By News18,Vani Mehrotra
Copyright news18
Doctors and physicians in the United States are likely to be exempted from new H-1B visa fees, Reuters quoted a report on Monday, days after the White House announced a new $100,000 fee for such visas that include “case-by-case exemptions if in the national interest.”
Doctors may be among those exempted, a Bloomberg news reporter said in a post on X, citing White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers.
On September 21, the Donald Trump administration clarified that the new USD 100,000 fee for H-1B visas is a one-time payment applicable only to new petitions and does not apply to current visa holders, providing a huge relief for thousands of concerned professionals working in the US, including those from India.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said in a statement on Saturday that 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 re-entering the country.
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.
WHAT IS H-1B?
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.
The visas are very popular among Indian tech professionals, and are valid for three years and can be renewed for another three years.
Under a Congressional-mandated cap, the US 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.
ALSO READ | ‘Hurts American Firms, Taxpayers’: US Attorney Slams H-1B Visa Fee Hike
