JNN 25 August 2026, Washington: The Trump administration is actively preparing to revoke the B1 and B2 visas of up to 200,000 asylum seekers, while concurrently proposing a permanent six-figure H-1B visa fee of $103,265—not $200,000. These aggressive policy changes, announced by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the State Department, represent a massive escalation in the administration’s crackdown on both temporary visitor routes and high-skilled legal immigration.
The Trump administration is preparing to revoke the business and tourism visas of up to 200,000 foreigners who have applied for or are currently seeking asylum status in the United States. If it happens, the move would be the largest single mass revocation of visas in U.S. history and would likely face legal challenges
The State Department is coordinating with the DHS to target foreigners who entered the U.S. on short-term business or tourist visas and subsequently filed for asylum.
The measure affects up to 200,000 foreign nationals who received B1 or B2 visas between 2016 and 2026.
“We are coordinating with DHS to identify and revoke the nonimmigrant visas of foreigners who have come to the United States claiming to be short-term visitors, but then file for asylum to stay here permanently,” said State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott.
According to The Guardian, the revocations will not trigger immediate deportations.
Pending asylum cases will remain active, but applicants will lose their official status as valid business or tourism travelers.
Administration officials state that tourist visas are being heavily abused as a loophole to bypass legal immigration channels.
The Six-Figure H-1B Visa Fee Proposal
The administration has officially published a draft rule in the Federal Register to heavily penalize companies hiring highly skilled foreign labor.
The fee, first temporarily imposed by Trump last year, dramatically raises the cost of visas that are heavily relied on in the tech, education and research sectors.
The proposed permanent fee is $103,265 per new petition.
The fee applies to all new applications bound to the annual statutory lottery cap, including individuals already residing within the U.S.
According to reports by the Wall Street Journal, hospitals, universities, research institutions, and non-profits are entirely exempt.
This rule follows a federal judge’s decision that struck down a previous temporary $100,000 fee as an unauthorized tax. The administration is attempting to make the fee permanent via formal regulatory processes to bypass previous court blocks.
The H-1B program allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers with training in specialty fields and offers 65,000 visas annually, with another 20,000 for workers with advanced degrees, approved for three to six years. Those visas typically came with fees between $2,000 and $5,000 before Trump’s order.
The fee would not apply to visas granted to foreign citizens already in the United States on student visas, who make up a large share of new H-1B recipients, or to renewals of current visas.
The fee is being challenged by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the largest U.S. business lobbying group, Democratic-led states and a coalition of unions and employers. Those lawsuits could be amended to challenge the rule proposed this week once it is finalized.
The lawsuits claim that Trump’s power to restrict entry does not allow him to override the law that created the H-1B visa program. The states and groups that sued also say that the Homeland Security Department cannot impose fees, taxes or other means to generate revenue for the United States without permission from Congress
Amid Trump’s broader immigration crackdown, employers last year registered for about 344,000 H-1B visas, down more than 25% from 2024 and fewer than half of the 794,000 visas sought in 2023, according to data, from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The massive fee heavily penalizes the tech sector and primarily impacts Indian professionals, who historically make up over 70% of the H-1B pool.