Revised H-1B Fee Only For New Applicants, Won't Affect Renewals Either: Sources

In a big relief for Indians who are currently on H-1B visas, the new $100,000 fee will apply only to the next upcoming lottery cycle and not existing holders or renewals, a White House official told NDTV.

Companies like Meta, Microsoft and Amazon had asked their H-1B and H-4 visa holder employees to not leave the country for at least 14 days and to those already out of the country, to return by Sunday.

Amid a fresh crackdown on immigration, US President Donald Trump made a major overhaul to the H-1B visa programme and signed a proclamation to increase the visa fee. The move is set to affect Indian technology companies and skilled professionals.

Trump said that the H-1B visa programme was created to bring "temporary workers into the US 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." 

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also defended the move, saying the policy would discourage companies from hiring foreign workers.

"So the whole idea is, no more will these big tech companies or other big companies train foreign workers. They have to pay the government $100,000, then they have to pay the employee. So, it's just not economic. You're going to train somebody. You're going to train one of the recent graduates from one of the great universities across our land, train Americans. Stop bringing in people to take our jobs. That's the policy here. $100,000 a year for H-1B visas," he explained.

Indians make up 71 per cent of all the approved H-1B applications, according to data by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

In response, India has stated that the full implications of the measure are being studied. "The full implications of the measure are being studied by all concerned, including by Indian industry, which has already put out an initial analysis clarifying some perceptions related to the H1B programme," the Foreign Ministry wrote in a statement.

The ministry highlighted that both India and the US have a stake in "innovation and creativity" and two sides can be expected to "consult on the best path forward".

Underlining how talent mobility and exchanges have benefitted both the countries in terms of technology development, innovation, economic growth and wealth creation, the Foreign Ministry said, "Policy makers will therefore assess recent steps taking into account mutual benefits, which include strong people-to-people ties between the two countries."