H-1B Visa fee increase: Samir Arora, founder of Helios Capital, part amusing boardroom scenario, suggests the best strategy

Samir Arora, the founder and fund manager of Helios Capital Management, took to X (formerly Twitter) to lay out a hypothetical boardroom debate on the best strategy an Indian company would adopt in response to an increased fee for H-1 visas. US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday, September 19 and set an annual fee of $ 100,000 for H-1B visas to encourage companies to hire US workers and at the same time allow the rental of highly competent foreign workers in specialized fields. The boardroom debate Arora said that if an Indian IT company were to discuss the impact of increased fee for H-1 visas, there could be ‘three possible proposals given by the directors at the council meeting:’ ‘Director 1: We should encourage customers to go more and give them more attractive prices to make the move. We can sacrifice some margins and increase more US tools to invest the interim. Productivity of our traditional services and also to invest in AI’s own basic development so that we sit at the table as the dominance of AI grows over time. Netizens respond to the post. Many X users responded to Arora’s post with their own opinions on the situation, while some also responded to the post with their own satirical actions, including memes and a continuation of the hypothetical boardroom meeting. A user said: “The $ 100,000 h – 1B fee will damage margins and create headaches in the short term, but it is also a wake -up call: time to invest in AI, improve efficiency, rent locally and strengthen India’s technical ecosystem. Another user reflects the statement and marks: “Visa-fee increase is short-term. Offshoring and local rental balance are the risk, but AI investment is the right long play.” In the continuation of Die Post, another user said: “Director two were fired. Director one was made salesman. Director three were rewarded with bonuses for the mere glamor.” One user connected the post to the Indian IT giant Infosys and said, “Hahaha …. beat two targets by 1 tweet … Have you ever invested in Infy?” To which Arora replies: “Almost my entire life- at least 25 years out of 30.” Arora’s use of the most suitable approach in another X -mail, Arora shared his thoughts on the best possible action during such a time. “I think the most logical and practical suggestion is from 1st director. Business to Indian it won’t be much affected, but the margins will reduce over time. It could take 1-2 years to get a new model in place,” he posted. He also noted that there should be no secondary consequences if the only result is that it is a lower profits for Indian businesses as they still want new business and remain competitive. It assumes that we ignore the unknown AI effect that is still a big overhang. ‘The biggest impact on individuals who are directly affected is living in uncertainty and waiting for what happens when their H1 needs to be renewed/expires, and students who study/plan to study in us, and there will be many individual sad stories (and hopefully some good stories about people who are forced to tackle new challenges and be above their wildest expectations), he noted. How does Hiked H-1B Visa Fee Indians affect? The H-1B program offers approximately 65,000 visas to employers who bring temporary foreign workers into specialized fields annually, and another 20,000 visas for workers with advanced degrees. In terms of the current system, it is a minimal fee to import the lottery for the visa, and if approved, the subsequent fees may amount to several thousand dollars, a coin report says earlier. India was the largest beneficiary of H-1B visas last year, and, according to government data, was 71% of approved beneficiaries, while China was a distant second at 11.7%.