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."

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.