Why Mircosoft, Meta are asking H1-B workers abroad to return to US by tomorrow

The United States administration’s decision to impose $100,000 (about Rs 88 lakh) fee on H-1B worker visas has sparked a wave of panic and chaos. The announcement is likely to impact Indians the most, as they are the largest beneficiaries of these temporary employment visas.

As per reports, US tech companies have already started asking their H1-B visa employees to return to America immediately. Those in India are making a desperate attempt to fly back to the US before the deadline of midnight EDT (9.30 am IST) on September 21.

Here’s what is going on.

US hikes H1-B visa fees

US President Donald Trump on Friday (September 19) signed an executive order to impose an annual $100,000 application fee for H-1B worker visas.

With this, the visa fee for highly skilled workers would rise from $215 (Rs 18,940).

Critics claim that the H-1B visa programme allows companies to replace American workers and undercut wages by hiring foreigners at cheaper salaries. Supporters of H-1B visas argue that it helps US companies plug the talent gap by recruiting highly skilled foreign workers and maintain competitiveness.

According to the executive order signed by Trump, some companies have suppressed wages, disadvantaging American workers.

“If you’re going to train somebody, you’re going to train one of the recent graduates from one of the great universities across our land,” US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said, adding, “Train Americans. Stop bringing in people to take our jobs."

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has cracked down on immigration, including limiting some forms of legal immigration. This is his latest step to restrict the types of foreigners allowed in the US.

ALSO READ: Trump H-1B reform: How visa fee hike to $100,000 will hurt Indians the most

US companies call back employees

Microsoft, Amazon and Meta have asked their employees holding H-1B visas to stay put in the US, as per internal emails reviewed by Reuters.

They advised their workers on the H-1B visas who were outside the US to return before 12.01 am EDT Sunday, when the new fee structure will come into effect.

The proclamation signed by Trump states that restrictions will be imposed on the entry of those workers whose petitions are not accompanied or supplemented with a fee of $100,000.

According to internal emails accessed by NDTV Profit, Meta asked its H-1B visa and H4 status holders to remain in the US for at least two weeks, “till practical applications” are understood. It also advised those currently outside the US to consider returning within 24 hours.

Microsoft “strongly” asked its employees in the US to stay put to avoid the situation of denial of re-entry. It also urged workers outside the country to “do best to return”.

“H-1B visa holders who are currently in the US should remain in the US and avoid international travel until the government issues clear travel guidance,” an email sent to JPMorgan employees by Ogletree Deakins, a company that handles visa applications for the US investment bank, read, as per Reuters. 

IT giant Cognizant has asked all its employees on H-1B visas to halt international travel immediately. The directive, reviewed by The Hindu, urged associates with valid H-1B visa stamps or petition approvals not to depart or seek entry into the US.

Cognizant said it was a precautionary measure until the company can gain “further clarity” on the specific implications of the order for foreign workers, sources told the Indian newspaper.

H1-B visa fee hike unleashes chaos

The one-day deadline to enter the US for H1-B visa workers has triggered confusion and panic. Indians who were leaving or left the US are scrambling to go back, or else their entry will be restricted unless their petitions are accompanied or supplemented by a payment of $100,000.

“H-1B visa holders who are out of the US on business or vacation will get stranded unless they get in before midnight September 21. H-1Bs still in India may have already missed the deadline as there is no way a direct flight from India will get in time,” eminent New York-based immigration attorney Cyrus Mehta said in a post on X.

“There may still be a way for an H-1B visa holder who is in India to arrive in California before midnight September 21, 2025,” Mehta said.

A user posted on Instagram Threads that his Emirates flight was held up at the San Francisco airport for over three hours after several passengers, particularly Indians, decided to disembark after learning about Trump’s deadline.

“It was complete chaos for Emirates passengers at San Francisco airport. President Trump signed an order affecting both new and existing H-1B visa holders, creating panic among many – particularly Indian passengers – who even chose to leave the aircraft,” the person wrote.

Another claimed that similar chaos occurred on another flight, packed with Indians, at the San Francisco International Airport.

“Extremely sad situation… An international flight packed with Indians from Bay Area had completed boarding and was due to leave SFO Airport. When the news about H-1 B visa new rules just broke out, Indians aboard panicked and pleaded to get off the plane,” the user posted.

Impact on companies

The H1-B visa fee hike is likely to be a big blow to the technology sector in the US, which is heavily dependent on workers from India and China.

The Trump administration’s step could increase millions of dollars in costs for companies, with smaller tech firms and start-ups being hit the most.

Indian companies will also feel the heat.

Seema Srivastava, Senior Research Analyst at SMC Global Securities, told Livemint, “The US government’s unexpected decision to impose a $100,000 annual fee for every H-1B visa from September 21, 2025, severely impacts both Indian and US-listed IT companies with significant US operations. Leading Indian IT firms such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL Technologies, and Cognizant depend on the H-1B programme to provide skilled engineers for American client projects, so this fee hike dramatically raises costs and diminishes their competitiveness.”

According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Amazon got the most H1-B visa approvals at 10,044, as of June 2025. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) was the second with 5,505 H-1B visa approvals.

Other top beneficiaries were Microsoft (5,189), Meta (5,123), Apple (4,202), Google (4,181), Deloitte (2,353), Infosys (2,004), Wipro (1,523) and Tech Mahindra Americas (951).

The US tech companies can be staring at a talent pool crisis as they would likely be pressed to hire more American workers who are not as efficient as their Indian counterparts, experts say.

Sandeep Pandey, Co-founder of Basav Capital, said told LiveMint, “After the H-1B visa fee hike, employees’ cost for both Indian and US tech companies is expected to go up, irrespective of the country those employees belong to. The idea behind this US administration move is to increase the job opportunities for the American unemployed. However, they would ask for a higher salary, and hence, the input cost of the companies would go northward.”

“Most importantly, they are not as efficient as the Indian and other countries’ techies these companies have been hiring. So, companies will pay higher and their output will be lower, which is expected to hit the business volume and margins,” he added.

Some analysts predicted that the steep fees may force companies to shift some high-value work overseas, which would hurt America’s position in the artificial intelligence race with China.

“In the short term, Washington may collect a windfall; in the long term, the US risks taxing away its innovation edge, trading dynamism for short-sighted protectionism,” eMarketer analyst Jeremy Goldman told Reuters. 

With inputs from agencies