A former Meta engineer has ignited an online conversation about H-1B visa usage after disclosing that nearly his entire 2017 data engineering team—15 out of 17 members were on H-1B visas.
Zach Wilson, now leading his own data analytics startup in San Francisco, shared the revelation on X as concerns mount over President Donald Trump’s new $100,000 visa fee proposal.
“When I worked at Meta in 2017, I was on a team of 17 people. 15 of the 17 were on H1B visas. I was one of two Americans on the team,” Wilson wrote. “Just for core growth data engineering, that’s $1.5m in visa fees under the new rules.”
“If you’re an American looking to land a big tech role, now is your time because more than 80 percent of your competition literally just vanished overnight. Good luck!” Wilson added.
Wilson spent nearly two years at the tech giant working as a data engineer before launching his own startup.
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Wilson’s post on X sparked strong reactions from both Indian tech professionals and international onlookers. Some users also clarified that the new visa fees do not affect current H-1B holders. “So any effect it will have will be slowing the pipeline of new H1Bs over time,” noted Vanyali (@VanyaWright).
Adding to the debate, Indian engineer Nitin Ahirwal weighed in, saying, “Meta’s core growth data engineering wasn’t built on passports, it was built on talent. If 15/17 engineers were on H-1Bs, that tells you something: US schools are producing users of tech, not builders.”
Ahirwal also pointed out that the $1.5 million in visa fees was minimal compared with the $120 billion in value H-1B workers had generated for FAANG companies. “Your ‘competition’ didn’t vanish. It just shifted. Those engineers will now be building the next Meta, Google, or Nvidia — in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Toronto, or Singapore.”
While Rushikesh Patil added, “If 15 out of 17 engineers at Meta were on H1Bs it tells you the reality. The talent pipeline wasn’t coming from US schools then and it isn’t ready now. Removing visas doesn’t replace the gap, it just exposes it.”
READ: India feels the heat as US announces H-1B visa fee hike (
Another X user Tom Anderson shared his own experience, saying, “I was on the Windows team (8) doing DevOps with Sanchez. We were the only two Americans on that team and everyone else, including the manager, were from India — not to mention the 3 directors above the manager.”
“I went to a tier three school in US and still got in. If Meta gave me a chance, I’m sure they would give more MIT and Stanford grads a chance too if there wasn’t any other option,” Wilson responded.
Filing an H-1B petition used to cost between $2,000 and $5,000, but President Trump’s new directive hikes the fee to $100,000 for new applications. Experts warn that this sharp increase could significantly impact Indian professionals and the companies that depend on their talent, noting that Indians make up over 70% of H-1B visa holders in the United States