US new H-1B visa fee of USD 100,000 will not apply to new applicants: White House

A new $100,000 annual fee for H-1B visas in the United States goes into effect Sunday, but it will not be applied to existing holders of valid visas re-entering the country, Axios reported on Saturday.

The statement came a day after President Donald Trump signed a proclamation raising the fee on the visas used by companies to hire workers, including from India, to live and work in the US.

“The H-1B fee is likely to face legal challenges. But if it survives, companies that hire skilled international workers would have to pay USD 100,000 each year for any employee working on the visa, for up to six years,” the White House official was quoted as saying by the New York Times.

“The fee applies only to new applicants,” the official added.

The executive order imposing the new fee on H-1B visa applications could disrupt the global operations of Indian technology services companies that deploy skilled professionals to the United States, Indian IT industry body Nasscom said early on Saturday.

As the Presidential proclamation that takes effect at 12.01 am EDT on September 21 sparked panic and outcry, immigration attorneys and companies asked the H-1B visa holders or their family members currently outside America for work or vacation to return within the next 24 hours or risk being stranded and denied entry into the US.

Many Indians in the US on H-1B visas cancelled their plans to travel to India hours after Trump’s order.

While many cancelled plans to travel at the last minute while waiting to board flights to India, several others already in India are scrambling to return amid lack of clarity, weeks before Indian professionals and their families travel to India for Diwali and other year-end holidays.

Individuals on H-1B visas as well as those in the US tracking the news spoke to PTI on condition of anonymity and stressed that the underlying emotion among H-1B visa holders and their families right now is that of “a crazy sense of panic” and “worry.” Currently, the H-1B visa fee that companies pay to sponsor H1-B applicants ranges from about USD 2,000 to USD 5,000, depending on employer size and other costs.

The H-1B visas, which are very popular among Indian tech professionals, are valid for three years and can be renewed for another three years.

With inputs from agencies