Panic, confusion and anger reigned as workers on H-1B visas from India and China were forced to abandon travel plans and rush back to the U.S. after President Donald Trump imposed new visa fees, opens new tab, in line with his wide-ranging immigration crackdown.
Tech companies and banks sent urgent memos to employees, advising them to return before a deadline of 12:01 a.m. EDT on Sunday (0401 GMT), and telling them not to leave the country.
A White House official on Saturday clarified that the order applied only to new applicants and not holders of existing visas or those seeking renewals, addressing some of the confusion over who would be affected.
But Trump’s proclamation a day before had already set off alarm bells in Silicon Valley.
Since taking office in January, Trump has kicked off a wide-ranging immigration crackdown, including moves to limit some forms of legal immigration.
This step to reshape the H-1B visa program represents his administration’s most visible effort yet to rework temporary employment visas and underscores what critics have said is a protectionist agenda.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Friday that companies would have to pay $100,000 per year for H-1B worker visas.
However, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X on Saturday that this was not an annual fee, only a one-time fee that applied to each petition.
A Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab engineer, who has lived in the U.S. for 10 years, told Reuters at the San Francisco airport that he had been vacationing in Japan with his wife and infant when he rushed to reschedule his return flight after hearing the news.
“It feels surreal,” he said. “Everything is changing in an instant.”
