US says $100,000 fee for H-1B visas will not apply to existing holders

As Trump’s order stirs anxiety, White House clarifies that the fee only applies to new applicants and will be levied per petition.

The United States has issued a clarification to its new H-1B visa policy, saying that the new $100,000 fee for skilled workers will be levied per petition and will not apply to current visa holders.

The announcement on Saturday came a day after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said it would be paid annually, and would apply to people seeking a new visa as well as renewals.

Lutnick’s comment prompted major tech firms, including Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and Alphabet, which is Google’s parent company, to warn employees with H1-B visas to stay in the country or return quickly.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, however, clarified that the fee will only apply to new visas and that the rule “does not impact the ability of any current visa holder to travel to/from the US”.

“This is NOT an annual fee. It’s a one-time fee that applies only to the petition,” she wrote.

“Those who already hold H-1B visas and are currently outside of the country right now will NOT be charged $100,000 to re-enter… This applies only to new visas, not renewals, and not current visa holders,” she added.

The executive order imposing the new fee was signed by President Donald Trump on Friday night and is scheduled to take effect at 12: 01am on (04: 01 GMT) Sunday.

It is scheduled to expire after a year. But it could be extended if the Trump administration determines that is in the interest of the US to keep it.

H-1B visas allow companies to sponsor foreign workers with specialised skills – such as scientists, engineers and computer programmers – to work in the US, initially for three years, but extendable to six.

The visas are widely used by the tech industry and are doled out through a lottery system. Indian nationals account for nearly three-qu