US President Donald Trump's announcement of a proposed $100,000 hike in H-1B visa fees caused widespread confusion and panic among Indian tech workers before the White House clarified the fee would apply only to new applicants and be a one-off.

• The proposed $100,000 H-1B visa fee for new applicants is significantly higher than the 2023 median salary for new H-1B employees, which was $94,000.
• Indians dominate the H-1B program, making up over 70% of recipients in recent years, including key roles in tech (over 80% of "computer" jobs in 2015) and medicine (5-6% of total US physicians).
• Experts like immigration policy analyst Gil Guerra warn of medium to long-term labor shortages in the US, while David Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, predicts a "devastating blow to US innovation and competitiveness."

The White House clarified that a new $100,000 H-1B visa fee, effective Sunday, applies only to new applicants, not renewals or current visa holders. This measure, signed by U.S. President Donald Trump, aims to encourage companies to hire American workers.

• The fee is a one-time fee that applies only to the petition for new H-1B visas.
• Karoline Leavitt, White House Press Secretary, confirmed that current H-1B visa holders can travel internationally without issue.
• Companies like Microsoft and Amazon had previously advised their H-1B employees to return to the United States before the policy took effect.

Many H-1B visa holders scrambled to return to the US due to confusion surrounding a new $100,000 fee for the skilled foreign worker visa program, initially fearing it would apply to current visa holders returning from abroad.

• Rohan Mehta, a software professional, spent over $8,000 (£5,900) on flights to return to the US from India, cutting short his trip due to the perceived deadline.
• The new $100,000 (£74,000) fee, signed by President Donald Trump, was later clarified by the White House to apply only to new visa applications and not to current visa holders or renewals.
• India-based workers receive over 70% of the 85,000 H-1B visas issued annually, and companies like Amazon, Tata, Microsoft, Meta, Apple, and Google are major beneficiaries of the program.