In a major setback for Indian tech professionals working in the United States and top tech companies, US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation to significantly curtail the H-1B visa programme.

According to the proclamation, every application will now require a fee of $100,000 per year - an attempt to curtail the overuse of the visa programme and encourage hiring of domestic workers.

Signing the proclamation on Friday, at the White House, Trump said the “incentive is to hire American workers.”

“We need workers. We need great workers, and this pretty much ensures that,” Trump added.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also defended the move, saying the policy would discourage companies from hiring foreign workers.

“So, the whole idea is, no more will these big tech companies or oth

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