"The End of the H-1B Visa Pipeline: What Immigration Policy Means for U.S. Architecture," Oculus, Winter, 2026.
A virulently anti-immigrant federal government has imposed new fees and restrictions on H-1B visas and loans for architecture degrees. As a result, access to education and opportunity in the U.S. and the ability of U.S. offices to recruit talented designers are expected to be severely impacted.
The Trump Administration’s new H-1B visa policy practically eliminates the possibility for U.S. architecture offices to hire new noncitizens or non-green-card-holder employees. If not revised, the policy will effectively eliminate a professional pathway for foreign architects and foreign architecture students studying in the U.S. About 9% of the 442,425 H-1B visas approved in 2024—including 141,207 new applications, the rest being renewals—were held by architecture and engineering professionals. (Tech industry workers held 65%.) Combined with other barriers to entry imposed by the U.S. government and its threatening policies toward immigrants and foreigners in general, the policy is already having a radical effect on U.S. architecture offices and architecture schools in terms of hiring and enrollment.
“If the policy is to eliminate immigrants, I do not see how we can continue to do what we do,” says Peter Miller, vice president of professional development on the AIA New York Chapter’s executive board and founding partner of Palette Architecture, an office specializing in multifamily housing. “If tomorrow everyone who is or was on a visa at some point is out of the architecture profession in New York City, we would lose over half of the architects in the city. I don’t see how we could continue to function as a profession if we lost everyone who is some form of immigrant, and the H-1B is an important bridge piece in the immigrant’s journey as an architect.”
The policy, titled “Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers,” was issued on September 19, 2025, by presidential proclamation, going into effect two days later. It mandated that new H-1B visa applications be subject to an additional payment of $100,000. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency had already declared in July that the congressionally-mandated 65,000 limit on H-1B visas had been reached for 2026, along with the 20,000 advanced degree exemption, so the policy for new applications will effectively be applied to petitions for 2027 and beyond.
For most firms, payment of such an astronomical fee—more than 100% of the $60,000 to $70,000 starting salary of a junior architect in New York City—is a nonstarter. “It’s game-changing,” Miller says. “You can’t lay out that much money. Even the largest firms in New York City don’t have that kind of money to put into an employee.” Miller says the additional cost of H-1B applications cuts off about 50% of the available talent applying for a typical job opening at his firm. Noncitizens requiring some kind of visa assistance frequently possess the highest level of skills and training needed for particular positions. “To cut your talent pool in half is a huge difference,” he says. “We wouldn’t get nearly as many candidates as we have now.”
