Potential impact of $100K H-1B fee; NC tech expert weighs in: 'Having that workforce is critical'

WAKE COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- A new visa plan from the Trump Administration is creating uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. who are on H-1B visas.

The H-1B program essentially helps employers hire skilled tech workers from overseas. But the White House is upending the program with a $100,000 fee for new H-1B visas, in effect as of early Sunday.

"People have been importing talent for years and years. So the question is, where are you going to be able to find that talent?" John Pennett said.

Pennett leads the National Technology and Life Sciences Group at EisnerAmper LLP. As companies navigate the uncertainty, Pennett said the new plan could potentially have an impact here in the Triangle.

"The technology and innovation economy in North Carolina has been at the forefront for a long period of time," Pennett said.

He added that some of the impacts could be an increase in U.S. workers and companies building offshore facilities to help facilitate their workforce needs.

"People will have to react. They'll have to make the decisions that are easiest for them," Pennett said.

Companies, such as IBM, are on the list of employers who rely on H-1B's in North Carolina, according to government data.

However, according to an IBM spokesperson, "only a single-digit percentage of all IBM visa holders in the U.S. are located in North Carolina."

Meanwhile, universities such as Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State are on the list as well. Each university spokesperson told Eyewitness News they're monitoring the developments.

"Having the available workforce to be able to fuel these innovative ideas and the manufacturing that goes along with some of those innovative ideas, having that workforce is critical," Pennett said.

The White House said the fee is scheduled to expire after a year, but it could be extended if the government determines that it is in the interest of the United States to keep it.