‘Only for new applications’: On H-1B visa, US official allays fears after fee shock

$100,000 annual fee on H-1B visas will apply to new applicants, not to renewal cases, US official clarifies after confusion persists over Trump's latest shocker

The massive $100,000 annual fee on H-1B visas will apply only to new applicants, not to renewal cases, a US official has clarified to HT after confusion persisted over President Donald Trump's shocker to high-skilled workers on this visa, most of the Indians, on Saturday.

US has over 400,000 H-1B visa holders, a vast majority of them Indians working in the IT sector. (Representative Image)

Further allaying fears, the official also said there is no need for H-1B holders who are outside the US at present to rush back by Sunday, when the new rule kicks in, as they won't be impacted or be asked to pay $100,000 to re-enter the country.

These two clarifications addressed key questions that have sparked fears among the visa holders — over 70% of them Indians — further setting airfares on fire.

There were also reports of Indians who had just boarded a flight to India to celebrate festivals such as Durga Puja panicking and asking to be taken off the plane in San Francisco. They feared they won't be able to return to the US, where they have been working for years.

The H-1B visa gives three years of work-and-stay permission at first, and is extendable by another three years.

Meanwhile, the Indian government has said it's studying the impact of the move. It stressed that the visa fee would have humanitarian consequences for families.

The government has also advised all Indian missions and posts in foreign countries to extend all possible help to Indian nationals who are travelling back to the US in the next 24 hours or so, an official familiar with the matter told HT.