The Trump administration is planning a massive change in its H-1B visa and green card programme, which will impact millions of foreign workers and students living in the US, including Indians. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has called the H1B visas a “scam” and said that they are going to change. “The current H1B visa system is a scam that lets foreign workers fill American job opportunities. Hiring American workers should be the priority of all great American businesses. Now is the time to hire American,” he said in a post on X.
Lutnick further shared while speaking to Fox News that he is part of the planned massive transformation of the H1B and green card programme. The Commerce Secretary pointed out the pay disparity between the average Americans and green card holders to justify the need for change.
The current H1B visa system is a scam that lets foreign workers fill American job opportunities.
— Howard Lutnick (@howardlutnick) August 26, 2025
Hiring American workers should be the priority of all great American businesses. Now is the time to hire American. pic.twitter.com/l27HEhF7C3
“I am involved in changing the H1B programme because that is terrible. We are going to change the green card. The average American makes $75,000 a year, and the average green card recipient $66,000. So, we are taking the bottom quartile. Why are we doing that?”
“That’s what Donald Trump is going to change. That’s the gold card that’s coming. We are going to start picking the best people to come into the country,” he said, adding that the US immigration policy would be reshaped to attract greater wealth and skill.
Will the H-1B lottery system be abolished?
It is likely that the H-1B lottery system will be abolished and a wage-based visa allocation, where higher-earning applicants are prioritised will be among the criteria in the changed visa process. US authorities had earlier approved a draft rule to this effect.
The move is likely to impact Indian workers and students living in the US, who have a consistent 70% share in the H-1B visa allocations over the years. Indian skilled workers received 72.3% of all H-1B visas issued between October 2022 to September 2023.
The US has already started tightening rules for foreign workers and students since Trump assumed office in January. The Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) Ombudsman, which helped immigrants with visa technicalities, was shut down.
H-1B holders are now required to provide personal details like biometric information and home addresses.
Trump’s ‘gold card’ being billed as potential alternative
US Vice President JD Vance’s remark that green cards don’t give “an individual an indefinite right to stay in the United States” has also raised questions on the future prospect of green cards, while Trump’s flagship “gold card” initiative has been billed as a potential alternative.
The gold card would offer permanent residency to foreigners who invest $5 million in the US, and as Lutnick claims that 250,000 people are supposedly waiting in line, it would potentially generate $1.25 trillion in revenue.
In January 2025, while addressing media at the White House, Trump emphasised his belief in the importance of attracting skilled individuals to the US and cited the H-1B visa programme as a key tool in this.
“You have to get the best people… We have to have the quality people coming in… By doing that, we’re expanding businesses, and that takes care of everybody… But what I really do feel is that we have to let really competent people, great people, come into our country, and we do that through the H-1B,” Trump said.