By Arpita Ghosh

Copyright timesnownews

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has emerged as the second-largest beneficiary of H-1B visas in 2025, according to data from US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Amazon leads the list with 10,044 approved H-1B visas as of June, while TCS follows with 5,505 approvals. Other major recipients of H-1B visas include Microsoft (5,189), Meta (5,123), Apple (4,202), Google (4,181), Deloitte (2,353), Infosys (2,004), Wipro (1,523), and Tech Mahindra Americas (951). The Trump administration recently announced a new $100,000 annual fee on H-1B visas, citing concerns over what it described as “systemic abuse” of the program. President Donald Trump on Friday signed a proclamation titled ‘Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers’, which requires H-1B visa petitions to be accompanied by the new fee. The proclamation is set to take effect September 21, 2025, and will remain in force for 12 months unless extended. Also Read: H-1B Visa Fee Raised To $100,000 Under Trump’s Executive Order – Here’s What Changes This move could likely have a major impact on Indian IT professionals and companies heavily reliant on H-1B visas to fill specialised roles in the United States. The administration pointed to a sharp rise in foreign STEM workers, noting that their numbers nearly doubled from 1.2 million in 2000 to almost 2.5 million in 2019. Meanwhile, overall STEM employment increased by only 44.5 percent during the same period. Among computer and math occupations, the foreign share of the workforce grew from 17.7 percent to 26.1 percent. The proclamation added that Information technology firms have “prominently manipulated” the H-1B system, significantly harming American workers in computer-related fields. It also said that some companies have laid off thousands of American employees while securing thousands of H-1B visas. Using these H 1B-reliant IT outsourcing companies provides significant savings for employers, it said, as it cited a study of tech workers that showed a 36 per cent discount for H-1B “entry-level” positions as compared to full-time, traditional workers. Also Read: H1B Visa News: Trump’s $100,000 Fee Explained and What It Means for H1B Applicants in 2025 One company received approval for over 5,000 H-1B visas in FY 2025 but laid off more than 15,000 US staff. Another firm was approved for nearly 1,700 H-1B visas while eliminating 2,400 American jobs in Oregon. A third company reduced its workforce by approximately 27,000 since 2022 while being approved for over 25,000 H-1B visas, and a fourth company cut 1,000 jobs while receiving 1,100 H-1B visas in the same fiscal year. The H-1B visa program allows US companies to hire foreign professionals in specialised occupations such as technology, engineering, and science. (With inputs from PTI) Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from US News and around the World.