Indian Workers Panic After Sudden US Visa Fee

(MENAFN) Shocked Indian professionals hurried to secure flights to the United States, while some tried to disembark from planes at American airports, following US President Donald Trump’s abrupt declaration of a $100,000 work visa charge, according to local reports.

On Friday, Trump signed an executive order establishing the annual application cost for H-1B visas, which are issued to highly trained foreign employees. More than 70% of these visas are granted to specialists from the world’s most populous nation.

The directive explained that the sharp increase in fees was aimed at preventing the “abuse” of the visa system by certain firms accused of depressing salaries and sidelining American job seekers.

“We need great workers, and this pretty much ensures that that is what is going to happen,” Trump said.

Previously, payments for H-1B permits ranged between $2,000 and $5,000, depending on the employer’s size and other factors.

Each year, 85,000 such visas are approved. The new $100,000 charge took effect at midnight on Saturday (0400 GMT Sunday).

Major corporations such as Microsoft, JPMorgan, and Amazon responded to the executive order by instructing their staff holding H-1B visas to stay in the United States, while those traveling abroad were told to return before the rule was enforced, a news agency reported.

On Saturday, a news outlet noted that many individuals were frantically purchasing flights to the US.

All nine direct connections scheduled for Saturday and early Sunday were almost completely booked, despite one-way economy class fares climbing to $1,200, the outlet said.

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