The White House clarified that it will apply a “one-time” fee of $100,000 “only to new” H-1B visas and sought to reassure beneficiaries of this program for foreign nationals in the U.S. after the announcement of the measure generated confusion.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt posted a series of “clarifications” on her X account, the first explaining that the measure proclaimed Friday by President Donald Trump, which takes effect this Sunday, “is not an annual fee” but “a one-time fee that applies only to the petition.”
Clarification of the new H1B visa fees
“Those who already have H-1B visas and are currently out of the country will now NOT have to pay $100,000 to re-enter,” he emphasized.
“H-1B visa holders can exit and re-enter the country to the same extent they normally would; any ability they have to do that is not impacted by the proclamation,” the spokeswoman maintained.
The restrictive fee “applies only to new visas, not to renewals and not to current visa holders. It will apply for the first time in the next lottery cycle” for this type of permit, Leavitt added.
Indian English-language media outlet News9Live reported that a group of Indian passengers on a flight departing San Francisco for Emirates asked to disembark on Friday upon learning of the visa fee for fear of not being able to return, resulting in a three-hour flight delay.
The $100,000 fee on H-1B visa applications for foreign workers in the United States mainly affects India, whose citizens account for more than 70% of the beneficiaries of this program for highly skilled professionals.
According to an explanatory statement from the White House, Trump’s proclamation affects the approval of “petitions (for H-1B visas) of foreign nationals currently outside the U.S. that are not accompanied by payment, and allows for case-by-case waivers if they are in the national interest.”
The proclamation of the new H1B visa fee, he adds, requires the Departments of Labor and Homeland Security to “issue joint guidance on verification, enforcement, controls and penalties” related to the new restrictions.
With information from EFE
