Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has assured employees that the company will continue sponsoring H-1B visas and cover all related expenses, despite US President Donald Trump’s recent executive order imposing a $100,000 fee per new application, Business Insider reported on Tuesday.Huang’s message reportedly sought to calm concerns among tech workers after the order sparked widespread anxiety and uncertainty, particularly among employees from India and China, who make up a significant portion of the H-1B workforce.“As one of many immigrants at Nvidia, I know that the opportunities we’ve found in America have profoundly shaped our lives,” Huang said in a message to employees, as cited by Business Insider.
“And the miracle of Nvidia — built by all of you, and by brilliant colleagues around the world — would not be possible without immigration,” he added. Huang told employees that “legal immigration remains essential to ensuring the US continues to lead in technology and ideas,” adding that the Trump administration’s “recent changes reaffirm this.”Like much of the broader chip and tech industry, Nvidia employs a large number of international workers. Huang has frequently emphasized that roughly half of the world’s AI researchers are of Chinese origin.The H-1B visa program enables US companies to hire skilled foreign professionals for specialized roles.Under Trump’s recent order, new H-1B visa holders are prohibited from entering the United States unless their sponsoring employer pays an additional $100,000 fee. The administration clarified that the rule does not affect current H-1B holders or applicants who filed before September 21. Later that month, US lawmakers pressed major companies to justify hiring thousands of foreign workers under the H-1B program while simultaneously cutting domestic jobs, as reported bty Reuters. Huang has previously expressed support for Trump’s proposal to impose a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa applications. Speaking on the BG2 Pod last week, Huang described the measure as “a great start,” saying the fee hike could help reshape US immigration policy, even as critics warn it could trigger brain drain and weaken America’s technological leadership.Huang acknowledged that the $100,000 fee is “quite high,” but said he believes the increase will establish a meaningful benchmark. “Probably sets the bar a little too high, but as a first bar, it at least eliminates illegal immigration and that’s a good start,” he added.
