On Friday, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation that raised the H-1B visa price to $100,000 a year. This caused alarm among Indian professionals and visa holders in the United States. The enormous rise, from the current range of USD 2,000 to 5,000, could completely end the popular visa scheme that internet businesses use.
After the news, things went crazy at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). There were videos on social media that showed a few Indian passengers getting off an Emirates flight to India before it took off. These videos have not been independently verified.
Someone on instagram posted a video from San Francisco 👇
— URScrewed 🇬🇧 (@URScrewed_) September 20, 2025
Chaos for Emirates passengers at San Francisco Airport Friday morning after Trump’s #h1b order panicking Indian passengers and some leaving aircraft.
As a result, aircraft was delayed for three hours amidst announcement pic.twitter.com/MWo859gPlx
The flight was said to have finished boarding when news of the visa increase spread. Dozens more Indians begged the crew to let them off because they were afraid they wouldn’t be able to get back into the US later.
“An international flight from the Bay Area with a lot of Indians on board (coming for Durga Puja) had just finished boarding and was ready to leave SFO Airport when the news about the new H1B visa criteria broke. “Indians on board panicked and begged to get off the plane,” wrote an X user.
The sudden departure created a three-hour delay while ground workers dealt with the mess.
Indian tech workers are in a state of uncertainty.
The move has shocked the tech world, where Indians make up over 71% of H-1B visa holders. The visas are usually good for three years and can be renewed for another three, which is very important for Indian IT workers in the US.
A lot of people are worried that more limits are coming, even if the order hasn’t been properly carried out or explained yet. The $100,000 yearly cost is greater than the average yearly wage of many H-1B holders, which makes the program not financially possible for most businesses.
Companies tell people to be careful
Microsoft, Amazon, and JP Morgan are some of the big companies that have told H-1B and H-4 visa workers to stay in the US and not travel abroad to avoid any problems with their visas. People who are not in the country have been told to come back by September 21.
The rise comes at a time when relations between India and the US are already tense, and analysts say the new laws might be very bad for the Indian tech diaspora in the US.