- Meta, Microsoft have urged H-1B visa holders to return to the US within 24 hours
- The Trump administration raised the H-1B visa fee to $100,000 from $1,700-$4,500
- Indian citizens accounted for 71% of H-1B approvals last year, mainly in tech sectors
The Donald Trump administration's decision to sharply hike H1-B visa fees has resulted in top companies like Meta and Microsoft, which hire quite a few foreign nationals, with Indians in the majority via this process, to ask their employees to return back to the United States within the next 24 hours.
Meta and Microsoft in internal mails to their employees, seen by NDTV Profit, have also urged their employees in the US, who hold such a visa, to not leave for the 'foreseable future'.
Meta has advises H-1B, H4 status holders to stay in US for at least 14 days and those currently outside to consider returning within 24 hours. To those already in the US, it has asked that they stay till 'practical applications' are understood.
Microsoft has 'strongly' asked workers to 'do best to return' and employees in the US to stay in order to avoid denial of re-entry.
US President Donald Trump announced a $100,000 application fee on the widely-used H-1B visa program, a move that would drastically increase the cost of visas heavily coveted by some of America's largest companies seeking to bring in skilled workers from abroad.
Meanwhile, the new fee for H1-B visas flouts clear requirements of US federal immigration law and will invite immediate lawsuits, attorneys told Bloomberg.
The new fee of $100,000 per year to sponsor each H-1B worker is a sharp increase from previous fees that typically ranged from $1,700 to $4,500.
Last year, Indian citizens accounted for 71% of all H-1B approvals as per official data, meaning the visa hike will especially affect Indian technology workers and their sponsoring U.S. companies. Currently, the visas are valid for three years and can be renewed for another three years.
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