- By Ajeet Kumar
- Sat, 20 Sep 2025 04:58 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
H1-B Visa overhaul: Minutes after US President Donald Trump on Friday signed a proclamation that will raise the fee for H-1B visas to a steep USD 1,00,000 annually, Indians who were already in their hometowns desperately rushed to America in order to beat the deadline. Some social media users also pointed out that several Indian flyers requested to disembark just before the flight was scheduled to take off from various US airports. At some of the major transit hubs, like Dubai, passengers cancelled their onward journey to return to the United States. The panic situation led to airlines increasing the fares dramatically.
Prices of US flights spiked
As of writing this article, a New Delhi to New York flight at Make My Trip, a popular platform for booking airline tickets, is selling at a minimum price range of Rs 49,000-50,000. Amid a chaotic situation, some of the airlines are continiously increasing their prices above Rs 90,000.
Indians chasing deadline
Immigration experts say the narrow deadline leaves little chance for anyone in India to make it in time. With direct flights from Delhi or Mumbai to New York taking 15–16 hours — and India nearly 10 hours ahead of Eastern Time — even travellers departing the morning of September 20 (IST) would miss the US deadline.
H1-B Visa fee surge
“Anyone still in India has effectively missed the window,” said US immigration attorney Cyrus Mehta, adding that H-1B holders abroad risk being stranded unless their employers pay the $100,000 surcharge.
The H-1B visa fee ranges from about USD 2,000 to USD 5,000, depending on employer size and other costs. Indian techies are among the main beneficiaries of the US H-1B visa program, which attracts top talent and expertise from around the globe. The Congress-mandated pool is 6,50,000 such visas every year, along with an additional 20,000 visas reserved for those who have earned advanced degrees in the US.
A look at the USCIS website shows that for FY25 (data as on June 30, 2025), Amazon topped the list of H-1B visa approvals at 10,044. In that list of top-ten beneficiaries, TCS (5,505) is at the second spot followed by Microsoft Corp (5,189), Meta (5,123), Apple (4,202), Google (4,181), Cognizant (2,493), JP Morgan Chase (2,440), Walmart (2,390) and Deloitte Consulting (2,353). The top 20 list includes Infosys (2,004), LTIMindtree (1,807), and HCL America (1,728).
The visa fee blow comes at a time when the USD 283 billion Indian IT sector is already rattled by a turbulent business environment in the world's largest outsourcing market. The sector faces delays in client decision-making amid macroeconomic uncertainties, tariffs and trade wars, geopolitical tensions, and the changing landscape driven by AI.
(With inputs from agency)