President Donald Trump’s new $100,000 fee for high-skill visa holders only applies to new applicants — not current visa holders who may be on travel outside of the U.S. — according to the White House.
The president’s H-1B announcement on Friday immediately spurred chaos, with companies and immigration lawyers warning travelers to return to the U.S. before midnight on Sunday, when the new policy is scheduled to kick in.
The White House said Saturday that corporate lawyers and “others with agendas are creating a lot of FAKE NEWS” around the proclamation, and said it does not apply to anyone with a current visa, and only affects future applicants in the February lottery who are outside of the U.S.
A White House official, granted anonymity to discuss the policy, pointed to language in the proclamation that says “aliens whose petitions are accompanied or supplemented by a payment of $100,000” — meaning the payment is only required for new filings, not current visa holders.
“It does not apply to anyone who participated in the 2025 lottery,” the White House said on X post-publication. “The Proclamation does not impact the ability of any current visa holder to travel to/from the U.S.”
In a separate post clarifying the proclamation, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote that the $100,000 payment would be applicable “only to new visas, not renewals, and not current visa holders.”
Leavitt also noted that “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.”
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