A CIO primer on U.S. work visas

Steven

A CIO primer on U.S. work visas

Summary

The U.S. government’s new $100,000 filing fee for new H-1B petitions (announced September 2025) dramatically raises the cost of sponsoring outside hires and forces CIOs and tech leaders to rethink sourcing international tech talent. This primer outlines the main alternative visa options (O-1, L-1, TN, EB-1, F-1 OPT), the trade-offs for each, strategic considerations for workforce planning, and immediate actions CIOs should take to reduce risk and preserve access to global skills.

Key Points

  • The H-1B filing fee has jumped to $100,000 for new petitions filed from outside the U.S., making H-1B sponsorship far less accessible for many employers.
  • Alternative visas can preserve access to talent: O-1 (extraordinary ability), L-1 (intra-company transfers), TN (Canada/Mexico), EB-1 (green card for extraordinary ability/execs/researchers), and F-1 OPT (recent graduates).
  • Each alternative has distinct costs, eligibility rules and limits (e.g., O-1 needs strong evidence; TN is limited to Canadians/Mexicans; EB-1 is for senior/high-achieving hires).
  • Strategic priorities for CIOs: prioritise mission-critical roles for costly sponsorship, exploit remote work and offshore talent, and centralise immigration tracking and automation.
  • Partnering early with trusted immigration counsel is essential to navigate complexity, avoid compliance missteps and identify creative pathways.
  • Practical actions include re-evaluating role priorities, investing in immigration-tracking tools, and expanding hiring pipelines (STEM OPT graduates, intracompany moves, treaty nationals).
  • Compliance remains a core concern: meticulous record-keeping, I-9 accuracy and up-to-date processes reduce legal and operational risk.

Content summary

The article explains that the H-1B — long the default route for bringing highly skilled tech workers into the U.S. — is now much more expensive for new overseas hires because of the $100,000 filing fee. Employers should not assume the H-1B is their only option. The piece summarises five practical alternatives, listing typical government fees, pros and cons for each, and the circumstances where they are most useful.

It then moves to strategic recommendations: treat visa strategy as part of workforce planning; build ongoing relationships with immigration lawyers; prioritise visas for hard-to-fill or mission-critical roles; use remote work and offshore teams where appropriate; centralise visa data and automate workflows to reduce manual overhead; and ensure strict compliance practices.

Finally, the article provides an action checklist: involve counsel early in candidate reviews, broaden the mix of visa options rather than relying on pre-2025 approaches, and actively redesign hiring pipelines to avoid cutting off global talent entirely.

Context and relevance

For CIOs, HR leaders and hiring managers in tech-driven organisations, this is high-impact operational intelligence. The fee change materially alters hiring costs and talent strategy, particularly for firms that previously relied heavily on H-1B hires. It ties into wider trends — tougher immigration enforcement, policy shifts and legal challenges — that affect long-term workforce planning, total cost of employment and competitiveness for scarce technical skills.

Why should I read this?

Short version: if you hire tech talent from abroad, this matters now. The article cuts through the noise and lays out realistic alternatives, what they cost, and the immediate moves you should make. Saves you time — and a nasty surprise on your next hiring budget.

Author style

Punchy — the piece is concise and practical. If you run IT strategy or workforce planning, treat it as required reading: it flags a real cost shock and gives clear, actionable options to adapt fast.

Source

Source: https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/feature/A-CIO-primer-on-US-work-visas