Intuitive Surgical Inc., or ISRG, is a medtech giant with more than 13000 employees across the globe. However, recently, the company announced that it is pausing offers to candidates who need H-1B visas temporarily. It is clear that the White House’s new $100,000 H-1B fee policy is having a real effect on tech hiring and not on cash-strapped startups. ISRG, based in Sunnyvale, California, has a market capitalisation of more than $150 billion. It generated more than $8 billion in revenue past year and is an S&P 500 entity. It is well known for its da Vinci robots, which carry out minimally invasive surgeries.
In this article, we will explore everything about the H-1B policy and why the company is pausing it. It will also discuss about Intutive surgical stock.
Overview of Intuitive Surgical
We found ISRG one of the top 10 best leaders in AI companies in our previous article. ISRG is an American biotechnology firm that develops, manufacturers and markets robotics so that the clinical outcomes could be improved with minimally invasive surgery. The company, being a member of Nasdaq-100 (Nasdaq isrg), S&P 100 and S&P 500. It also offes the instrumentation, disposable accessories and warranty services for the system. ISRG has implemented over 9,500 da Vinci systems in hospitals across the world, with over 5500 installations in the US and an increasing number in emerging markets.
Presently, Intuitive stock stands at 443.76 and isrg stock price was high up to 450.29 presently.
What is the H-1B Visa Category?
The H-1B is a temporary visa category which enables recruiters to petition for highly educated international professionals to work in ‘speciality occupations’ that need a minimum of bachelor’s degree or equivalent. Jobs in the fields like mathematics, technology, engineering and medical sciences are often eligible for this H-1B Visa policy. Generally, the initial duration of H-1B visa category is three years that may be extended up to six years. ISRG disclosed the new H-1B policy in more than 100 job listings on the career page. It sponsors H1B visa. They filed around 8LCAs in fiscal year 2025 with US Department of Labour.
H-1B Visa Shock Under Trump
In September, US President Donald Trump surprised the tech world by announcing an up to 50-fold increase in the expense of the skilled worker permits to $100,000. In response, Silicon Valley companies asked employees to not to travel outside the nation. Whereas, the foreign workers scrambled for airlines and immigration lawyers worked overtime to put a pause to this order.
Companies like ISRG that place H-1B workers at other companies’ worksites, a common practice in technology and consulting industries will come under additional scrutiny. The H-1B Visa shock may prevent employers user the O-1A visas and national interest waivers to recruit skilled international professionals. O-1A visas are for people with an extraordinary skills in sciences, education, business or athletics. The visa fee increase put the IT firms into disarray initially, since organizations rushed to call back all H-1Bs to the US. However, the administration then clarified that it was for the new petitions and the charges have got legally thwarted.
Tech firms will have to recruit American graduates as they could not pay $100,000 for foreign recruitments.
How is ISRG impacted?
The company informed that ‘due to uncertainty led by the current US executive proclamation, they are temporarily halting employment offers to candidates who need H-1B visa sponsorship. Although ISRG listings informed the company was ‘temporarily’ pausing offers, it did not mention how long will it take to resume them. The language appears across different US-based positions, from software engineers to communications.
ISRG did not reply to a request for comment. Its job listings highlight the confusion occuring through Corporate America after President Trump signed an executive order on September 19 to place a $100,000 fee on new H-1B applications. This move affected firms across different industries, causing a weekend scramble as HR and immigration teams informed workers outside the nation to return within 24 hours before the starting date of the order.
The White House has clarified that existing H-1B holders are exempted from the policy impacts that applies to new candidates from outside the nation. ISRG has sponsored more than 1500 H-1B petitions since 2009 as per the report of US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
What are the Supporters Saying?
Supporters of the policy changes put forth that the rules are overdue to stop the misusage of the policy. The American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organization has argued that some recruiters could exploit H-1B visas to reduce costs. They want a great expansion of H-1B visa holders so that they can pay them less. This is not about breakthroughs and employment creation but about dollars and cents as per AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.
Administration officials found the move as closing gaps. The DHS rule summary suggests that the aim is to ensure that US employees are not negatively impacted through wage depression or replacement and to safeguard program integrity.
What are the Critics Saying?
Businesses and higher education groups hinted the changes might impact US competitiveness. The American Medical association recently asked DHS to relief physicians from the new concenssions, underscoring the physician shortages and the dependence on underprivileged areas on foreign-trained physicians.
Technology industry companies alarm of wider consequences. Bill Gates stated that restricting H-1B visas puts US at juxtaposition. In this support, academic researchers said that restricting skilled immigration leads US multinational companies to increase employment in international affiliates.
Who is at Stake?
Advocacy groups include healthcare and educational workers who have sued the new $100,000 charges. For employers like ISRG, higher costs and stringent compliance could impact hiring, mainly in tech, healthcare and education segment. Although US workers get potential wage protections but there is a risk for innovation and employment growth shifting overseas if companies offshore talent. The economy could be impacted with the changes because of the impact on high-skilled labour in the fields like research, technology development and competitiveness. The overseas workers may face challenges to qualify and stay in the new location which causes uncertainty for the students and professionals planning to go US.
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