Travel for Diwali, weddings cancelled; panic grips Indian H-1B holders amid Trump's visa fee hike

While many cancelled plans to travel at the last minute while waiting to board flights to India.

New York/Washington: Widespread panic, confusion and concern gripped Indians in the US on H-1B visas on Saturday hours after US President Donald Trump’s order to impose a staggering USD 1,00,000 fee on the work visas, with many cancelling their plans to travel to India.

Many people already in India are scrambling to return amid lack of clarity after Trump on Friday signed a proclamation to raise the H-1B visa fees, weeks before Indian professionals and their families travel to India for Diwali and other year-end holidays.

Individuals on H-1B visas as well as those in the US tracking the news spoke to PTI on condition of anonymity and stressed that the underlying emotion among H-1B visa holders and their families right now is that of “a crazy sense of panic” and “worry.”

There are instances where people have cancelled their travel plans as they were waiting in line to board their flights to India across US airports on Friday, the moment news came through of Trump’s proclamation ‘Restriction on entry of certain non-immigrant workers' to raise the H-1B visa fee to USD 1,00,000 annually.

An individual told PTI about a person who was to travel to India for their own wedding and who has now cancelled plans amid the uncertainty this proclamation has triggered.

“This is a travel ban! Even if a person has a valid H-1B visa stamped on their passport, if they are travelling, or are on vacation, you cannot enter the US unless they have proof of the USD 1,00,000 payment. No one knows what the process is, what the fine print is. There’s absolute panic,” one of the individuals said.

“People who are standing in boarding lines at airports, people who are leaving for their own wedding tomorrow, things like that. They are cancelling because they don't know what to do,” another person said.

There is also confusion around the fact that if people have an H-1B stamped and are currently living in the US, “what does that mean for me?”

“The biggest question that has come out is that you cannot leave the country,” one individual said, citing the internal memos that major tech companies have issued to their employees.

These memos urged their employees not to travel outside the US or to return immediately before the September 21 deadline when Trump's proclamation comes into effect.

“The number one thing that all of the employers are just saying is that if you are inside the country right now, do not leave,” another person said. “Those already outside the US are figuring out how to come back like today. Most people are scrambling to return to the US,” another individual said.

“Even then, people just don't know whether they will be able to come back, what the process will be to get this USD 1,00,000 for a company. Nobody knows anything. And getting any clarity on this will not happen anytime soon,” the individual added.

The people who spoke with PTI also pointed to the timing of the proclamation, coming just weeks before Indian professionals and their families travel to India for Diwali and other year-end holidays.

“People had plans to travel to India for Diwali. They're all in a flux and not sure what to do. Families book tickets for Diwali, for the December holiday season well in advance. This is the time when most people travel.

“This is the time when people actually want to leave and be with family during the holiday season. Now this has happened. Does that mean that I cannot travel this year? That’s another sense of ‘oh my god’,” they said.

While there may be exceptions to the proclamation or courts may put a hold on the order, there is little clarity as to what that will entail, another individual on a work visa said. “We don't know any of that. In the current state, there's a sense of panic. People have come to realise that they cannot travel.”

The persons PTI spoke to also pointed to the larger sentiment that this proclamation has unearthed.

People have been under stress for this whole year with so many changes, not knowing what will happen, now the H-1B related proclamation has added another layer of uncertainty, and nobody seems to understand where this is headed.

There are so many questions about who is next? “Will students on F1 visas or those on L1 work visas be next,” the people asked.

“What happens to my spouse who's on a H4 visa, can they travel? None of these things are super clear. Another thing that has caused panic for a lot of people is that when such news comes out, nobody talks about the specifics. Nobody's able to help,” they added.

A person pointed out that people had come to accept the fact that they will not get Green Cards in the US in the foreseeable future since the wait time for H-1B visa holders from India is decades-long. “But at least they could live and work in the US on the visas, which could be extended. But now, with this travel ban, there is a sense of what will happen to dependents of H1B visa holders, their children. What else should I be prepared for?” they said.

“It's just a weird time. It's only been six-seven months of this administration and everything feels just crazy. People are really starting to question if they can continue to build their lives in the US because there's such a high level of uncertainty around everything now,” one of the people said.