At least 200,000 people have opted to pay the $100,000 H-1B visa application fee to ensure faster processing of their applications, US Homeland Security secretary Markwayne Mullin said on Tuesday.
Mullin stated that paying the additional fee allowed applicants to have their applications processed in roughly 15 days.
He added that the remaining roughly 80,000 applicants had to go through a process lasting approximately 7.5 months to gain an exemption to the visa application fee.
The $100,000 H1B visa application fee was unveiled by the Trump administration in an attempt to make it uneconomical for US companies to hire foreign workers over US-born talent.
Over 70% of approved H1B visas go to professionals from India, and the number of H1B visas granted every year is capped at 65,000, with an additional 20,000 visas granted to those with advanced degrees.
