PROVIDENCE – President Donald Trump’s executive order to impose a $100,000 application fee for a new H-1B visa could affect CVS Health Corp. and other Rhode Island businesses.
Beginning Sept. 21, all new H-1B visa applicants and those outside the U.S. must pay a $100,000 application fee, according to the executive order signed on Sept. 19.
H-1B visa holders are foreign workers granted temporary U.S. permission to work in specialized occupations that require specialized knowledge, such as technology, engineering, or healthcare.
However, the federal government expressed concerns that the H-1B visa program has been exploited, contributing to a sharp rise in foreign science, technology, engineering and mathematics workers.
“The number of foreign STEM workers in the United States has more than doubled between 2000 and 2019, increasing from 1.2 million to almost 2.5 million, while overall STEM employment has only increased 44.5% during that time," the executive order stated. "Among computer and math occupations, the foreign share of the workforce grew from 17.7% in 2000 to 26.1% in 2019. And the key facilitator for this influx of foreign STEM labor has been the abuse of the H-1B visa.”
As of June 30, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has approved 1,552 H-1B visa holders in Rhode Island, 976 of which are employed by CVS and its affiliates according to U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services’ data.
A total of 100 Rhode Island businesses currently employ H-1B visa holders, according to immigration employment data.
While current H-1B holders are exempt from the new fee, the current figures illustrate how heavily major Rhode Island employers rely on foreign skilled workers.
Of the CVS-affiliated companies employing H-1B visa holders, Caremark leads with 274, followed by Aetna [236], CVS Pharmacy [234], CVS Shared Resources [200], ProCare Pharmacy [16], Signify Health [7], Oak Street Health [6], and WellPartners [3].
Since announcing the decision Sept. 19, the White House has tried to reassure jittery companies that the fee does not apply to existing visa holders and that their H-1B employees traveling abroad will not be stranded, unable to re-enter the United States without coming up with $100,000. But many companies remain confused about the new policy.
CVS Health spokesperson Ethan Slavin said the company is “currently evaluating the executive action and its potential impact on our workforce and operations” in light of the new executive order.
Other Rhode Island companies with notable amounts of H-1B visa holders include:
- Citizens Financial Group Inc. 131
- Brown University 64
- Medidata Solutions Inc. 47
- Factory Mutual Insurance Co. 31
- Lifespan Physician Group Inc. 25
Citizen's Financial Group did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Matthew McNulty is a PBN staff writer. He can be reached at McNulty@PBN.com or on X at @MattMcNultyNYC.
