Tech and finance giants Microsoft and JPMorgan have issued urgent advisories to employees on H-1B and H-4 visas, recommending that they return to the United States before Sunday, September 21, after President Donald Trump announced a sweeping new directive imposing a $100,000 annual fee on the visa program.
Microsoft, JPMorgan Advisory To H1-B, H-4 Visas Employees
According to internal emails obtained by Reuters, Microsoft told employees that visa holders currently in the U.S. should remain for the “foreseeable future,” while those abroad must re-enter before the deadline. H-4 dependents were also advised to avoid international travel. JPMorgan echoed the same message in a separate notice, warning H-1B employees outside the U.S. to return by 12:01 a.m. ET on September 21 to avoid complications under the new order.
Trump’s H1-B Visa Fee
The advisories follow Trump’s signing of the proclamation “Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers,” which bars the entry of H-1B workers whose petitions are not accompanied by the newly mandated payment. The proclamation is set to take effect on September 21, 2025, for an initial 12-month period.
Trump, defending the policy, said the H-1B program had been “deliberately exploited” to replace American workers with lower-paid foreign labour. “Abuse of the H-1B programme is a national security threat,” the President declared, arguing that higher costs would discourage misuse while still allowing companies to hire “the best of the best” foreign talent.
“The H-1B nonimmigrant visa programme 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,” Trump said in the proclamation, as per PTI.
The move has sent shockwaves through industries heavily reliant on Indian and other foreign workers. With thousands of skilled employees caught in the crossfire, major corporations are scrambling to secure the legal status of their workforce ahead of the deadline.
