‘There’s no way we can afford $100,000’: Small firms scramble over H-1B visa fees

n a research note, Atakan Bakiskan, an economist at the investment bank Berenberg, lowered his estimate for US growth from 2% at the start of the year to 1.5%, saying said the $100,000 H-1B fee is part of the Trump administration’s broader “anti-growth policymaking”.

“With the new H-1B policy, the labour force is more likely to shrink than expand going forward,” he said. “The brain drain will weigh heavily on productivity.”