Walmart Halts Hiring Of H-1B Candidates After $100,000 Visa Fee Rule: Report

Walmart Inc. has temporarily halted extending job offers to candidates requiring H-1B work visas, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The decision follows the Trump administration’s

recent move to impose a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa applications, a policy that has disrupted hiring plans across multiple industries.

According to the report, the pause primarily affects Walmart’s corporate workforce, though its scale remains limited compared with the company’s overall US headcount of about 1.6 million employees.

Government data show Walmart employs around 2,390 H-1B visa holders, making it the largest user of such visas among major retail chains. However, this figure is still far lower than those of technology giants such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta, which rely more heavily on foreign skilled workers.

“Walmart is committed to hiring and investing in the best talent to serve our customers, while remaining thoughtful about our H-1B hiring approach,” a company spokesperson told Bloomberg.

The introduction of the $100,000 visa fee—part of a broader US immigration overhaul—has sent shockwaves through corporations that depend on international talent, Bloomberg added.

Separately, in August 2025, Walmart dismissed online speculation linking the retailer to alleged misuse of H-1B visas. A spokesperson told CNBC-TV18 that an internal probe had led to the termination of one vendor and a few US-based associates, adding that “this investigation had nothing to do with H-1B visas.”

The clarification came after unverified social media posts alleged irregularities in contract hiring at Walmart’s Global Tech division, prompting concern among members of the Indian diaspora in the US.