Introduction to Goldman Sachs and H-1B Visas
On a sunny September morning, employees of Goldman Sachs pass through the turnstiles at the bank’s expansive lobby in Manhattan’s Battery Park City neighborhood. More than 9,000 people work at the investment bank’s central office in New York. Hundreds of these employees rely on the H-1B visa for highly skilled foreign workers, a permit recently reviewed by the Donald Trump administration.
Trump Administration’s Visa H-1B Adjustment
On September 19, Trump’s order mandates that companies pay $100,000 for each new hire through this program. Although the impact will be felt most in the technology sector, where H-1B workers are more commonly hired, financial firms like Goldman Sachs will also need to reassess their foreign hiring practices.
New York’s Concentration of H-1B Visas
In the first two quarters of 2025, Goldman Sachs was the largest recipient of H-1B visas in New York. In fact, New York City welcomed more beneficiaries of this type of residency than any other city in the United States.
While California and Texas attract more H-1B visa holders than New York State, no city or town in these states has a higher concentration of beneficiaries than New York City.
This concentration in New York City is driven by hiring in the Wall Street financial giants.
According to US immigration service data analyzed by AFP, the primary beneficiaries of H-1B visas in New York are investment banks like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Citigroup; financial data company Bloomberg; and consulting firm McKinsey. Outside the finance sector, institutions like Columbia and NYU universities, as well as medical centers such as Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, have also hired foreign employees.
Potential Negative Impact
In 2025 data, H-1B-covered positions lean towards the more technical aspects of finance, with many workers in software engineering, quantitative analysis, and data science roles.
Goldman Sachs did not respond to emails inquiring about how the $100,000 fee would affect their future hiring of such positions. Bloomberg and Citigroup declined to comment when contacted by AFP with similar questions.
Experts believe this measure will significantly reduce H-1B visa applications, potentially harming the economy.
“A visa fee of this magnitude will likely drastically reduce H-1B visa usage,” Ethan Lewis, an economics professor at Dartmouth College, told AFP.
This is the stated goal of the Trump administration. US Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, declared they aim to “stop attracting people” who “take our jobs.”
“This will lead to slower productivity growth,” Lewis warned AFP. “And, in the long term, it will discourage foreigners from pursuing studies in the US since many rely on H-1B visas for their first job.”
In the technology sector, the announcement sparked concern.
Entrepreneurs like Elon Musk warned that the US cannot fill highly skilled positions solely with domestic talent. Others speculate that some jobs might be outsourced to other countries instead of being offered to US workers.
Key Questions and Answers
- What is the H-1B visa? The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa in the United States that allows companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations requiring theoretical or technical expertise. Each year, 85,000 visas are made available under this category.
- Who are the primary beneficiaries of H-1B visas in New York? In New York, the primary beneficiaries of H-1B visas are investment banks like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Citigroup; financial data company Bloomberg; consulting firm McKinsey; as well as universities like Columbia and NYU, and medical centers such as Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
- What changes did the Trump administration implement regarding H-1B visas? The Trump administration increased the fee for companies to $100,000 per new H-1B hire, aiming to reduce the usage of this visa program.
- What are the potential negative impacts of these changes? Experts believe that this significant fee hike will drastically reduce H-1B visa applications, potentially harming the economy and discouraging foreign students from pursuing higher education in the US.
