Nvidia to keep sponsoring H-1B visas despite crackdown: Report

Washington, Oct 8 (IANS) Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has reportedly assured his staff that his company will continue to sponsor H-1B visas and cover all the costs associated with the applications.

A report by Business Insider cited Huang, who wrote in a note to employees, “As one of many immigrants at Nvidia, I know that the opportunities we’ve found in America have profoundly shaped our lives,” adding that “the miracle of Nvidia — built by all of you, and by brilliant colleagues around the world — would not be possible without immigration.”

The article quotes Huang as saying that "legal immigration remains essential to ensuring the US continues to lead in technology and ideas," and that the Trump administration's "recent changes reaffirm this.

“At NVIDIA, we built our company with extraordinary people from around the world, and we will continue to sponsor H-1B applicants and cover all associated fees. If you have any questions about H-1B visas, please reach out to NVIDIA-Immigration.”

On September 19, US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation to significantly curtail the H-1B visa programme and imposed a hefty $100,000 application fee.

While signing the proclamation, Trump had said the “incentive is to hire American workers.”

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had also defended the move, saying the policy would discourage companies from hiring foreign workers.

“So the whole idea is, no more will these big tech companies or other big companies train foreign workers. They have to pay the government $100,000, then they have to pay the employee. So, it's just not economic.

Earlier this month, a group of unions, education professionals and religious bodies sued the Trump administration over the H-1B visa move in the Northern District of California, calling the fee “unprecedented, unjustified and unlawful.”

The complaint said that “the President has no authority to unilaterally alter the comprehensive statutory scheme created by Congress” and the option of exceptions “opens the door to selective enforcement and corruption.”

--IANS

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