Nvidia to keep sponsoring H-1B visas despite $100,000 fee, Jensen Huang tells employees: Report

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang

Chipmaker Nvidia will continue backing foreign talent despite new U.S. visa restrictions. According to Business Insider, CEO Jensen Huang has assured employees that the company will keep sponsoring H-1B visas and will also bear the entire cost of the process, even after U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent executive order that slapped a hefty $100,000 fee on each new H-1B application.

The order, issued last month, has unsettled thousands of skilled professionals, many of whom are from India and China, who depend on the H-1B programme to work in the United States. The new rule affects only new applicants, not those who already hold visas or submitted their paperwork before September 21, as per Business Insider.

In his message to staff, Huang reportedly sought to calm fears within Nvidia. “As one of many immigrants at Nvidia, I know that the opportunities we’ve found in America have profoundly shaped our lives,” he wrote, according to Business Insider. Huang added, “And the miracle of Nvidia -- built by all of you, and by brilliant colleagues around the world — would not be possible without immigration.”

Business Insider cited that his statement came after widespread anxiety spread among tech employees following the order. Nvidia, like much of the tech and semiconductor industry, relies heavily on skilled workers from abroad. Huang has often highlighted that “about half the AI researchers in the world are Chinese.”

“Legal immigration remains essential to ensuring the U.S. continues to lead in technology and ideas,” Huang noted, according to the report. He also mentioned that the administration’s “recent changes reaffirm this.” Nvidia declined to comment when approached by Reuters, the report added.

Meanwhile, U.S. lawmakers recently questioned leading American tech companies about their heavy use of foreign workers on H-1B visas, despite ongoing job cuts domestically. California -- home to Silicon Valley and companies such as Nvidia -- has consistently topped the list for the most visa applications filed each year since 2018, USCIS data shows.

With inputs from Reuters