USD 100,000 H-1B visa fee only for new petitions, existing holders not affected: Trump admin
New York/Washington (PTI): The Donald Trump administration has clarified that the new USD 100,000 fee for H-1B visas does not apply to current visa holders and is a one-time payment only for new petitions.
The clarification is a cause of huge relief for thousands of panic-stricken professionals working in the US, including those from India, who are concerned about being impacted by the new rule.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said in a statement on Saturday that President Trump’s new H-1B visa requirement applies only to new, prospective petitions that have not yet been filed.
H-1B petitions submitted before the effective proclamation date of September 21 are not affected. Those visa holders currently outside the US also do not need to pay the fee for reentering the country.
White House Spokesperson Taylor Rogers told PTI that "President Trump promised to put American workers first, and this commonsense action does just that by discouraging companies from spamming the system and driving down wages."
"It also gives certainty to American businesses that actually want to bring high-skilled workers to our great country but have been trampled on by abuses of the system," she said.
A White House official told PTI that the USD 100,000 fee is a one-time charge that applies only to the petition. "It only applies to new visas, not renewals or current visa holders. It will first apply in the upcoming lottery cycle. It does not apply to 2025 lottery winners."
In a memorandum, USCIS Director Joseph Edlow wrote that the proclamation -- 'Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers' -- issued by Trump on Friday only applies prospectively to petitions that have not yet been filed.
The proclamation does not apply to individuals who "are the beneficiaries of petitions that were filed prior to the effective date of the proclamation, are the beneficiaries of currently approved petitions, or are in possession of validly issued H-1B non-immigrant visas".
"All officers of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services shall ensure that their decisions are consistent with this guidance. The proclamation does not impact the ability of any current visa holder to travel to or from the United States," the memo said.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also said on X that "to be clear", the USD 100,000 is not an annual but a one-time fee that applies only to the petition.
"Those who already hold H-1B visas and are currently outside of the country right now will not be charged USD 100,000 to re-enter. H-1B visa holders can leave and re-enter the country to the same extent as they normally would; whatever ability they have to do that is not impacted by yesterday’s proclamation," she said.
Leavitt added that the proclamation applies only to new visas, not renewals, and not current visa holders and will first apply in the next upcoming lottery cycle.
The clarification sent a huge wave of relief among Indian professionals on H-1B visas in the US, who had been gripped with panic, fear and concern after Trump signed the proclamation.
When asked if the hiked fee would apply to the H-1B visa holders already in the country, for renewals or for those applying for the first time, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had said, "Renewals, first times, the company needs to decide. Is that person valuable enough to have a USD 100,000 a year payment to the government? Or they should head home, and they should go hire an American."
"It can be a total of six years, so $100,000 a year. So either the person is very valuable to the company and America, or they're going to depart, and the company is going to hire an American.
"That’s the point of immigration -- hire Americans and make sure the people coming in are the top people. Stop the nonsense of letting people just come into this country on these visas that were given away for free. The President is crystal clear. Valuable people only for America. Stop the nonsense," Lutnick had said.
Widespread panic, confusion and concern had gripped Indians in the US on H-1B visas in the hours after Trump’s order to impose the fee, with many cancelling travel plans at the last minute while waiting to board flights to the homeland and several others already in India scrambling to return.
Immigration attorneys and companies sounded the alarm for H-1B visa holders or their family members currently outside the US for work or vacation, asking them to return to the US before the proclamation kicked in on September 21.
"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 had said in a post on X.
The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.
Under a Congressional-mandated cap, the United States can issue a maximum of 65,000 H-1B visas every year and another 20,000 to those who have obtained master's and higher degrees from the US. The current H1B visa fee ranges from about USD 2,000 to USD 5,000, depending on employer size and other costs.
The initial registration period for the 2027 fiscal year H-1B cap is expected to open around March next year. Last year, there was a USD 215 H-1B registration fee for each registration submitted on behalf of each beneficiary.
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Syndicate extorting money from Rajasthan bus conductors for decades dismantled, 8 held
Kota(Rajasthan) (PTI): Police busted a syndicate that allegedly extorted money from Rajasthan Roadways bus conductors by forcing them to charge passengers without issuing tickets, even as they offered the conductors protection from vigilance checks, officials said.
Jhalawar Police carried out simultaneous raids across 12 districts and arrested eight people, including the gang leader, Narendra Singh Rajawat, an independent ward councillor in Jhalawar.
With this, the decades-long operations of the gang, which has caused substantial loss to the state transport corporation, has been dismantled, they said.
As part of 'Operation Clean Ride', police also captured the exchange of money on video in a sting operation, a senior officer said on Saturday.
Since the gang would pass on messages regarding vigilance teams to the bus conductors through STD phone booths in the early days of its operation, it came be known as the 'STD Gang'.
The gang threatened roadways staff with false complaints of corruption for not issuing tickets to passengers and job termination if the payments were not made.
The gang allegedly facilitated "large-scale ticketless travel" and shared "confidential vigilance information", resulting in heavy revenue loss to the state, police said.
Police claimed the gang's activities caused revenue losses of up to 40 per cent at certain locations.
Speaking in detail on the matter on Saturday, Jhalawar Superintendent of Police Amit Kumar said following a confidential complaint received on December 24, 2025, police began a discreet investigation.
Technical evidence, call detail records and UPI transaction details were collected by the probe team. A sting operation was conducted that recorded members of the accepting illegal payments from conductors at different bus stands.
Based on the findings, a coordinated raid plan was executed, and all arrests were made simultaneously so that they would have no time to flee or destroy evidence.
Police arrested eight accused, including gang leader Narendra Singh Rajawat. Rs 11,57,980 in cash, three cars, two motorcycles, one laptop, 15 mobile phones, a spy camera pen, roadways identity cards, STD diaries, bus security slips, passbooks, cheque books and several other documents were seized from them.
Additional detentions were made with the help of local police in Ajmer, Tonk, Chittorgarh, Jodhpur, Pratapgarh, Jaipur, Banswara, Kota and Agar in Madhya Pradesh for further investigation, the SP said.
Police said the syndicate had been operating in a structured and organised manner for several years. They allegedly collected between Rs 50 and Rs 200 per conductor per trip and Rs 1,200 to Rs 2,500 per bus in exchange for bypassing checks and suppressing violations.
Conductors who refused to pay were allegedly targeted through vigilance complaints and harassment, the officer said.
The probe also revealed that multiple criminal cases had earlier been registered against members of the gang in different police stations for offences including obstruction of public servants, assault, criminal intimidation and violations under the IPC and SC/ST Act. Several of these cases are currently pending trial in court.
The SP said police are coordinating with Rajasthan Roadways management for further investigation and to set up preventive measures for the future.
'Operation Clean Ride' involved district special teams, cyber teams and police personnel from multiple districts. Further investigation is underway to identify others involved in the syndicate and assess the total revenue loss caused, police said.
