Major US companies including Amazon, Microsoft and JP Morgan have urged their employees on H-1B visas to return to the United States before a new executive order signed by President Donald Trump takes effect on Sunday, imposing an annual fee of USD 100,000 on the visa programme.
Amazon sent an internal letter asking all employees holding H-1B and H-4 visas to return by 12 am Eastern Time Zone on 21 September, the deadline set for the proclamation. H-4 visa holders include the legal spouses and unmarried children of H-1B holders.
In a similar e-mail, Microsoft advised its H-1B employees to remain in the US “for the foreseeable future” and requested both H-1B and H-4 holders currently abroad to return before the deadline.
JP Morgan also issued guidance to staff, with an e-mail circulated by Ogletree Deakins, the firm handling its visa applications, warning: “H-1B visa holders who are currently in the US should remain in the US and avoid international travel until the government issues clear travel guidance.”
The Trump administration has described the new measure as a crackdown on “systemic abuse” of the H-1B programme. Under the order, employers must pay USD 100,000 (over Rs 88 lakh) annually for each visa, a sharp rise from the earlier USD 1,500 in administrative fees.
The proclamation, which comes into force from Sunday, threatens to bar entry for H-1B employees — including current visa holders — unless their employers have paid the fee.
Also Read : No US entry for H1B staff without 100K fee from Sunday
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data shows that Indians accounted for 72% of the nearly 400,000 H-1B visas issued between October 2022 and September 2023, making them the group most affected by the move.
“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,” the executive order stated.
“The large-scale replacement of American workers through systemic abuse of the programme has undermined both our economic and national security.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick added that the visa would cost USD 100,000 a year for each of the three years of its duration but admitted that “details were still being considered.”
The order is expected to have far-reaching consequences for Indian IT professionals and skilled workers, with companies now scrambling to ensure compliance before Sunday’s deadline.
Follow us
