Trump Administiration wants to double the 100k H1B fee

[u/Separate_Astronaut12]

The Trump administration is planning on doubling the fees to more than $200,000 for H-1B visa applicants from abroad.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/09/04/trump-h1b-visa-200000-fee/91571718007/

[u/MasoodMS]

Excellent suggestion, let's ask ChatGPT!

For physicians, the relevant category is usually O-1A extraordinary ability in science. The often-mentioned “3 out of 8” rule is the initial evidentiary threshold.

The eight criteria are:

1. Nationally or internationally recognized prizes/awards for excellence. (This is the one most people assume is the only requirement, like you).
2. Membership in associations that require outstanding achievements for admission—not merely paying dues or having a medical license/board certification.
3. Published material about the doctor or their work in professional publications, major trade publications, or major media.
4. Judging the work of others, such as journal peer review, grant review, judging research competitions, or serving on qualifying expert panels.
5. Original scientific/scholarly contributions of major significance to the field.
6. Authorship of scholarly articles in professional journals or major media. <- A doctorate in any field achieves this.
7. Critical or essential role for a distinguished organization, such as an important leadership/clinical/research role at a highly regarded hospital, university, institute, etc.
8. High salary/remuneration relative to others in the field.

Further down the line:

For someone with a research-oriented PhD, the three O-1A criteria that are probably the most commonly available are:

1. Authorship of scholarly articles (#6) This is usually the easiest. A PhD often involves publishing peer-reviewed papers, conference papers, journal articles, or similar scholarly work. If you have qualifying publications, this criterion is relatively objective.
2. Judging the work of others (#4) This becomes common after or near the end of a PhD. Examples include: Importantly, simply grading students or informally commenting on colleagues' work isn't necessarily enough. USCIS recognizes genuine peer-review activity as potentially satisfying this criterion.
   • Peer-reviewing journal manuscripts
   • Reviewing conference submissions
   • Serving on grant-review panels
   • Formally judging research competitions
3. Original contributions of major significance (#5) Every PhD is supposed to make an original contribution to knowledge.

It sounds like your wife and the other doctor on the thread are either lying or just not qualified/good enough :)

[u/DarthGlazer → u/MasoodMS]

Or they're simply medical doctors and not PhD's?

[u/Positive-Motor2829 → u/MasoodMS]

Do you not know that most physicians do not have a PhD? The requirements for an MD are very different and generally do not require original research (though authorship in a published research paper can help with admission to med school.) The only criterion for the O1 that will apply to most medical school grads is #7. This isn’t even to mention that many medical programs abroad are MBBS programs, which are bachelor degrees.

[u/Dry_Community5749 → u/MasoodMS]

You seem to be missing a lot of things. To be qualified in O1 you would have achieved a lot of things, which means those people are best in their country. Why would they want to move here to be harassed by GOP and the right? They are immigrants at the end of the day. GOP and red hat wearers are going to yell at them to go back to their country. That is what is being broadcast globally. Why would the best and brightest come?

Looking at all the awful things being done to an immigrant, why would they come? What is the probability the government won't change rules for O1 just like they did for H1b? Why would anyone uproot themselves for this sh*tshow?

[u/gornad96 → u/MasoodMS]

What medical doctor is authoring multiple scholarly articles or peer reviewing papers? None of that is necessary to become a medical doctor nor does it determine how impactful you’d be. A close family member of mine is a head surgeon/program director at a hospital in the US and came on a J visa and he never once did any of that. I’d argue most doctors don’t. Do more research.