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

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As Trump’s order stirs nervousness, White Home clarifies that the price solely applies to new candidates and will likely be levied per petition.

The US has issued a clarification to its new H-1B visa coverage, saying that the brand new $100,000 price for expert staff will likely be levied per petition and won’t apply to present visa holders.

The announcement on Saturday got here a day after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick stated it might be paid annually, and would apply to individuals searching for a brand new visa in addition to renewals.

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Lutnick’s remark prompted main tech corporations, together with Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and Alphabet, which is Google’s mother or father firm, to warn staff with H1-B visas to remain within the nation or return shortly.

White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt, nonetheless, clarified that the price will solely apply to new visas and that the rule “doesn’t influence the flexibility of any present visa holder to journey to/from the US”.

“That is NOT an annual price. It’s a one-time price that applies solely to the petition,” she wrote.

“Those that already maintain H-1B visas and are presently outdoors of the nation proper now will NOT be charged $100,000 to re-enter… This is applicable solely to new visas, not renewals, and never present visa holders,” she added.

The chief order imposing the brand new price was signed by President Donald Trump on Friday evening and is scheduled to take impact at 12:01am on (04:01 GMT) Sunday.

It’s scheduled to run out after a yr. Nevertheless it may very well be prolonged if the Trump administration determines that’s within the curiosity of the US to maintain it.

H-1B visas enable corporations to sponsor international staff with specialised expertise – akin to scientists, engineers and pc programmers – to work within the US, initially for 3 years, however extendable to 6.

The visas are broadly utilized by the tech trade and are doled out by way of a lottery system. Indian nationals account for practically three-quarters of the permits.

Critics say the programme undercuts American staff, luring individuals from abroad who are sometimes keen to work for as little as $60,000 yearly. That’s effectively under the $100,000-plus salaries usually paid to US expertise staff.

India’s Ministry of Exterior Affairs stated on Saturday that Trump’s newest plan “was being studied by all involved, together with by Indian trade″. The ministry warned that “this measure is more likely to have humanitarian penalties by the use of the disruption brought about for households. Authorities hopes that these disruptions could be addressed suitably by the US authorities”.

The US Chamber of Commerce additionally expressed fear.

“We’re involved concerning the influence on staff, their households and American employers,” it stated in a press release. “We’re working with the Administration and our members to know the complete implications and the perfect path ahead.”

On the favored Chinese language social media app Rednote, in the meantime, many H-1B holders shared tales of dashing again to the US — some simply hours after touchdown overseas – fearing they’d be topic to the brand new price.

Some individuals who have been already on planes making ready to depart the nation on Friday de-boarded over fears they will not be allowed to re-enter the US, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Allen Orr, an immigration lawyer and immigration chair of the Nationwide Bar Affiliation, instructed Al Jazeera that the most recent order has brought about “mass confusion”.

Employees who held new or renewed H-1B visas and who have been outdoors the US have been instructed to not come, delaying begin dates and costing cash as a result of “cancellation of flights and housing”, Orr stated.

The lawyer added that Trump’s order was sending the improper message to proficient staff residing overseas.

“If it applies to subsequent yr, $100,000 for an H-1B employee simply mainly places it out of the market, and plenty of of those jobs will then simply stay abroad,” he stated.

“The American secret is that we’ve mainly taken expertise from world wide and colonised it and product of the US a form of stamp. After we cease letting that expertise into the US, we’re hurting our model,” he added.

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