With the H1B Visa fee hike, do you think companies will start preferring remote work with international employees instead of sponsoring visas?

Honestly, the H1B fee hike is just one factor. The bigger challenge is U.S. immigration uncertainty—long green card backlogs, political swings, and lack of clarity. Even without the fee hike, many companies are already adopting remote work. The hike just accelerates a trend that was happening anyway. I predict that in the next decade, we’ll see a hybrid approach: top executives and senior researchers brought physically to the U.S., while the bulk of engineering teams remain distributed worldwide.

I actually think remote work is a bit overhyped. Yes, it’s cheaper, but it creates fragmented cultures. Teams across time zones face burnout, communication breakdowns, and a lack of cohesion. If the U.S. makes visas more expensive, companies may reduce sponsorships but won’t fully abandon them. Instead, they might prioritize fewer, higher-value hires on H1Bs—people critical enough to justify the cost. So instead of outsourcing everything, the fee hike will just make companies more selective about who they sponsor.

Yes, absolutely. The pandemic normalized remote work, and companies realized that talent can contribute just as effectively from abroad. With higher visa fees, businesses—especially startups—will run the math: - Hire one engineer in Silicon Valley and pay six figures plus visa costs. - Or hire two equally skilled engineers abroad with no visa hassles. Remote collaboration tools like Slack, Zoom, and GitHub already bridge the gap. For cost-sensitive companies, this is a no-brainer. The only reason to still bring people physically to the U.S. is for proximity to clients, investors, or product teams. But unless face-to-face presence is crucial, the fee hike will accelerate the global remote workforce trend.

Yes, but with limits. Some work simply can’t be outsourced or done remotely, especially in industries requiring security clearances, sensitive data, or lab-based research. For example, biotech startups working with U.S. clinical trials need talent physically present. But for pure software development, design, and analytics, companies will definitely look at remote options before paying visa fees. So, the answer depends on the industry. In tech services, remote will likely replace many visas. In core innovation sectors, visas will still matter.

Companies will adapt differently. Some may shift to global development centers (e.g., Microsoft India, Google Poland). Others may hire contractors abroad for short-term needs. But many U.S.-based businesses still see immigration as a way to retain long-term talent and loyalty, something remote contracts can’t guarantee. In my view, the fee hike will create a two-tier system: - Startups → remote-first, avoid visas. - Giants → still bring talent in-house, absorb costs. This will deepen inequality in how different sizes of companies can access international talent.

Not necessarily. For large corporations, H1B fees are just a rounding error. They value having people in the same time zone, same office, and within reach of U.S. clients. For them, the collaborative culture outweighs the costs. Remote work is great, but it doesn’t fully replace in-person brainstorming, watercooler chats, or cross-team creativity. Many CEOs believe that the serendipity of physical presence drives innovation. So yes, smaller companies may choose remote hires instead of visas. But for Fortune 500 companies, the H1B pipeline will still remain a key part of their hiring strategy.