TechCabal reported that non-immigrant visa issuances to the United States contracted sharply in the first five months of fiscal 2026, with H-1B entries down 52% and visa issuances to Nigerians collapsing 86.7%, citing US Department of State data.
The analysis, published on September 26, said total non-immigrant visa issuances fell by about one million year-on-year over the five-month window covering October 2025 to February 2026. TechCabal attributed the decline in part to a US administration measure that imposes a $100,000 surcharge on certain H-1B petitions.
TechCabal said President Donald Trump extended the $100,000 H-1B fee for another year, keeping the surcharge active through September 2027. The outlet added that the Department of Homeland Security had a separate proposed rule raising the fee to $103,265 and that the DHS public comment window for that proposal closed on September 24.
According to the TechCabal write-up of State Department datasets, H-1B issuances fell from 115,164 in the October 2024 through February 2025 period to 55,057 in the same months of FY2026. The report said that, against FY2023, the comparable decline was 55%.
TechCabal reported country-level shifts as well. It said India, which accounts for the largest share of H-1B issuances globally, saw its H-1B numbers fall from 79,395 in the first five months of FY2025 to 30,593 in FY2026, a 61.5% drop. The outlet added that African issuances were halved overall and that Nigerian visa issuances collapsed by 86.7% in the same period.
The analysis examined whether foreign professionals were switching to other visa categories after the surcharge. TechCabal reported that nearly all major non-immigrant visa classes also declined during the period it reviewed. The only category that recorded net growth was E-1/E-2 treaty trader and investor visas, which rose by 406, from 22,225 to 22,631.
Other categories, the report said, showed falls: O-1 extraordinary ability visas declined 10.5% (from 8,911 to 7,971), F-1 student visas dropped 44.7% (from 79,660 to 44,027), J-1 exchange visas fell 10.8%, L-1/L-2 intracompany transferees decreased 14.6%, and H-4 dependent visas were down 54.8%.
TechCabal framed the policy as a dual approach by the administration. It said the $100,000 offshore surcharge targets professionals applying from abroad, while the broader DHS proposal would extend a high fee to all cap-subject H-1B petitions, including in-country adjustments. The outlet reported the administration’s stated rationale was to curb visa abuse and protect jobs for US citizens.
The TechCabal piece said its conclusions were drawn from State Department immigration datasets covering fiscal years 2023 through 2026.
Featured image: Diliff via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.5.
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