- President Donald Trump's H-1B visa fee order sparked panic among tech workers in the US.
- Trump announced a new $100,000 visa fee on Friday, prompting some companies to urge visa holders to return to the US.
- Some techies say they are canceling travel plans and reconsidering their lives in the US.
On Friday, the White House announced a new $100,000 fee
for H-1B visa applications, sparking a wave of confusion and panic as
companies and
workers scrambled to make sense of the order.
Three tech workers from across the US explained how they spent Friday night and Saturday.
Two spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation for speaking to the media; Business Insider has verified their identities.
1. Sherin Sunny, a senior software engineering manager at Walmart
I studied engineering back home in India and got recruited into a US-based tech company straight out of college.
After working at the company's Indian operations for about three years, I was given the opportunity to transfer to the US because I was one of the few people familiar with the technology and their customers.
I received my H-1B right away and moved to the US in 2013.
The green card backlog for Indian-born applicants has kept me on an H-1B for 12 years, with no clear end in sight.
I first saw the news that the president had signed a proclamation for a $100,000 H-1B visa fee on Friday.
The last 36 hours have felt like being on call for a production outage, except the system being debugged is my career.
At first, it wasn't clear whether this applied to new H-1B applications, renewals, or even H-4 dependents, such as my wife. I was also worried about who would have to pay the fees — employees or their companies — and if firms would be willing or able to pay this fee for thousands of H-1B workers.
I have been constantly checking YouTube, LinkedIn, and the White House official channels for clearer instructions.
Many companies have already advised employees to avoid travel, and some friends who were abroad on H-1Bs have even been asked to return before September 21st.
I saw my friends who were visiting India book last-minute flights to get back to the US after calls with their human resource teams. Everyone was stressed about them not being able to come back to the US.
I was planning to travel to India for vacation, but I need to rethink that because of the uncertainty around whether current visa stampings will be impacted.
My sister, who recently gave birth, also planned to travel soon, but canceled her trip this weekend. She would have been flying back with my mother, who was visiting us, and I had to scramble to find someone who could make the trip back to India with our mom.
The
White House's update that it would only impact people in the next lottery cycle brought a lot of relief.
The anxiety of this weekend and the lack of a clear pathway to a more permanent residency are now making us rethink things.
We might decide that if it's getting harder to live on the H-1B, it's better to go back to our home country rather than being stressed out in the US.
2. A Big Tech software engineer on the West Coast
I moved from India to the US a decade ago to pursue a master's in engineering. I've been with my current company since graduating from the program.
I received my H-1B visa on my third try in the lottery. I was anxious leading up to it and had already started exploring what my fallback options could be.
I found out about the new White House order on the H-1B visa on Friday from friends who began checking up on me and whether the new rules would affect me.
I opened ChatGPT and asked what exactly the order was, what criteria of H-1B holders it affected, and if there were any changes to alternative visas like the E-B1 or E-B2. More than H-1B, I was hoping there were no changes to the green card routes.
I was planning a holiday in a couple of months, but I've punted planning that trip and buying tickets. It doesn't make sense for me to book something and then not be allowed to travel.
The White House's clarification about how the new rules only apply to new applicants was definitely relieving.
After years in the US, my spouse and I have the mindset of not letting these changes affect us too much. We say that if we're here temporarily, let's make the most of it and continue to grow in our careers by making ourselves more indispensable.
But in the past year, I've started to explore ways I can build a more credible profile so that I qualify for more expedited green card options.
Since the administration changed, I've also been making sure we are renewing our documents and getting our passport stampings done proactively and not waiting until the last minute.
It's made me feel the pain of new graduates and how difficult it would be for them to come to the US, pay off student loans, and get an opportunity to find an employer that would be supportive of them working here.
That will be a big challenge, at least for the next 12 months, but I'm hoping people are still supportive of the highly skilled talent that comes through.
3. A software engineer in Bay Area tech
I came to the US in 2018 to pursue my master's in computer engineering.
I was fortunate enough to get my H-1B visa on my first attempt when I was still in graduate school.
Even though I did not move from India with the expectation to stay in the US long term, I felt relieved to get the visa and thought it gave me an option to stay longer if I wanted.
I've worked for multiple Big Tech companies since graduating and am currently a software engineer at a tech firm based in Silicon Valley.
It's been a tough 36 hours.
I was wrapping up work on a Friday evening and solving a client issue when a friend called and started telling me about what was going on.
I instantly started Googling and reading about it, trying to figure out what exactly had happened.
I was troubled because I am going through an H-1B extension right now, and I thought I would be impacted.
I spoke to my wife, who was out of town for the weekend, and we decided she should not travel back to India for her visa stamping. We're waiting for things to cool down before booking any tickets.
After our call, I was frustrated, so I went to play pickleball with my friends to work out some of those emotions.
I came home to a call from my mom back in India. My parents heard the news, and they asked me what was going on and why I didn't just leave the US and work somewhere else. I told them we should wait for things to settle down before making a big decision.
My friends, most of whom work at Nvidia, Google, and Microsoft, are all in the same boat. At dinner after the game, we chatted about the new order and what we should do.
That night, I watched webinars from
immigration and employment lawyers to try to make sense of the proclamation. I told myself that there was not much I could do right now besides going to sleep.
New guidance from the immigration authority about existing H-1B holders has made me feel like I'm off the hook, but my wife and I are still waiting for more confirmation before making travel plans.
My reason to come to the US was that it's the heart of innovation. But I was doing well in my previous role in India before I came for my master's, and I've been thinking about whether it makes sense to live here long term.
I've started thinking about options such as the Global Talent visa in the UK or opportunities in Singapore.
Being in Silicon Valley is rewarding from a work perspective, because the people here are at the top of their game, but now it feels like, is it really worth it?
