A U.S. official has tried to assuage the fears of computer workers in India, saying that they don’t need to rush back to the U.S. to escape the new H-1B visa fees set by President Donald Trump. The official told the Hindustan Times that the additional $100,000 yearly charge will only apply to new visa applications and not to renewals.
The clarification comes after President Trump signed a proclamation that set the increased cost. This made a lot of H-1B visa holders, especially Indians who make up 70% of all H-1B visa holders, distressed.
Panic and Company Notices All Over
Many Indian tech workers were scared after the announcement. Some people are said to have gotten off planes only minutes before takeoff to go back to the U.S. because they were afraid they wouldn’t be able to get back in. Videos that went viral showed airports in chaos, like San Francisco International Airport, where passengers on a flight to India reportedly begged to get off the plane.
Internal messages from big tech companies, including Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and JP Morgan made the crisis worse. These businesses sent out messages telling workers to either stay in the U.S. or, if they were already out of the country, to come back before the deadline of September 21 at 12:01 a.m. EDT. The Indian government also told all of its embassies to help anybody who were going back to the U.S. within the following 24 hours.
The Proclamation and What Happened
The “Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers” order signed by President Trump said that the H-1B program has been “deliberately exploited to replace… American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labor.” The new tax is part of the government’s plan to deal with this problem that people think is there.
The increased charge of $100,000 is a huge jump from the old H-1B visa fees, which were usually between $1,000 and $5,000. The U.S. official’s explanation is meant to ease concerns that people who already have visas would have to pay the new charge.