New $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee Will Not Apply to Existing Holders, White House Clarifies

Washington, Saturday — A new $100,000 fee for H-1B visa petitions will take effect on Sunday but will not be applied to existing visa holders who are re-entering the United States, the White House announced on Saturday.

“This is not an annual fee. It’s a one-time fee that applies only to the petition,” White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday.

Leavitt clarified that current H-1B visa holders who are currently outside the United States will not be required to pay the $100,000 fee when re-entering the country. Her statement follows comments from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Friday, who said the fee could potentially be charged annually but noted that “details were still under consideration.”

Corporate America Reacts

Following Friday’s announcement, several major corporations, including Microsoft (MSFT.O), JPMorgan (JPM.N), and Amazon (AMZN.O), advised their employees holding H-1B visas to remain in the United States to avoid any potential complications.

An internal memo from Goldman Sachs (GS.N), reviewed by Reuters on Saturday, urged employees with H-1B visas to exercise caution with international travel until further clarification on the new rules was provided.

Scope of the Fee

Leavitt further explained that the new fee will apply only to petitions filed during the next H-1B lottery cycle and will not affect current visa renewals or existing visa holders. She assured that H-1B holders can leave and re-enter the U.S. “to the same extent as they normally would.”

According to the White House, the new fee is being implemented to “level the playing field” for American workers, who they say are increasingly being replaced by “lower-paid foreign labor.”

Industry Concerns

The executive order imposing the fee was signed by President Donald Trump on Friday night. India’s IT industry body, Nasscom, warned early Saturday that the move could disrupt the global operations of Indian technology services companies that deploy skilled professionals to the U.S.

National Interest Waivers

A fact sheet released by the White House stated that H-1B applications could be exempted from the $100,000 fee on a case-by-case basis if deemed to be “in the national interest.”

The fact sheet also highlighted that the share of IT workers on H-1B visas has risen dramatically — from 32% in FY 2003 to over 65% in recent years. The order also directs the Departments of Labor and Homeland Security to jointly issue guidance for verification, enforcement, audits, and penalties. Additionally, the Labor Secretary has been instructed to initiate rulemaking to revise prevailing wage levels for the H-1B program and prioritize high-skilled, high-paid workers.

Widespread Anxiety Among Visa Holders

Friday’s announcement triggered widespread concern among employees across corporate America. On the popular Chinese social media app Rednote, many H-1B holders shared stories of rushing back to the United States — in some cases just hours after landing abroad — fearing they would be charged the $100,000 fee if they delayed re-entry.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason in Washington; additional reporting by Valerie Volcovici in Washington and Rajveer Singh Pardesi in Bengaluru; editing by Leslie Adler, Marguerita Choy, and Andrea Ricci.)