60% of Indian H-1B workers earned $100,000 or less in FY24, says report

The move has the potential to harm Indian workers the most as candidates from the South nation have a share of up to 72 percent in the total H-1B employee pool.

US President Donald Trump’s move to impose a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa applications could affect Indians significantly as 60 percent of the candidates from the South Asian country earned $100,000 or less annually in FY24, a report by The Hindu said on September 20.

Out of this, almost 12 percent of the workers earned less than $75,000 and 47 percent were in the $75,000 to $100,000 salary bracket, the report said, adding that 40 percent of the remaining Indian workers had a salary above $100,000.

However, 60 percent of the total non-Indian H-1B workers had salaries of more than $100,000 in FY24, the report said.

In addition, the report said that the median annual pay of Indian H-1B workers was at $95,000 in 2024, which was the lowest among all nationalities, the paper said.

The move has the potential to harm Indian workers the most as candidates from the South nation have a share of up to 72 percent in the total H-1B employee pool.

Under a Congressional-mandated cap, the United States can issue a maximum of 65,000 H-1B visas every year and another 20,000 to those who have obtained master's and higher degrees from the US. The current H1B visa fee ranges from about $2,000 to $5,000, depending on employer size and other costs.

The Indian government has advised all its Missions/ Posts to extend all possible help to Indian nationals who are travelling back to the US in the next 24 hours or so.

With agency inputs