H-1B Visa Fee Hike: Impact on US Teacher Shortage?

Of the Colorado area’s 1,500 instructors, she claimed, concerning 40 are international teachers from a wide range of countries consisting of the Philippines, Spain, Portugal, Mexico and India. A lot of them currently rely upon J-1 visas, an extra temporary program that the Trump administration has actually likewise placed under boosted analysis in current months.

H-1B Visa Fee Impact on School Districts

The fact of this new H-1B visa fee for Harrison College District 2 is that “there’s no chance that we could afford” it, Birhanzel claimed. And without experienced international educators, she said, classroom instruction will “definitely” feel an adverse influence.

DHS Proposal for H-1B Visa Selection

Along with the $100,000 cost, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security proposed a guideline that would update just how H-1B visa petitions are selected. Under the proposition, DHS would certainly give requests with higher-paying wage offers from employers a greater number of access into the firm’s “lottery” than it would certainly those who obtain lower-paying offers. The public comment duration for the proposal upright Nov. 24.

Before Trump’s proclamation, the H-1B visa cost could be approximately about $7,300 per candidate, relying on their employer. For districts and cap exempt H-1B petitioners that was normally even lower, Maiona stated.

“Inevitably, focusing on in the previously explained fashion would incentivize companies to provide greater salaries or greater knowledgeable settings to H-1B workers and disincentivize the existing extensive use the H-1B program to fill reduced paid or lower skilled placements without properly preventing recipients with reduced wage degrees or beginning settings,” DHS created in the proposition.

When it comes to the DHS recommended regulation, it would be hard for school districts to employ H-1B educators if the pay scale utilized by the agency contrasted offers throughout all sectors, Maiona claimed. But if DHS looks at pay ranges within markets, after that just the greatest paid instructors would certainly get priority for H-1B visas. That will be something to look out for during the rulemaking process, he said.

When asked about the fee’s prospective impacts on teacher shortages, Taylor Rogers, a White House agent, told K-12 Dive in an emailed statement that “President Trump promised to place American employees first, and this realistic activity does simply that by inhibiting business from spamming the system and driving down American earnings.”

There could be exemptions to the $100,000 cost considered that Trump’s pronouncement has some phrasing suggesting so, yet that would be at DHS’ discernment, Maiona said. In the initial Trump administration, Maiona kept in mind that there was a comparable “national interest” exception for some visa categories where petitioners needed to explain why they’re a benefit to the business.

Potential Exemptions and Alternative Plans

A White Home official told K-12 Dive on Tuesday that the $100,000 H-1B visa repayment applies to any type of cap excluded H-1B request. That means the cost still puts on educators and institution areas, which have frequently been considered as cap exemptions– though it is usually specified for greater ed organizations, research nonprofits and federal government research organizations, said Matthew Maiona, an immigration attorney at Boston-based law practice Maiona Ward.

President Donald Trump indications an executive order in the Oval Workplace at the White Residence on Sept. 19, 2025, in Washington, D.C. One of the Sept. 19 orders positioned a $100,000 cost on new H-1B visa petitions.
Andrew Harnik by means of Getty Images

Still, he suggested that areas working with international educators must prepare for the worst-case circumstance and have alternative plans in case these H-1B plans solidify in the next couple of months. If school leaders are aiming to employ an H-1B educator, he stated, they need to offer their district’s lawful team adequate time to look and to look for any kind of possible exemptions.

Skills and Qualifications for H-1B Educators

To operate in the united state on an H-1B visa, it prevails technique among sponsorship programs working with areas to require educators to have five years of training experience and a master’s degree, Birhanzel claimed. They are typically hired by districts to load high-need functions in science, mathematics and special education and learning, as holds true for Harrison Institution District 2, she added.

In enhancement to the $100,000 cost, the United state Department of Homeland Safety proposed a regulation that would upgrade just how H-1B visa petitions are picked. Under the proposition, DHS would provide requests with higher-paying wage offers from employers a better number of access into the company’s “lottery” than it would certainly those who get lower-paying offers. In the instance of the DHS suggested rule, it would be challenging for institution areas to work with H-1B instructors if the pay range utilized by the company contrasted deals throughout all sectors, Maiona stated. If DHS looks at pay scales within markets, then simply the highest possible paid teachers would certainly get top priority for H-1B visas. That will be something to see out for during the rulemaking procedure, he claimed.

As government adjustments to H-1B visas play out in the coming months, area leaders shouldn’t worry till the last DHS rule is published, and they must wait to see exactly how any feasible claims challenging the $100,000 cost might clean, Maiona claimed.

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“When we have an education and learning instructor scarcity and one of those courses is being entirely shut down, that’s mosting likely to produce a bigger issue in school areas,” she stated. “Training placements will go unfilled and especially in some of those high-skilled areas such as mathematics, scientific research and special education and learning.”