Just as India was grappling with the H-1B visa fee hike, United States Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has now indicated that the H-1B visa process will undergo a overhaul before February 2026, when the newly announced fee of USD 100,000 (over ₹ 88 lakh) takes effect. Declaring the “a significant number of changes”, Lutnik also criticised the notion of “inexpensive” tech consultants entering the United States with their families, calling it “just wrong.”

He said that the incoming reforms in the H-1B visa system would tighten it well ahead of the steep fee hike.

‘Real thoughtful change’

In an interview recently, Howard Lutnick had mentioned that the process goes into effect in February 2026 and there are going to a significant number of changes. “This procedure and process goes into

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