Washington. The US administration has imposed a fee of 1 million dollars i.e. about Rs 9 crore on Trump Gold Card Visa applications. A total of 20 American states, led by California, have filed a lawsuit in the court against this decision. These states say that this fee is illegal and will worsen the already existing shortage of doctors and teachers in hospitals, schools, universities and government services.
According to media reports, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said that this visa is for highly skilled professionals like doctors, nurses, engineers, scientists and teachers. When talent from all over the world comes to America, the entire country moves forward. Along with California, 20 big states including New York, Illinois, Washington, Massachusetts are involved in this lawsuit. States argue that earlier the fee for H-1B visa was between 1,000 to 7,500 dollars i.e. 1 to 6 lakh rupees, but suddenly increasing the fee without the approval of Parliament is illegal. Moreover, this fee is hundreds of times more than the actual cost of visa processing. He called it a violation of administrative procedure. Because such a big rule cannot be made without notice and public comment.
According to the report, states say that its biggest impact will be on government and non-profit institutions. Schools, universities and hospitals used to get exemption in visa, but now it will cost Rs 9 crore to bring each foreign teacher or doctor. Due to this, these institutions will either reduce services or cut money from other important schemes. According to the recent report of the US Education Department, about 75 percent of the district schools in America are not able to get teachers this year. There is a huge shortage especially of special education, science and bilingual teachers.
In the health sector, about 17,000 visas were given to doctors and nurses in 2024. The US could face a shortage of 86,000 doctors by 2036, which is already acute in rural and poor areas. The US government has been justifying the increase in visa fees. The White House says this step will prevent abuse of the visa program. This will also protect the wages and jobs of American citizens. On the contrary, critics say that it will harm the American economy. This will affect more than 70 percent of the professionals coming from countries like India.
According to experts, professionals can now go to countries like Canada, Australia or Europe. Along with this, the Trump administration is asking for the last 5 years of social media records of visa applicants. This will make the investigation more strict. Overall, it will become more expensive and more difficult than ever for skilled foreign workers to move to America. US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced the start of the application process for the Trump Gold Card. The cost of the card is 1 million dollars i.e. around Rs 9 crore. However, the companies will have to pay $2 million for the card. Trump had announced to start the ‘Gold Card’ visa program in February this year.
