How Trump’s visa crackdown could still impact Tennessee, despite new exceptions

When news broke last month of a new, $100,000-dollar price tag for H-1B visa applications, Nashville immigration attorney Doug Russo was just about to head home for the weekend. Instead, he read the proclamation carefully and started reaching out to his clients to update them. As part of his work at Rose Immigration Law Firm, Russo represents several specialized foreign workers, like engineers or healthcare professionals, that hold H-1B visas.

When he called, he found one of his clients had just boarded a plane headed to India. President Donald Trump’s move to change the visas would’ve added a couple zeroes to the cost of his return trip.

He wasn’t alone; visa holders who were traveling outside of the United States suddenly weren’t sure if they would be able to re-enter the country without paying the six-figure fee. Some were able to cancel their travel plans, but for Russo’s client, it was too late.

“It was mass chaos,” Russo said. 

But now a lawsuit from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has triggered a change in the policy.

On Monday, the administration clarified that this fee would only apply to new applicants who are not yet in the United States, and not to existing visa holders applying for extensions or a change of status. 

That’s good news for Russo’s clients, who are already living and working in Tennessee, but, he said, this policy change could effectively spell the end of this visa program. 

“I don’t expect any employer to pay $100,000 to hire a foreign national H-1B worker. It’s basically a complete bar of hiring H-1B workers who are outside of the United States,” he said. 

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce agrees. The chamber’s Executive Vice President, Neil Bradley, said in a press release that the move will make it “cost-prohibitive” for U.S. employers to use the H-1B program, which “was created by created by Congress expressly to ensure that American businesses of all sizes can access the global talent they need to grow their operations here in the U.S.” 

“The new $100,000 visa fee will make it cost-prohibitive for U.S. employers, especially start-ups and small and midsize businesses, to utilize the H-1B program, which was created by Congress expressly to ensure that American businesses of all sizes can access the global talent they need to grow their operations here in the U.S.,” said Executive Vice President Neil Bradley in a press release. 

Some of the top employers sponsoring H-1B workers in Tennessee are healthcare companies, hospitals and research facilities, including St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and UT-Battelle, which manages the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Last year, Tennessee became the first state to allow doctors from other countries to work without repeating their residency training in the U.S. The law was introduced as a solution to the shortage of healthcare workers, particularly in medically-underserved rural areas. 

However the real targets of this new application fee are tech companies, which make up the overwhelming majority of top H-1B recipients nationally. That includes companies like Oracle, which is building its new global headquarters in the East Bank, and Amazon, which has recently expanded its presence in Nashville.

The president does have significant power over who is allowed to enter the country, as evidenced by the “travel bans” that Trump implemented during his first term. However, even with the new exceptions, Russo said he is skeptical that the courts will decide in favor of this new six-figure fee.