Facing the impact of a labor shortage and tariffs, Connecticut businesses and top elected officials are now also highly concerned about a new visa fee by President Donald Trump’s administration.
The fee of $100,000 is aimed at H-1B visa applications that are filed primarily by skilled foreign workers coming to the United States temporarily to work for companies in specialized occupations. While large companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft pay for their workers, critics say that smaller companies and start-ups cannot easily afford the fee that would be needed to compete for the most talented employees.
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Under a White House proclamation known as “Restriction on Entry on Certain Nonimmigrant Workers,” the fee became effective this week in a move that would have direct impact in Connecticut and beyond.
While the visa program is limited to 85,000 approvals annually, Connecticut averages about 1,100 approvals every year, according to the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, the state’s largest business lobby.
The total cost to Connecticut employers would be about $110 million if the $100,000 fee were to stay in place. The unprecedented move is expected to generate lawsuits around the country in the same way that other moves by Trump, including temporarily shutting down the wind power project off the Connecticut coast, generated a lawsuit that later overturned the administration’s action.
Besides concerns by CBIA, the visa program has generated opposition from top Democrats and Republicans in Connecticut.
“Unfortunately, this burdensome $100,000 fee is yet another federal mandate that raises costs to businesses and consumers, on top of costly tariffs, that will not only hamper growth, but will have broad ramifications for Connecticut’s economy,” said Rob Blanchard, Gov. Ned Lamont’s chief spokesman.
Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney of New Haven and majority leader Bob Duff of Norwalk said the fees will have widespread impact.
“This outrageous fee is another shortsighted move by Trump that will provoke long-term damage to our economy, universities, and our country’s reputation,” the senators said.
“Connecticut thrives on innovation and education, and this fee is a punitive measure that will harm Connecticut businesses and hurt higher education by limiting access to skilled faculty and researchers. It is a direct attack on immigrants and sends a hostile message that their skills and contributions are not welcome.”
CBIA said that businesses have been trying to clarify the details of the fee and end the uncertainty so that they can plan better for the future.
“While the rollout has been chaotic, with contradictory statements from different government officials about who pays what and when, business community responses suggest this will be a costly change to a crucial workforce program,” CBIA said.
One of the main problems was that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had initially said that the fee would be assessed every year, but officials said later that it will be charged only once.
The White House also clarified that the fee applies only to new applicants and is not retroactive for those already in the pipeline.
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Senate Republican leader Stephen Harding of Brookfield sent a letter Tuesday to Lutnick, saying he agrees with CBIA’s concerns.
“The fee is raising legitimate concerns regarding uncertainty and added costs for Connecticut job creators in our key industries, particularly in our struggling urban areas,” Harding wrote.
“Connecticut is already unaffordable, and our economy is stagnant under one-party Democrat rule. We must do all we can to lower costs for overburdened businesses.”
Noting that the visas touch a wide variety of occupations, CBIA said the visa holders include workers in insurance, finance, professional and technical services, manufacturing, health care and education.
The cities that have been impacted the most are New Haven, Stamford, Norwalk, East Hartford, and Hartford, which CBIA noted shows that the employees are working at universities, financial services firms, and advanced manufacturers that recruit for talent around the world.
“However, it is worth noting that nearly every town and city in the state has an employer that sponsored an H-1B visa over the past decade,” CBIA said.
Dustin Nord, director of the CBIA Foundation for Economic Growth and Opportunity, said the Trump administration’s move was a surprise that would impact a wide variety of workers from those working in laboratories at universities to civil engineers to specialists in artificial intelligence.
“These are high-talent individuals in crucial, critical jobs that these companies are hiring for,” Nord told The Courant. “You’re potentially hiring some of the experts in a given field in order to be in the United States on this visa. … The main challenge is just the uncertainty around it.”
Sen. Joan Hartley, a Waterbury Democrat who has worked specifically to help Connecticut universities to attract more visa holders to the state, blasted Trump’s fee.
“The U.S. and, in particular, Connecticut have consistently led in science and technology, higher education, medical research, Industry 4.0, and advanced manufacturing, fueled by our highly skilled workforce,” Hartley said. “H-1B visa holders are attracted to our culture of innovation. They bring ‘specialized’ talent and skills which, in combination with our institutions, accelerate our economy.”
She added, “This administration’s plan to monetize H-1 B visas is fundamentally flawed. It will stifle our talent pipeline, create financial barriers, and deter brilliant minds from coming to the U.S. It drives innovation and invention to our global competitors and, even worse, to our adversaries. It is wrong!”
Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com