Amazon, Microsoft, Goal and more: the companies most affected by the H-1B visa rate

President Donald Trump’s six-digit rate for workers wishing to go to the US with a “talent” H-1B visa can impact some of the biggest names in the Fortune 500 index.

The new rule, announced last week and entered into force since Sunday, adds a single rate of $ 100,000 for workers who request a new H-1B visa. The rate does not apply to renewals.

The H-1B visa program works through a lottery system and is mainly used in the technology industry to bring highly qualified workers. In a proclamation on Friday, Trump pointed to national security and reasons for the need for the new rate, although some experts say rates will make the US economy less competitive globally.

Among Fortune 500 companies, the largest H-1B visa users include prominent names in the technology industry. Leading the list is Amazon (), which, distributed between two subsidiaries, Amazon with Services and Amazon Web Services, employed 12,391 workers with H-1B visas, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Service data.

• Also read: Trump government proposes a new visa process that favors more qualified worker

Amazon was followed by Microsoft (MSFT34) and Meta (M1TA34), which had 5,189 and 5,123 workers with H-1B visa, respectively.

However, these talent visa bearers are not only present in the technology industry. Notably, Walmart (Walm34), which ranked first on this year’s list, was also among the top 10 companies by the number of workers covered by the H-1B visa program.

Trump’s order last week condemned unnamed technology companies, which the president said they were hiring thousands of employees under the H-1B visa program while firing US workers. However, it is estimated that there are 730,000 patients with H-1B visa in the US, according to the FWD.US Immigration Defense Group. These workers represent a small number of 163 million people employed in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Losses for innovation

Some experts have quickly criticized the measure, warning that the new rate will make hiring more difficult and brake innovation. David Bier, director of immigration studies at Think Tank Libertarian Cato Institute, told BBC that the change will force companies to adjust.

“(Increasing visa rate) will force US companies to radically change their hiring policies and outsource a significant amount of their work. It will also ban founders and CEOs to manage US -based businesses,” said Bier. “This will give a devastating blow to US innovation and competitiveness.”

White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said Trump’s six-digit six-digit rate aims to protect American workers.

“President Trump has promised to put American workers first, and this sensible action does just that, discouraging companies from abusing the system and reducing American salaries,” said Rogers.

The H-1B visa program, established by the 1990 Immigration Law, was created for workers with a bachelor or higher diploma with “theoretical and practical application of a highly specialized body of knowledge.” More than half of these visa carriers work in computing jobs such as engineers, analysts or computer scientists. Many others are researchers.

H-1B visa carriers earned an average salary of $ 118,000 by 2023 and, along with their spouses, contribute $ 86 billion annually to the US economy, as well as billions in federal taxes, according to FWD.US.

This article was originally published by Fortune.com