MIT could pay over $10 million for H-1B visa sponsorships under new Trump order

The Tech ^ | Vivian Hir

[marcusmaximus]

On Friday, Sept. 19, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation stating that new H-1B visa petitions submitted on Sept. 21 or after will require a $100,000 payment. This change would cause MIT to pay over $10 million every year for H-1B visa sponsorships.

-snip-

Although the majority of H-1B workers hold a computer-related job (65% in 2023), many universities in the U.S. issue H-1B visas for other international employees, including postdoctoral scholars, researchers, and professors. According to Director of Media Relations Kimberly Allen, MIT submitted 118, 102, and 103 new H1-B visa petitions in 2024, 2023, and 2022, respectively. Under the new order, if MIT plans to sponsor more than 100 H-1B visas each year, its fees would amount to over $10 million. Allen answered on behalf of the International Scholars Office (ISchO) for The Tech’s request for comment.

The ISchO has already reached out to community members potentially affected by the presidential proclamation. Initially, the ISchO recommended that H-1B workers outside the U.S. immediately return to the U.S. by Sept. 20 before the proclamation goes into effect.

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TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: h1b; india; mit

[marcusmaximus]

Lock them out! Lock them out!

[glorgau]

Good news

[Tell It Right]

MIT will pay it. Leftism is part of the religion of the

Millitant
Istitute of
Totalitarianism

[Organic Panic]

Why do they need H1-b visas rather than student visas?

And being that they would be willing to cover the costs (COULD. There’s that word again) how much money are they saving hiring third world workers vs American citizens when $100,000 is worth it???

[packrat35]

$10 million is rookie numbers, let’s get it up to $100 million.

[rdcbn1]

10 million dollars is a drop in the bucket for MIT

At least MIT is bringing in the kind of talent H1B was intended for

[Brian Griffin]

Under my suggested H-1B system, MIT would pay
1. $2,000 as a one-time bid fee,
2. $5,000 as a one-time award fee,
3. an annual inverse salary fee of 10% of the salary amount less than $200,000 plus 20% of the salary amount less than $120,000 [$7,000 a year for a $130,000/year professor], plus
4. a payroll health coverage cost savings fee of $8 per week per year of age under age 65 [$12,480/year for a 35-year-old].

[blackdog]

Glorious.

[PAR35]

If they are legitimate professors or researchers, a “J” visa looks more appropriate than an H-1B

“Professor, scholar, teacher (exchange visitor)”

[central_va]

Stop. H-1b is unamerican and f’g evil.

[Brian Griffin]

I think the $8/week is too high. It should probably be around $6.

[central_va]

How about we kill this awful visa scam and hire Americans.

[Brian Griffin]

WIKI

A J-1 visa is a non-immigrant visa issued by the United States to research scholars, professors and exchange visitors participating in programs that promote cultural exchange, especially to obtain medical or business training within the U.S. All applicants must meet eligibility criteria, English language requirements, and be sponsored either by a university, private sector or government program. J-1 visa holders must usually return home for two years following visa expiration so they impart cultural knowledge learned in the United States. In 2022, the State Department issued 284,486 J-1 visas, with a visa approval rate of 88.8%. Between 2001 and 2021, there were 6,178,355 J-1 visas issued by the State Department. In 2023, there were 4,209 J-1 visa sponsors. Certain J-1 categories saw increased percentage increase in visas between 2021 and 2022. For example, The J-1 Visa for Summer Work/Travel increased 134% from 39,647 to 92,619. J-1 Teachers increased 467% from 719 to 4,076. Interns increased 212% from 5,402 to 16,833.

J-1 category
Length of stay
Sponsors
2022 numbers

Student, secondary school One to two academic semesters 70 18,921

College student Duration of study 816 36,532

Research scholar Three weeks to five years 868 24,331

Short-term scholar Six months 847 12,452

Summer Work/Travel Four months 37 92,619

more at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J-1_visa

[blackdog]

The best engineer I ever worked for was a 50 year old farmer that never finished the 8th grade. His day job was as the head engineer at a major meats processing plant. He had a staff of six accredited engineers that couldn't tie his shoes. He mentored and developed them very effectively. He would do the farm work in evenings and night, and ran the facility and its associated wastewater, ammonia sourced refrigeration building, four high voltage switch yards, all plant machinery and computer systems.

Several times I called him at midnight kind of hours asking him for advice. He always knew the root cause of my crisis.

He had no time for a college education. Several times the corporate headquarters came after him for not having a degree. The facility plant managers immediately shut that down.

[antidemoncrat]

So why doesn’t MIT search for the brightest American students and admit them at a lower cost instead of giving that money to foreign students who will probably turn against the US once they graduate.

[marcusmaximus]

Agree.

[Dr. Franklin]

So MIT doesn’t employ its own students and grads for these jobs. So the taxpayers had to bail out their student loan debt. Does anyone else see a connection here?

[Brian Griffin]

“How about we kill this awful visa scam and hire Americans.”

There is always going to be some need for foreign STEM people.

My fees and 20% minimum above the going rate salary requirement would make abuse impractical.

You know my plan as you have complained about seeing it repeatedly, so if you would like to suggest additions or deletions, please do so.

Justified anger at a long trail of abuses will not eliminate a need to import some workers with rare skills.

Computer skills are not generally rare.

[central_va]

“There is always going to be some need for foreign STEM people.“

Wrong. An absolute fallacy. So f that and your silly posts.

[grey_whiskers]

How about NO H1-Bs, troll.