President Trump issued a proclamation meant to limit the number of H-1B visas by increasing the application fee to $100,000. The proclamation took effect Sept. 21 and will apply to new application filings only (PDF). The justification given for the proclamation was the “systemic abuse of the program” in certain sectors of the workforce, specifically highlighting the impact in science, technology, engineering, and math fields. In 2024 there were roughly 10,200 physicians in the United States practicing with H-1B visa status. Part of the proclamation allows the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to exempt some international workers if their hiring is considered “in the national interest and does not pose a threat to the security or welfare of the United States.”
The AAMC joined 53 national medical groups and organizations in a letter to DHS requesting physicians be exempt from the higher H1-B filing fees per the National Interest Waiver language included in the proclamation [refer to related story].