Amidst ongoing chaos and panic regarding the new H-1B rules after US President Donald Trump’s latest proclamation, which hiked the existing fee to a staggering level of $ 1,00,000 with immediate effect, the White House on Saturday evening has issued a much needed clarity on the guidelines to allay the fears among visa holders and also to clear the air of uncertainty on new applications starting from September 21st.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt took to X and posted that the fee prescribed for H-1B visas is not an annual requirement but a one time fee that applies only to the petition. She further clarified that those who are already holding H-1B visas and are currently outside USA right now will not be charged fee to re-enter the country. It is also clarified that all the new orders would be applicable only to new visas and not renewals and not to current visa holders.

On Friday, Trump signed a sweeping order to restrict entry of certain non-immigrant workers by imposing an exorbitant cost on the popular H-1B visas which allows other nationals to work in the USA. This announcement has sparked huge panic among the visa holders, especially Indians who form a major chunk of the workers in Tech industry, and created an atmosphere of unease because lakhs of jobs will be at stake due to this order as companies would step back to hire non-Americans for skilled jobs by paying such an unreasonable fee.

Reacting on what could be termed as an arbitrary order which impacts millions of Indians, Narendra Modi’s government said this move could have humanitarian consequences and disrupt the ties between the two countries further from what already saw a deterioration due to the recent tarriff blows.