companies are taking a more calculated approach to who they sponsor for work visas and how they do so, attorneys told Business Insider.

Divij Kishore, an immigration attorney at New York-based Flagship Law, which represents clients across various sectors, including tech, healthcare, and energy, told Business Insider that he has seen a 40% to 50% drop in H-1B sponsorship inquiries compared to previous years.

Typically, by this time of the year, clients reach out with lists of employees they'd like to sponsor for the spring lottery, Kishore said.

"This year, that's not been the case because employers are just not sure what the costs are," Kishore said.

On the other hand, K. Edward Raleigh, a partner at immigration firm Fragomen, which represents some of Silicon Valley's largest tech companies, including Apple and Nvidia, told Business Insider that he hasn't seen a material slowdown in H-1B filings overall, as most are renewals for existing workers.

Still, companies are "tightening up their sponsorship guidelines" and "proceeding with caution, understanding that various things could trigger the fee," he said.

This recalculation is occurring despite the $100,000 fee having a narrow scope. It applies to new visa petitions for workers living abroad and does not apply to the vast majority of cases, such as foreign students already in the US switching from an academic visa to a work visa or existing H-1B holders changing employers.

"One of the main attributes of this administration is that they keep people guessing," said Ted Chiappari, who leads the immigration practice at law firm Duane Morris. "Just because things are one way on Monday doesn't mean they're going to be the same way on Tuesday, and they won't switch back to things on Wednesday."

Fewer H-1B visas have been issued to Indian IT consulting firms, according to data from the National Foundation for American Policy, an Arlington-based nonprofit research organization focused on immigration and international trade.

Instead, for the first time in the program's history, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Google occupied the top four spots for H-1B approvals in fiscal year 2025, a shift that began before the recent policy upheaval. The trend suggests companies were already reassessing tech hiring strategies before the recent policy changes.

Despite the turmoil, Srinivasa believes the H-1B will endure, saying the program is "so baked in" to the US economy, he said, that it's undergoing overhaul rather than replacement.

Some sectors saw more impact than others. Universities and nonprofit healthcare organizations that have historically recruited professors and medical workers from abroad have largely stopped filing petitions subject to the fee, Chiappari said. Unlike for-profit companies, these institutions can hire H-1B workers throughout the year without going through the annual lottery.

"That pipeline is now dried up," Chiappari said.

Companies look into alternative visas

Rather than abandoning H-1B sponsorship, companies are exploring alternative pathways and backup strategies.

Srinivasa said interest in O-1 visas for workers with "extraordinary ability" has surged, though not everyone qualifies. To qualify, applicants typically need to demonstrate a track record of impact and achievements in their field as evidenced by patents, awards, membership in select associations, and media coverage about them.

Some founders from countries with US trade treaties are turning to E-2 investor visas, which also provide work authorization for spouses. Others are using the EB-1C path, where companies send managers abroad for a year before bringing them back to the US.

Companies are also increasingly establishing international offices and using L-1 visas to transfer employees to the US, or opting for services like Deel and Rippling that serve as the official employer, handling immigration paperwork on behalf of client companies.

Big Tech, as well as Wall Street firms such as JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, have been expanding their operations in Indian cities like Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

Kishore said some clients are preemptively reaching out to offshore providers to ramp up staffing capacity in case they are unable to bring workers to the US as planned.

"If they can't spend that same hundred dollars within the US next year, they will spend a hundred dollars outside the US," he added.

The 2026 H-1B lottery changes

Starting with the 2026 lottery, visa applications will be weighted based on salary level. Workers offered the highest wages will get four entries in the lottery, while those at the lowest tier get just one. The administration says this will ensure visas are awarded to the most skilled workers.

Raleigh said companies are already thinking about how this will affect their recruitment strategy, "without the exact terms of how those rules are going to work."

The change will likely benefit large tech companies that can afford to place workers in top salary bands, while creating challenges for smaller companies, nonprofits, and early-stage startups.

"Often the best startup founders forgo being paid a living wage because they're so dedicated to the mission," said Sophie Alcorn, a Bay Area immigration attorney who focuses on startups and entrepreneurs. "Those same startups may be the ones that have the most difficulty in getting the right people through this future system."

Kishore said that a higher salary doesn't always mean more skill. A first-year associate at a major law firm might make $225,000, while an equally qualified associate at a smaller firm makes significantly less. Under the new system, the big-firm lawyer would have much better lottery chances, he said.

Some attorneys are advising clients not to artificially inflate salaries to game the system. Chiappari said the spread between wage levels is typically $20,000 to $30,000 — far less than the $100,000 fee — and companies aren't rushing to increase compensation anyway.

Immigration attorneys previously thought that the $100,000 fee might improve the chances for foreign students already studying in the US by increasing their chances if fewer companies enter candidates in the lottery. Now, the wage-based lottery means that it might not happen.

"That logic's been turned on its head," said Kishore, adding that students, who typically enter the workforce at lower salaries, will get fewer chances at the lottery.

Companies update their policies

Beyond policy changes, companies are also recalibrating their compliance strategies to avoid triggering fees or violating new rules.

Raleigh said that ensuring workers maintain valid immigration status has become even more critical, as any lapse could force someone to leave the country and return on a new H-1B visa, potentially triggering the $10,000 fee.

Companies are updating their HR policies, including guidance on social media presence for foreign hires, in response to new vetting requirements, Srinivasa said. Some are advising employees to avoid international travel altogether, even when technically permitted.

Chiappari said he still gets constant questions from worried H-1B holders about whether it's safe to travel internationally.

"Even if I write a three-page affidavit explaining how they're not going to have any trouble coming back to the United States, they're just not going to believe it, and they're staying here," Chiappari said. "They're just not traveling."

The human cost is real: postponed weddings, skipped vacations, and delayed work travel.

"Employers," Kishore said, "need to be prepared and agile for what's coming in the next few months."