Trump imposes $100,000 annual H-1B visa fee; Amazon, Microsoft, JP Morgan ask employees to return to US by Sept 21
Amazon, Microsoft, and JP Morgan request that all workers with H-1B and H-4 visas return to the United States by September 21.
Aadrika Tayal 
New Delhi (India) September 20: Indian and US tech companies will be impacted by President Trump's announcement. The announcement states the increase in the yearly H-1B visa price to $100,000.
Trump's announcement on H-1B visa
The Trump administration imposes a yearly cost of USD 100,000 (Rs 88 lakh) on H-1B visas. This is an attempt to stop the "systemic abuse" of the program. It is a move that might have a big impact on Indian IT and professional workers in the US.
The order says, “The H-1B nonimmigrant visa program was created to bring temporary workers into the United States to perform additive, high-skilled functions, but it has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labour. The large-scale replacement of American workers through systemic abuse of the program has undermined both our economic and national security.”
It also adds, “The proclamation allows the Department of Homeland Security to grant exceptions to the ban for individual foreign nationals, foreign nationals working for a particular company, or foreign nationals working in a specific industry, if, in the agency's discretion, H-1B employment is found to be in the national interest and does not pose a threat to US security or welfare.”
New order raises visa cost from $1,500 to $100,000 yearly
Several large tech businesses warn H-1B worker visa holders to remain in the United States or return immediately. This is after the Trump administration said that it would require companies to pay USD 100,000 a year for these visas.
Companies who hire skilled foreign workers will now have to pay USD 100,000 per year for each H-1B visa under Trump's new executive order. This is a significant increase from the USD 1,500 in administrative costs that were previously required.
Tech firms rush H-1B, H-4 visa workers back to US before deadline
According to international news agency Reuters, Microsoft, JP Morgan, and Amazon have instructed their H-1B visa-holding employees not to leave the United States after the Trump government announced higher fees.
According to Reuters, Amazon requested in an internal letter that all workers with H-1B and H-4 visas return to the United States by September 21, 12 a.m.. It is the day Donald Trump's executive order goes into force. The unmarried children and lawful spouses of H-1B visa holders are H-4 visa holders.
Indian IT sector braces for shortage of skilled professionals
Stock market analysts predict that Indian IT and software firms that rely on the H-1B Visa may have to deal with a shortage of skilled workers. However, since Trump raised the cost of the H-1B visa, certain US-based IT businesses, including Apple, Meta, Amazon, Google, NVIDIA, Tesla, and others, may have the same problem when hiring American people.
The restriction will last for a year, but federal immigration agents may seek an extension. Foreign nationals for whom an FY 2027 H-1B cap petition is authorized will continue to be prohibited if the limit were extended.
