New York/Washington, Sep 20 (PTI) In a sudden move that will hugely impact skilled Indian professionals in the US, President Donald Trump has ordered a steep hike in the annual H-1B non-immigrant visa fee to USD 100,000.

As the Presidential proclamation that takes effect at 12.01 am EDT on September 21 sparked panic and outcry, Immigration attorneys and companies asked the H-1B visa holders or their family members currently outside America for work or vacation to return within the next 24 hours or risk being stranded and denied entry into the US.

There were reports of Indian professionals who were heading home for festivities disembarking from aircraft at the San Francisco International Airport after Trump's announcement to overhaul H-1B visa programme for high-skilled foreign workers.

Trump on Friday signed the proclamation ‘Restriction on entry of certain nonimmigrant workers', saying the abuse of the H-1B visa programme is a "national security threat", a decision that came as a rude shock to Indian and American technology companies and also caused uncertainty to foreign professionals, especially in the Information Technology(IT) sector.

Indians make up an estimated 71 per cent of all approved H-1B applications in recent years, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). China is the next biggest group.

The Trump administration's action that will significantly affect Indian technology professionals who are hired by tech companies and others on H-1B visas comes at a time just as the India-US trade talks appeared to regain momentum. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal is expected to visit the US next week.

Currently, the H-1B visa fee that companies pay to sponsor H1-B applicants ranges from about USD 2,000 to USD 5,000, depending on employer size and other costs.

The H-1B visas, which are very popular among Indian tech professionals, are valid for three years and can be renewed for another three years.

Industry body Nasscom on Saturday said the US move will impact India's technology services companies as business continuity will be disrupted for onshore projects that may require "adjustments".

The Indian apex body also flagged concerns over the September 21 timeline for implementation, saying a one-day deadline creates considerable uncertainty for businesses, professionals, and students across the world.

The US move will impact Indian nationals that are on H-1B visas working for global and Indian companies, it said in a statement.

The Indian government said this measure is likely to have humanitarian consequences by way of disruption for families.

Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi described the H-1B visa fee hike as a "reckless attempt to cut America off from high-skilled workers who have long strengthened our workforce, fuelled innovation, and helped build industries that employ millions of Americans." Ajay Bhutoria, a former advisor to President Joe Biden and Asian-American community leader on immigration policy, warned of a potential crisis for the US technology sector's competitive edge with Trump's decision on the H-1B visa fee.

"The H-1B programme, a lifeline for innovation that has attracted top talent from around the world, faces unprecedented barriers with this massive jump from the current USD 2,000-USD 5,000 total fee, which will crush small businesses and startups reliant on diverse talent,” he said.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is the second-highest beneficiary with 5,505 approved H-1B visas in 2025, after Amazon (10,044 workers on H-1B visas), according to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Other top beneficiaries include Microsoft (5,189), Meta (5,123), Apple (4,202), Google (4,181), Deloitte (2,353), Infosys (2,004), Wipro (1,523) and Tech Mahindra Americas (951).

In his proclamation, Trump said the H-1B visa programme was created to bring temporary workers into the US to perform additive, high-skilled functions, but it has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labour.

"The abuse of the H-1B programme is also a national security threat. Domestic law enforcement agencies have identified and investigated H-1B-reliant outsourcing companies for engaging in visa fraud, conspiracy to launder money..., and other illicit activities to encourage foreign workers to come to the US." Trump said that it is necessary to impose higher costs on companies seeking to use the H-1B programme to address the abuse of that programme while still permitting companies to hire the best of the best temporary foreign workers.

Trump ordered that the Secretary of Homeland Security shall restrict decisions on petitions not accompanied by a USD 100,000 payment for H-1B speciality occupation workers, who are currently outside the US, for 12 months following the effective date of the proclamation, which is September 21, 2025.

The Secretary of State shall also issue guidance, as necessary and to the extent permitted by law, to prevent misuse of B visas by alien beneficiaries of approved H-1B petitions that have an employment start date beginning before October 1, 2026.

The order said the restrictions shall not apply to any individual or those working for a company or in an industry, if it is determined that the hiring of such individuals to be employed as H-1B speciality occupation workers is in the national interest and does not pose a threat to the security or welfare of the US.

It said that IT firms in particular have prominently manipulated the H-1B system, significantly harming American workers in computer-related fields.

Noting that the share of IT workers in the H-1B programme grew from 32 per cent in 2003 to an average of over 65 per cent in the last five fiscal years, the proclamation said that some of the most prolific H-1B employers are now consistently IT outsourcing companies.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that historically, the employment-based Green Card programme let in 281,000 people a year, and those people earned USD 66,000 a year on average, and were five times more likely to participate in assistance programmes of the government.

"So we were taking in the bottom quartile, below the average American. It was illogical, the only country in the world that was taking in the bottom quartile,” he said.

"We are going to stop doing that. We're going to only take extraordinary people at the very top, instead of those trying to take jobs from Americans. They're going to create businesses and create jobs for Americans. And this programme will raise more than USD 100 billion for the treasury of the United States." When asked if the new fee will apply to the H-1B visa holders already in the country, to renewals or to those applying for the first time from abroad, Lutnick said, “Renewals, first times, the company needs to decide. Is that person valuable enough to have a USD 100,000 a year payment to the government, or they should head home and they should go hire an American?" Khanderao Kand of the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies said the H-1B visa fee hike is a "very unfortunate" policy with a huge negative impact on businesses, particularly the software and tech industry.

In July, USCIS said that it has received enough petitions to reach the congressionally mandated 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap and the 20,000 H-1B visa US advanced degree exemption, known as the master's cap, for fiscal year 2026.

"H-1B visa holders who are out of the US on business or vacation will get stranded unless they get in before midnight September 21. H-1Bs still in India may have already missed the deadline, as there is no way a direct flight from India will get in time,” New York-based immigration attorney Cyrus Mehta said in a post on X. PTI YAS SKY MBI RD ZH GSN GSN GSN