H1-B Visa Fee Hike Of $100,000 Only For New Applicants: White House Official

The H1-B visa fee of USD 100,000 would be applicable only to new applicants, a White House official clarified on Saturday, 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 fee applies only to new applicants,” a White House official said, according to a report in the New York Times.

In a sudden move that will hugely impact skilled Indian professionals in the US, President Donald Trump ordered a steep hike in the annual H-1B non-immigrant visa fee to USD 100,000.

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.