Tech companies like Amazon and Google could face increasing challenges if President Donald Trump moves forward with stricter controls on the H-1B visa program in the coming months. The U.S. government has already canceled hundreds of visas and temporarily halted green card processing, leading many firms to caution employees against international travel.
There has been ongoing bipartisan pressure to reform the H-1B system, with critics arguing that it displaces American workers. Within Trump’s administration, there are differing opinions—some officials advocate for tough restrictions, while others, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, support keeping the program intact. Trump’s stance has shifted over time. Although he once referred to the visa as a “cheap labor program” and promised to eliminate it during his 2016 campaign, his tone changed after winning the presidency in 2024. He has since praised the program, calling it valuable and acknowledging that he has used H-1B visas for his own businesses.
In January, the government introduced updates to the program aimed at streamlining and improving the approval process. Despite these changes, the annual cap for new H-1B visas remains at 85,000, distributed through a lottery system. Tech workers typically make up the majority of recipients, with Indian nationals accounting for around 72 percent of approvals each year.
USCIS data from 2024 shows Amazon at the top of the list, with 9,265 approved H-1B beneficiaries. The company’s various branches, such as Amazon Web Services and Amazon Development Center, also secured a significant number of visas. Infosys followed with 8,140 approvals. Other major players in the tech industry, including Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Apple, were also among the top ten recipients, each with thousands of approved applications.
