Trump's New $100,000 Visa Fee Sets Off Panic, Confusion

The surprise order from the Trump administration imposing a new $100,000 fee on some visas set off a day of frantic travel as workers, companies, and foreign governments scrambled to respond to Washington's latest immigration crackdown, Freddie Clayton reported for NBC News.

President Donald Trump last week signed the proclamation requiring companies to pay the fee to obtain the visas, which major tech firms rely on to fill high-skilled jobs.

By the time the White House clarified that existing holders of H-1B visas for skilled workers were not affected, the chaos had already been sown: U.S. allies expressed concern, and their nationals abandoned holidays, business trips, and family visits as they raced back to America before the new rules took effect Sunday.

President Donald Trump on Friday signed the proclamation requiring companies to pay the fee to obtain the visas, which major tech firms rely on to fill high-skilled jobs.

The order offered little clarity, however, on whether the steep new charge applied only to fresh applications or might also ensnare people seeking renewals—or even those already holding valid visas.

The ambiguity was enough to trigger worst-case assumptions in boardrooms and living rooms from Bengaluru to London.

India’s government warned the measure was likely to have “humanitarian consequences by way of the disruption caused for families,” adding that the “full implications of the measure” were being studied.

For a tense 24 hours, many workers feared they could be locked out of the United States altogether.