Doctors and medical residents in the United States could be exempt from the new $100,000 visa fees imposed by the Trump administration on the H1-B skilled worker visa.
Although it is not yet set in stone, Taylor Rodgers, a white house official made this known in an email to Bloomberg News on Monday.
“The Proclamation allows for potential exemptions, which can include physicians and medical residents,” read the email excerpt which was posted on X by Bloomberg Journalist Ed Ludlow.
According to the white house, the order which was signed by President Trump on Friday and came into effect on Sunday 21st September include "case-by-case exemptions if in the national interest."
Trump's new visa fees for foreign workers drew widespread condemnation from technology executives, entrepreneurs and investors across America with companies warning its employees to avoid international travel or return as soon as possible until the new order was clarified.
Since taking office in January, Trump has kicked off a wide-ranging immigration crackdown, including moves to limit some forms of legal immigration.
The U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said in a post on his X account "These programs guarantee that recipients who come to work in America must provide significant benefit to our great country.
We are ending workers taking jobs away from hard working Americans and taking advantage of our economy and providing nothing in return." he said.
The number of foreign science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workers in the U.S. more than doubled between 2000 and 2019 to nearly 2.5 million, even as overall STEM employment only increased 44.5% during that time.
The move could add millions of dollars in costs for companies, which could hit smaller tech firms and start-ups particularly hard.
The H-1B program offers 65,000 visas annually to employers bringing in temporary foreign workers in specialized fields, with another 20,000 visas for workers with advanced degrees.
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