A new $100,000 fee for H-1B visas in the United States will go into effect on Sunday, the White House said on Saturday. The charge will apply per petition and will not affect existing holders of valid visas re-entering the country.

"This is NOT an annual fee. It's a one-time fee that applies only to the petition," White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt wrote on X.

The Trump administration announced the move on Friday, saying companies would be required to pay $100,000 per year for H-1B worker visas. The announcement rattled the tech industry, with firms such as Microsoft, JPMorgan, and Amazon advised employees holding H-1B visas to remain in the U.S, according to internal emails reviewed by Reuters.

Politico reported that companies and immigration lawyers had warned travelers to return to the U.S. before the new policy takes effect at midnight on Sunday.

Concerns outside the U.S.

India, which accounted for 71 percent of the U.S. H-1B skilled worker visa approvals last year, warned of humanitarian consequences and family disruptions.

The move could further strain ties between India and the U.S., which hit their lowest point in decades after U.S. President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on imports from India to as much as 50% last month.

"This measure is likely to have humanitarian consequences by way of the disruption caused for families. Government hopes that these disruptions can be addressed suitably by the U.S. authorities," Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for India's Foreign Ministry, said in a statement.

India's IT industry body National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), which represents India's $283 billion IT and business process outsourcing industry, also cautioned that the abrupt rollout of the policy would impact Indian nationals and disrupt continuity of ongoing onshore projects for the country's technology services firms. The policy could disrupt the global operations of Indian technology services companies that deploy skilled professionals to the U.S., according to the association.

South Korea's foreign ministry said it will assess the impact of the H-1B visa worker changes on South Korean companies and workers seeking to enter the United States.

Trump's immigration control

Since taking office in January, Trump has kicked off a wide-ranging immigration crackdown including moves to limit some forms of legal immigration. The H-1B visa overhaul is the Trump administration's most high profile move to reshape temporary employment visas.

Trump's threat to crack down on H-1B visas has become a major flashpoint with the tech industry, which contributed millions of dollars to his presidential campaign. The policy change could deal a big blow to the technology sector that relies heavily on skilled workers from other countries especially India and China.

"If you're going to train somebody, you're going to train one of the recent graduates from one of the great universities across our land," said U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

(With input from Reuters)