White House says that new $ 100k H-1B visa costs do not apply to current employees

On Friday, the announcement of US President Donald Trump created a new $ US100,000 ($ 151,000) compensation for competent visa employees of the technology, created panic.

His proclamation meant that the reimbursement would apply H-1B-VISAwhat Intended for highly skilled jobs that find technology companies difficult to fillFrom Sunday, local time.

It led to large technology companies such as Microsoft, JPMorgan and Amazon dropping warnings for their employees on the visa to stay in the country – or to return quickly to the US.

A day later, the White House clarified the The reimbursement would not apply to employees who have already held a visa – Only new applicants would be affected.

Here is a summary of the new rules, who influences it and what the reaction has been.

Trump announces new visa costs

Mr. Trump, flanked by the American trade secretary Howard Lutnick, signed a proclamation that would require A new $ US100,000 allowance for H-1B-VISA.

That is a huge increase compared to the previous reimbursement, which was only $ US215.

The order said the reimbursement would do that Again in force at 12:01 pm Sunday, local time.

It is planned to expire after a year, but can be extended if the government finds that this is in the interest of the United States.

On Friday Mr. Lutnick Reporters told that the reimbursement would be An annual costs for companies.

But on Saturday, an official of the White House said that it was a “one-off reimbursement”-according to an officer who was not authorized to give public comments on the case and spoke with News Syndicate Agency Associated Press (AP) about the condition of anonymity.

When asked whether Lutnick’s comments sowed confusion, the official AP said the new reimbursement “is currently not applicable to extensions, but that policy is being discussed”.

Panic

Microsoft, JPMorgan and Amazon responded to the announcement by Advising employees who hold H-1B-VISA to stay in the United StatesAccording to internal e -mails that are assessed by Reuters.

They advised employees on the H-1B-VISA who were outside the US Return for midnight on SaturdayLocal time, when the new reimbursement structures were set to get into force.

“H-1b visa holders currently in the US must stay in the US and avoid international journeys until the government issues clear travel guidance”, read an e-mail sent by Ogletree Deakins to JPMorgan employees, a company that handles visa applications for the American investment bank.

Currently, more than 70 percent of the H-1B visa holders come from India.

On Saturday, the Indian government expressed his concern that the reimbursement increase the reimbursement for visas that bring from there and other countries to the US and other countries would drastically increase.

The Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Mr. Trump’s plan “was studied by all involved, also by the Indian industry”.

The ministry warned that “this measure probably has humanitarian consequences due to the disruption caused for families”.

“The government hopes that these disruptions can be tackled by the American authorities,” said it.

Clarification of the White House

“Those who already have H-1B-VISA and are currently outside the country are now not charged $ 100,000 to come in again,” said Minister Van Pers van het Witte Huis, Karoline Leavitt in a placement on X.

“This only applies to new visasNo extensions and no current visa holders. “

The White House, in a post on social media, also tried to make the new rule clear “has no influence on the ability of a current visa holder to travel from/to the US”

But immigration lawyers said that the movement of the White House threatened to increase the lives of many skilled employees and to have a far -reaching impact on American companies.

Kathleen Campbell Walker, an immigration lawyer at Dickinson Wright based in El Paso, Texas, said in a placement on LinkedIn that the White House “inserts total chaos in an existing H-1B process with in principle a day informed”.

Visa distributed by Loterij

Historically, H-1B-VISA have been distributed by Loterij.

This year, Amazon was by far the best receiver of H-1B-VISA, with more than 10,000, followed by Tata Consultancy, Microsoft, Apple and Google.

From a geographical point of view, California has the highest number of H-1B employees.

H-1B critics say that Visa undermines American employees

H-1B-VISA, which at least require a bachelor’s degree, are intended for highly skilled jobs.

Critics say that the program undermines American employees, People lure from abroad who are often willing to work for only $ US60,000 annually.

That is far below $ US100,000-plus salaries that are usually paid to American technology workers.

Critics say that H-1B spots often go to entry ranges, instead of higher functions with unique skills requirements.

And although the program should not undermine our wages or move American employees, Critics say that companies can pay less by classifying jobs at the lowest skill levelsEven if the hired specific employees have more experience.

As a result, many American companies find it cheaper to help agencies, programming and other basic tasks for consulting companies such as Wipro, Infosys, HCL Technologies and Tata in India and IBM and Cognizant in the US.

These consultancy firms hire foreign employees, often from India, and Contract them to our employers who want to save money.

Mr Lutnick said that the change would probably lead to much less H-1B-VISA than the 85,000 annual cap allowed because “it is simply no more economic”.

“If you are going to train people, you will train Americans,” he said.

“If you have a very advanced engineer and you want to bring them in … then you can pay $ 100,000 a year for your H-1B visa.”

Advocacy Group US Tech Workers called it “the next best” to completely abolish the Visa.

How did Big Tech respond?

When the change announced the change on Friday, Mr. Trump insisted that the technical industry would not resist the move.

And Mr. Lutnick claimed that “all major companies” were on board.

Representatives of the largest technology companies, including Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta, did not immediately respond to comments messages.

Microsoft refused to comment.

“We are concerned about the impact on employees, their families and American employers,” said the American Chamber of Commerce.

“We work together with the administration and our members to understand the full implications and the best path ahead.”

Doug Rand, who was a senior officer in the American citizenship and immigration services during the BIDEN administration, said that the proposed increase in the reimbursements was “ridiculously lawless”.

“This is not a real policy – It is Fanservice for Immigration Pasters“Said Rand.

“Trump picks up his headlines and brings a shock of panic and does not matter if this survives the first contact with the courts.”

Immigration -Revision includes new ‘golden card’

Mr. Trump also announced that he would sell a “golden card” visa with a road to American citizenship for $ US1 million after control.

For companies it costs $ US2 million to sponsor an employee.

But that is not Mr. Trump’s offer.

The “Trump Platinum Card”, Mr Trump, proposes a visa that $ US5 million costs and enables foreigners to spend up to 270 days in the US without being subject to US taxes on non-U income.

Trump announced a golden card of $ 5 million in February to replace an existing investor visa – this is now the Platina card.

Mr. Lutnick said that the gold and platinum cards would replace visa-based visas that offered paths to citizenship, including for professors, scientists, artists and athletes.

He said that the H-1B costs and gold card could be introduced by the president, but the Platina card needed conference approval.

ABC/wires