Tech Startups Say New H-1B Visas Rules Are Unaffordable

FRAMINGHAM, MASSACHUSETTS – OCTOBER 29: An empty desk in the Bridge12 lab on October 29, 2020 in Framingham, Massachusetts. Bridge12 Technologies with Jagadishwar Sirigiri develops terahertz (THz) technology for magnetic resonance. (Photo by David Degner/Wall Street Journal)

Published in the Wall Street Journal

New rules from the Trump administration restricting skilled foreign workers are unnerving U.S. startup hubs, as founders and investors say the limitations will hamstring their ability to recruit top-tier talent to grow their businesses.

Ethan Bossange, Process Engineer, and Maurcie Black, CEO, put on safety equipment when entering their lab on October 29, 2020 in Lowell, Massachusetts. Advanced Silicon Group is a medical technology startup developing sensors in the M2D2 incubator. (Photo by David Degner/Wall Street Journal)

Andres Canales, Senior Lab Engineer, holds a prototype sensor reader at Advanced Silicon Group a medical technology startup developing sensors in the M2D2 incubator.

Jagadishwar Sirigiri received approval for three H-1B applicants to join his Massachusetts-based company just weeks before the new wage rules took effect.

Renuka Rajkumar, who has an H-1B visa, works for Bridge12 Technologies in Framingham, Mass.