New Delhi: In a swift response to President Donald Trump’s executive order imposing a $100,000 annual fee on H-1B visa applications, major U.S. companies, including Microsoft, JPMorgan, Amazon, and Meta, have issued urgent advisories to their H-1B and H-4 visa holders.
The companies are instructing employees currently abroad to return to the United States before the new fee takes effect at 12:01 a.m. EDT on September 21, 2025, according to internal emails cited by Reuters.
The proclamation, signed on Friday, marks a significant overhaul of the H-1B visa program, which allows U.S. companies to hire skilled foreign workers, particularly in technology and finance.
The White House argues that the program has been exploited to replace American workers with lower-paid foreign labor, a claim that has sparked heated debate. “The H-1B nonimmigrant visa program was created to bring temporary workers into the United States to perform additive, high-skilled functions, but it has been deliberately exploited,” Trump stated in the proclamation.
The new fee, a dramatic increase from the previous $1,500-$4,500 range, is expected to disrupt industries reliant on foreign talent, especially from India, which accounts for over 70% of H-1B visa holders.
Companies like Amazon, which secured over 12,000 H-1B visas in the first half of 2025, and Microsoft, with over 5,000, face significant cost increases. Indian IT firms such as Infosys and TCS, which also rely heavily on the program, saw their U.S.-listed shares drop 2-5% following the announcement.
Microsoft’s internal memo, reviewed by Reuters, strongly recommended that H-1B and H-4 visa holders—dependents of H-1B workers—return to the U.S. by September 21 to avoid potential reentry issues. JPMorgan’s immigration counsel, Ogletree Deakins, echoed this, advising employees to avoid international travel until further guidance is issued. Amazon and Meta have similarly urged employees to remain in the U.S. or return immediately, with Meta specifying a two-week stay until the order’s implications are clearer.
Critics, including immigration attorneys and industry groups like Nasscom, argue the fee hike will stifle innovation and talent mobility. “Indian H-1B workers have contributed hundreds of billions in taxes and trillions in services,” said David Bier of the Cato Institute in a post on X. Supporters, including U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, claim the measure will encourage companies to hire American graduates, stating, “All the big companies are on board.”
The order, effective for 12 months unless extended, also introduces a “Trump Gold Card” visa, offering permanent residency for a $1 million investment, further reshaping U.S. immigration policy. As the deadline looms, H-1B workers face a race against time to return, with some companies acknowledging the challenge of arranging last-minute travel.