Nigerians have begun to explore the possibilities of securing remote work opportunities in the United States after U.S President Donald Trump announced a H-1B visa fee hike.
This comes after Trump’s administration rolled out a $100,000 annual fee for H-1B visas, making U.S. job dreams expensive for skilled professionals.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that the H-1B visa fee hike policy, signed into effect on September 19, 2025, has ignited a surge in interest for work-from-home roles.
Also, immigration experts have predicted that higher visa charges to push more Nigerians into remote work.
Recall that the H-1B program allows U.S. companies to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations like tech, engineering, and healthcare—fields where Nigerian talent has long excelled.
Previously capped at modest fees of a few thousand dollars, the new $100,000 levy per worker per year applies to new applicants outside the U.S., effective for the February 2026 lottery.
While current visa holders and renewals are exempt, the H-1B visa fee hike has escalated concerns amongst many in the diaspora, with Nigerian IT specialists and engineers reconsidering costly relocations.
“This isn’t just a fee; it’s a barrier,” said Dr. Aisha Bello, a Lagos-based tech recruiter. “Nigerian coders who once eyed Silicon Valley are now building portfolios for Upwork and Fiverr instead.”
Also, Akintunde Opawole, founder of Danval Technologies, said following the H-1B visa fee hike, there is a significant opportunity for Nigeria to increase its market share over the next half-decade, as the information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) industry continues to grow globally.
“What this means is that not only are remote jobs going to be offered to talents all over the world, but it will also lead to outsourcing businesses and processes to our start-up companies too.
“Fortunately for Nigerians, we have all that is required to take advantage of this policy and market,” he said.
Opawole also pointed out that Nigerians are in the best time zone of North America at five hours, Europe at one hour, and Asia at five to eight hours.
He reiterated that Nigeria has the youngest talent pool at 17 years, the USA at 39 years, Europe at 42 years, and Japan at 46 years
He added: “ICT is the third largest contributor to GDP at 18 percent. It’s a massive opportunity for us in the tech space in Nigeria to take advantage of.”
In his opinion, Ike Ibeabuchi, an emerging markets analyst, said several Nigerians no longer need to travel to the U.S or Europe in search of jobs as they can sit at home and deliver the same value.
“There are several experts working for the United States firms while living in Nigeria, meeting via Zoom, Google Meet, WhatsApp, and other platforms. I reckon that with visa restrictions and higher fees, more employees will stay online,” he said.
Nubi Achebo, director of academic planning at Nigerian University of Technology and Management (NUTM), also opined that the $100,000 H-1B visa fee could reshape the U.S hiring patterns.
Achebo noted that roles in software development, data analysis, design, and customer support can be filled remotely by Nigerian professionals.
“With the high fee, the U.S employers might prefer remote work arrangements over traditional H-1B sponsorships, allowing Nigerian tech professionals to work for U.S firms from Nigeria and earn U.S salaries.
“Companies might open regional offices in countries with lower costs, such as India or African nations like Nigeria, to access skilled talent without the hefty fee. This could create local job opportunities but reduce physical migration to the U.S,” he added.
However, Olamide Adeyeye, country head, Programmes at Jobberman Nigeria, argued that the U.S visa increase would not necessarily push Nigerians to more remote and offshore jobs.
“Migration is influenced by a lot of social and economic reasons, such as how safe people feel, the enabling environment, and the quality of relationships they get exposed to.
“I think remote jobs are already growing on their own, people relocate and still do remote jobs, I think it’s important to recognise that many times relocation is not primarily an economic decision,” he said.
Adeyeye emphasised that remote work opportunities have been increasing over the years, partly because organisations abroad are learning that it is cheaper to hire and keep talent on the continent than to bring them into those countries for several reasons.
