Today's Edition
SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (REUTERS)
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 US after President Donald Trump imposed a new visa fees, 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 am US Eastern Time Sunday (4:01 am 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 by the order.
But Trump's proclamation a day before had already set off alarm bells in Silicon Valley.
Rush Back to US
Fearing they wouldn't be allowed back once the new rule took effect, several Indian nationals at San Francisco airport said they cut short vacations.
“It is a situation where we had to choose between family and staying here,” said an engineer at a large tech company whose wife had been on an Emirates flight from San Francisco to Dubai that was scheduled to depart at 5:05pm local time (12:05 am GMT) on Friday.
The flight was delayed by more than three hours after several Indian passengers who received news of the order or memos from their employers demanded to deplane, said the person who spoke on the condition of anonymity. At least five passengers were eventually allowed off, said the engineer.
On the popular Chinese social media app Rednote, people on H-1B visas shared their experiences of having to rush back to the US - in some cases just hours after landing in China or another country.
Companies including Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Goldman Sachs were among those that sent urgent emails to their employees with travel advisories.
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 high-profile effort yet to rework temporary employment visas.
Trump administration officials say the visa allows companies to suppress wages, and curbing it opens more jobs for American tech workers. Supporters of the programme argue that it brings in highly skilled workers essential to filling talent gaps and keeping firms competitive.
Trump's H-1B proclamation read: "Some employers, using practices now widely adopted by entire sectors, have abused the H-1B statute and its regulations to artificially suppress wages, resulting in an unfavorable labour market for American citizens."
The Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, could exempt petitioners from the fee at her discretion, the proclamation said.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Friday said 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 engineer, who has lived in the US 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.
