Summary:
- Metaview CTO Shahriar Tajbakhsh’s H-1B fee joke went viral.
- Some U.S. companies pulling back from foreign hiring as H-1B costs rise.
- Indians account for over 70 percent of H-1B approvals in 2024.
LONDON-BORN TECH FOUNDER Shahriar Tajbakhsh’s take on President Donald Trump’s proposed $100,000 H-1B visa fee is going viral. He dismissed concerns over the fee, joking that he would pay the amount “per day” if needed.
Tajbakhsh, chief technology officer and co-founder of Metaview AI, emerged as an unlikely figure in the debate over America’s proposed $100,000 annual H-1B visa fee. In September, Tajbakhsh posted on LinkedIn and X that Metaview was hiring H-1B candidates for multiple roles.
“If you're on an H-1B visa and your company doesn't value you enough to pay the $100k, check out to see if any of our roles might be a fit,” he said, according to Business Standard. “Instead, come work with the Metaview, right here in San Francisco, where $100,000 is a rounding error compared to the value each member of our team creates.”
When one X user suggested that the fee should be applied annually, Tajbakhsh replied: “Make it per day. I’ll set up a recurring payment.” The company also placed advertisements in India carrying the line: “Yes, we still sponsor H-1Bs. $100K won’t stop us.”
The online discussion resurfaced last week after people entering the Delhi metro station near IIT Delhi noticed large banners from an AI recruitment firm. According to Business Standard, the banners carried lines such as “We still sponsor H-1Bs” and “$100K isn’t going to stop us from hiring the best.”
Earlier this month, Tesla chief Elon Musk praised the contribution of Indian professionals to the US. He addressed the subject in an interview with entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath on the podcast “People by WTF.”
“America has benefited immensely from talented Indians who have come to America,” Musk said. “America has been an immense beneficiary of talent from India.”
Indians dominated the H-1B category, accounting for more than 70 percent of approvals in 2024, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. But recently, the National Foundation for American Policy analysis by USCIS reported that Indian-based IT companies have experienced a 70 percent decline in H-1B visa approvals for initial employment between FY2015 and FY2025.
Metaview, which builds software to automate job interviews, has doubled down on recruitment in India—the largest H-1B talent market—even as many U.S. companies reconsider foreign hiring under political pressure and rising sponsorship costs.
“The only way to build anything meaningful that changes people’s lives is to have a world-class team — there’s no shortcut around that,” Tajbakhsh said. “Trying to save money on talent is the most irresponsible thing a founder could possibly do.”
Recently, a U.S. lawmaker planned to introduce a bill to end the H-1B visa program and its pathway to citizenship.
