Washington, June 4 -- At least 200,000 people have opted to pay the $100,000 H-1B visa application fee to ensure faster processing of their applications, US Homeland Security secretary Markeayne Mullin said on Tuesday. Speaking at a Senate hearing related to his department, Mullin stated that paying the additional fee allowed applicants to have their applications processed in roughly 15 days. "We had 286,000 applicants a year to date for the H-1B visas. Out of those, over 200,000 of them paid the $100,000 to be able to come in, because it allows us to process them in a little bit faster manner. In fact, when we do that, we're able to process them in about 15 days, because we're able to throw stuff out," Mullin said in response to a question from Maine Senator Susan Collins. Mullin said the remaining 80,000 applicants had to go through a process lasting 7.5 months to get an exemption to the visa application fee. Mullin's responses came after Senator Collins highlighted how the $100,000 H1B visa application fee made it harder for a hospital in rural Maine to hire a surgeon. Collins urged Mullin to consider exemptions to the visa fee where a rural community could demonstrate that no other medical professionals were available. "While I can understand why the administration might consider assigning fees to H-1B visas in the tech area, or other sectors, where there's a significant domestic workforce, that's not what we're talking about when it involves medical providers for rural areas. I want to give you an example of a hospital in Presque Isle, Maine, which is in northern Maine, very close to where I grew up, and recently this rural hospital was forced to pay the $100,000 H-1B fee for a much-needed surgeon," Senator Collins, a member of the Republican party, pointed out. Mullin clarified that a specific carve-out would be difficult to deliver. In September last year, the Trump administration unveiled the $100,000 H-1B visa application fee in an attempt to make it uneconomical for US companies to hire foreign workers over US-born talent. The visas are granted for three years and can be renewed for another three years. By law, the number of H-1B visas granted every year is capped at 65,000, with an additional 20,000 visas granted to those with advanced degrees. Over 70% of approved H1B visas go to professionals from India. In addition, the Trump administration changed the rules around the H-1B visa lottery in an effort to favour higher wage earners....