By Ayomide Otitoju
Doctors could be excluded from the new $100,000 application fee for high-skilled H-1B visas introduced by the Trump administration, Bloomberg has reported.
According to an executive order released on Friday, the fee may be waived if the Secretary of Homeland Security determines that hiring such workers, either individually or within certain industries, is “in the national interest.”
White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers, in an email cited by Bloomberg on Monday, clarified that the proclamation allows for exemptions, which could extend to physicians and medical residents.
The H-1B visa programme has long served as a pathway for skilled foreign professionals, including many Nigerians, to enter the U.S. workforce and establish long-term careers. Data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services shows that technology, education, and medicine remain among the top employment sectors for H-1B holders.
Major companies continue to benefit from the programme, with Amazon securing over 10,000 H-1B visas in the first half of 2025, while Microsoft and Meta each received more than 5,000 approvals.
The annual quota allows for 65,000 visas, with an additional 20,000 reserved for applicants holding advanced degrees. Nigeria ranks 11th globally as a source of skilled professionals to the U.S., and first in Africa.
