US Immigration Changes
As you have likely heard in the news, some rather significant changes have recently been announced by the Administration.
“Gold Cards“
On September 19, 2025, President Trump and his Commerce Secretary, Mr. Lutnick, announced that so-called “Gold Cards” for immigration would be made available in the coming days. The cards are best understood to be a subset of the current employment-based visas in the first and second priority classes. In effect, applicants who make a “gift” of $1,000,000 ($2,000,000 if paid by a corporation on behalf of an individual) at the time of their applications will be deemed to be of exceptional business ability and national benefit (EB-1) and eligible of a national interest waiver (EB-2) to be able to access these visa categories, which, to this point, had been reserved for individuals assessed on separate criteria to meet these requirements. The Executive Order also directed the Commerce Secretary to consider whether this type of deemed eligibility should be extended to the investor class of visas available under the fifth preference (EB-5) program, which requires a minimum investment of $1,050,000 or $800,000 into a suitable business or regional center that is expected to create US jobs. The new treatments mark a definitive movement away from skills-based employment visas to visas that are more aligned with immigrants with wealth coming to the country. Given that the employment class visas are subject to annual numerical caps, critics of the announcement have expressed the concern that high-performance employees may be relegated to lower eligibility than those who can afford to make the cash “gift” to the US Treasury.
H-1B Changes
On the same day as the announcement of the Gold Card changes, the Administration announced the imposition of additional fees on temporary visas for highly skilled individuals under the H-1B program. Citing the notion that the program had been subject to historical abuse and that US companies were displacing US workers with the H-1B visa holders, President Trump and Secretary Lutnick announced that H-1B workers would have an additional $100,000 fee placed on their visa applications, ostensibly to ensure that US companies were only bringing in workers who were demonstrably more qualified than their American counterparts. After issues created, first, by the fact that the Executive Order was drafted as a “restriction on entry” for these individuals and not as a visa application fee, and, second, my Mr. Lutnick repeatedly indicating at the press availability that the $100,000 was an annual fee that would be required starting on September 21, 2025, companies were assured that the changes only affected applications received after that date, the fee was a one-time fee paid at the time of petitions being approved as a condition of entry for the new visa holders, and that current visa holders would be permitted re-entry to the US without the additional payment until their visas expired. The Executive Order also directed the Secretary of Labor to revisit the current prevailing wage determinations that are typically conducted by the Department for most employment-based visas to ensure that the proposed pay for these workers was not less than the comparable amount that would be paid to highly skilled, similarly qualified American workers for the same job.
Visa Integrity Fee
As part of the Trump Administration’s signature tax legislation, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (“OBBBA”), a new fee of “not less than” $250 is to be imposed on all non-immigrant US visa applications granted after October 1, 2025. The fee is intended as a refundable deposit, to be returned to the visa holders upon them complying with the terms of their visas and properly exiting the US within 5 days of the expiry of their visas. The fee is not charged to visitors from countries that are part of the Visa Waiver Program (the UK, Australia, and the EU, among other countries) or Canada (since Canadian generally do not require visas to travel to the US for less than 6 months at a time), but applicants for US visas for employment, education, and oversight of their US business investments should make separate enquiry whether the fee will apply to their situation, as generally individuals who obtain non-immigrant visas are subject to the fee. The OBBBA made the fee a variable one, meaning that it set the minimum amount at $250 and delegated authority for a higher fee to be charged as well as indexing the fee on an annual basis.
Alien Registration
On January 26, 2025, the White House announced that it expected strict compliance with the requirements of the Immigration and Nationality Act provisions regarding aliens in the US for more than 30 days having to register their presence with the Department of Homeland Security. As a result, Canadian snowbirds or anyone not holding permanent residence status in the US who intend to stay in the US for more than 30 days must ensure that they register with DHS within the first 30 day period following entry and carry their registration paperwork with them at all times while present in the US.
Potential Health Vetting
On November 6, 2025, the US State Department sent a directive to embassies and consulates around the world compelling officers to consider visa applicants’ health as part of the consideration whether to grant their applications. The cable notes that “certain medical conditions–including, but not limited to, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, cancers, diabetes, metabolic diseases, neurological diseases, and mental health conditions–can requires hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of care.” The announcement then goes on to mention conditions like obesity, stating that it can be connected to asthma, sleep apnea, and high blood pressure, and going on to say that “all of these can require expensive, long-term care. Does the applicant have adequate financial resources to cover the costs of such care over his entire expected lifespan without seeking public cash assistance or long-term institutionalization at government expense?” For non-immigrant visa holders, such as E, L, and TN/D visas, any health assessment is not likely to be overly intrusive given the temporary nature of the visas, but for those applying for visas with associated permanent residence, such as family or employment visas, time will tell whether full medical disclosure will be required in order to seek status in the US.