Shortly after President Donald Trump signed his executive order concerning the H-1B visa program on a Friday evening, panic spread rapidly among passengers aboard an Emirates flight bound for India from San Francisco. As notifications flooded in on passengers' phones regarding the new order, dozens of H-1B visa holders began to exit the aircraft one by one. Each departure prompted ground crew to scramble to retrieve luggage from the hold, further heightening the tension within the cabin.
Zarna Joshi, a US citizen and healthcare worker, observed the unfolding chaos from her window seat. "It was a nightmare," Joshi recounted to Business Insider. "We had already been onboard for two hours, and there were no updates — just more people leaving." By her estimate, at least 40 passengers chose to disembark the plane, torn between long-anticipated reunions and urgent emails from their employers.
The executive order mandated that companies would need to pay an additional $100,000 fee for H-1B visa employees, a move that sent shockwaves through Silicon Valley and corporate America. For decades, the tech industry has relied on H-1B visas to fill specialized positions in engineering and research. Just weeks prior, top technology executives—including Satya Nadella of Microsoft, Sundar Pichai of Google, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Sam Altman of OpenAI, and Tim Cook of Apple—had dined with Trump, expressing gratitude for his support of their US investments. However, this goodwill evaporated rapidly after the executive order was unveiled.
In the hours following the announcement, immigration and HR teams at major companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta sent urgent communications to their H-1B visa-holding employees: do not leave the US if you’re currently in the country, and return within 24 hours if you are abroad. The new regulations prompted a flurry of activity as employees scrambled for flights and inundated legal teams with questions. Immigration lawyers burned the midnight oil to respond to frantic inquiries, while thousands took to social media and group chats to express their concerns.
By Saturday, the White House attempted to clarify the situation, stating that the fee would only apply to new petitions, not renewals, and that existing visa holders would not be barred from returning to the US. They characterized the fee as a necessary corrective measure. In the executive order, Trump asserted that the H-1B program had deviated from its original intent of addressing high-skill labor shortages and was instead being exploited to replace American workers with lower-paid foreign labor.
Trump specifically pointed out IT outsourcing firms as primary offenders, accusing them of using the H-1B program to undercut wages and jeopardize American jobs in critical fields like computer science and engineering. The H-1B visa program, established in 1990, allows American companies to temporarily employ highly skilled foreign workers when there are no qualified American candidates available. Indian nationals have dominated this program, accounting for over 70% of H-1B approvals in fiscal year 2024, according to data from USCIS.
The executive order sparked a mix of reactions within the tech industry. Some industry leaders, like Reed Hastings, cofounder of Netflix, lauded the move as a way to ensure H-1B visas are reserved for highly skilled jobs. However, many tech workers, venture capitalists, and immigration lawyers expressed deep concern about the implications of the new rules. Business Insider spoke to various stakeholders who shared how they were coping with the uncertainty surrounding the H-1B visa status.
Akaash Hazarika, a Salesforce engineer, recounted how his vacation ended abruptly due to the new mandate. Faced with a dire warning from his employer to return to the US immediately, he scrambled to book an early flight. "It was stressful," Hazarika said. "I didn't sleep all night, worrying about being stranded outside the US."
At Microsoft, the executive order triggered immediate turmoil, especially given that the company had applied for over 5,500 H-1B visas in the fiscal year 2024. An internal memo warned employees that, starting at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time on September 21, those holding H-1B status would be unable to return to the US without the additional fee attached to their petition. Microsoft advised all employees to remain in the US and urged those abroad to return before the impending deadline.
While large tech companies may absorb the cost of the new fee, experts warn that startups could be disproportionately affected. As Deedy Das, a partner at Menlo Ventures, pointed out, the $100,000 annual fee could be a significant burden for early-stage companies. "An early-stage startup typically can't handle such high costs," he stated, highlighting the potential for startups to be priced out of the talent market.
David Hornik, a founding partner at Lobby Capital, echoed these concerns, arguing that any barriers to hiring H-1B visa holders could stifle innovation and job creation in the US. "If we make it difficult to attract the best talent, we hinder our ability to build the best companies," he warned, noting that startups often seek the best candidates regardless of their nationality.
As the tech industry braces for the fallout from this executive order, many insiders predict a shift toward hiring talent overseas. A Microsoft executive noted that the company might look to Canada, where immigration policies are more favorable, and other tech giants have already begun to establish offices outside the US in places like Mexico City and Bangalore.
Legal experts anticipate that the executive order will face challenges in court. Jason Finkelman, an immigration attorney, indicated that while presidents have the authority to issue such orders, the justification for a $100,000 fee lacks a clear legal foundation. He foresees lawsuits arising from a range of employers, from small startups to major tech firms, arguing that this fee could ultimately violate established immigration laws.
Even if the order is overturned in time, the immediate effects of the announcement have already caused significant anxiety and disruption. "The damage was done the moment it was announced," Finkelman concluded, highlighting the long-term implications for both H-1B visa holders and the broader tech ecosystem.
