White Home scrambles to make clear H-1B visa confusion after panic throws company America into chaos in a single day | Fortune

President Donald Trump’s $100,000 price for H-1B visas sowed mass confusion and panic amongst high U.S. corporations in a single day, forcing the White Home to make clear the necessities.

On Saturday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt took to X to clarify which visa holders the price applies to and when.

“This is NOT an annual fee,” she mentioned. “It’s a one-time fee that applies only to the petition.”

Leavitt added that present H-1B holders at present exterior the U.S. won’t be charged $100,000 to come back again, and that they’ll proceed to go away and re-enter as they do proper now.

Trump’s new H-1B coverage additionally applies solely to new visas, not renewals for present holders, she defined, noting that it’s going to take impact within the subsequent lottery cycle.

On Friday, Trump signed a proclamation that imposes a $100,000 price for H-1B visas and introduced a $1 million “gold card” visa that may function a pathway for rich buyers to achieve U.S. citizenship.

On the time, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Friday recommended the price, which kicks in at 12:01 a.m. ET on Sunday, can be annual.

When requested if the coverage applies to present holders, he replied that corporations with H-1B staff should ask “Is the person valuable enough to have a $100,000 a year payment to the government? Or they should head home and go hire an American?” 

That brought about U.S. tech giants, which rely closely on H-1Bs, to warn staff with these visas in opposition to international journey.

Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and others advised affected staff to return to the U.S. on Saturday and cancel any plans to go away the U.S.

“While we don’t have all the answers right now, we ask that you prioritize the recommendations above,” a message from Microsoft mentioned, in line with Bloomberg.

Prime banks JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs despatched comparable messages to staff on H-1B visas, in line with the Monetary Instances.

H-1B visas had beforehand been a divisive concern in Trump’s circle. Late final yr, earlier than falling out with the president, Elon Musk known as for extra extremely expert staff as did and fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. However MAGA hardliners have demanded that U.S. corporations rent extra American staff.

 In a reply to a submit taunting him about H-1Bs, the South African-born Musk hit again sharply.

“The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla, and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B,” he wrote in December. “Take a big step back and F–K YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend.”

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