H-1B Visa

Donald Trump's presidency has always thrived on surprise and his latest move delivered exactly that. Late Friday, he signed a proclamation imposing a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa petitions, the work permits that America's tech and finance industries rely on to hire skilled workers from abroad. The announcement hit with all the subtlety of a fire alarm. Within hours, panic spread across boardrooms and living rooms from Bengaluru to London.

The fee itself was shocking but the real problem was the lack of clarity. For nearly a full day, it was not obvious whether the charge would apply only to new applications or also to renewals and even to people already holding valid visas. Workers feared they might be locked out of the United States if they traveled. The ambiguity was enough to cause chaos. Families cut holidays short, business trips were scrapped and employees overseas raced to get back on American soil before the rules took effect.

In India, the government issued a statement warning of possible "humanitarian consequences by way of the disruption caused for families" and said officials were still studying "the full implications of the measure,'' Reuters reported.

In corporate America companies like Microsoft, Amazon and Goldman Sachs sent urgent memos telling staff with H-1B status to avoid international travel until further notice, Business Insider reported.

By Saturday, the White House scrambled to clarify. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had initially told reporters the fee would be an annual cost, which fueled the frenzy. That was quickly walked back. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt wrote on X that the levy is "not an annual fee, only a one-time fee that applied to each petition." Another statement from the administration insisted "the Proclamation does not apply to anyone who has a current visa" and that the change affects only future applications. The damage, however, had already been done.

The administration framed the move as a win for American workers. Taylor Rogers, a White House spokeswoman, told NBC News the policy "puts American workers first" and "discourages companies from spamming the system and driving down wages." Trump himself insisted "I think they're going to be very happy. Everyone's going to be happy.'' Judging by the canceled flights and frazzled families, happiness was not the prevailing mood.

Critics point out that the price tag may have the opposite effect of what the president intends. Large firms will grit their teeth and pay but smaller companies could avoid hiring foreign workers entirely or move projects offshore to places like India or Eastern Europe. An immigration lawyer told NBC News that on Friday "the prevailing interpretation" was that anyone abroad needed to return before the deadline, and that organizations had to rush to get the message out. That uncertainty is unlikely to inspire confidence in the system.

Diplomatic fallout is already visible. India is studying the measure closely while encouraging citizens to buy more domestic products. South Korea, still recovering from a raid on a Hyundai plant in Georgia earlier this month, said it is watching the change carefully. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, put it bluntly on X: "When the government announces a major new policy potentially affecting the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in an extremely concrete way, at the very least it owes people precise information."

For now, the fee applies only to new petitions filed after Sept. 21 and is valid for one year though the proclamation can be extended. Renewals and existing visas remain safe. Yet, the episode has once again highlighted how vulnerable foreign workers and their families are to sudden shifts in U.S. immigration policy. The bigger question is whether the policy will truly protect American workers or simply drive companies to expand their operations abroad.

Trump calls it commonsense action. To the people who spent a tense 24 hours packing bags, canceling flights and clinging to rumors, it felt more like confusion made policy. In the end, the clarifications may have calmed the panic but they did not erase the fact that once again, uncertainty was baked into the announcement itself. And while Trump insists everyone will be happy, the global reaction so far suggests very few are.