Confusion reigns.
White House: H-1B $100,000 Fee Will Only Affect New Applicants - Business Insider share.google
("Abigail Jackson, the White House deputy press secretary, later wrote on X that the order "does not impact the ability of any current visa holder to travel to/from the U.S."
Trump's executive order does not include such explicit language. The statements that the fee will not apply to renewals also contradict what Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters on Friday in the Oval Office.
"Renewals, first times, the company needs to decide," Lutnick said in response to a question about the fee's application. "Do they want — is the person valuable enough to have a $100,000 a year payment to the government or they should head home, and they should go hire an American".)
Who to believe? Clean-up on aisle 5 or the actual words of the order? I'll go with the actual words.
I've scanned briefly the actual words of the proclamation. First, it's is a one year - unless otherwise extended - period. Second, it seems to apply to existing visa holders ("The restriction on entry pursuant to section 1 of this proclamation shall apply only to aliens who enter or attempt to enter the United States after the effective date of this proclamation as set forth in section 1(a) of this proclamation")
PS, that one year expiration isn't really a one year expiration: "No later than 30 days following the completion of the H-1B lottery that immediately follows this proclamation, the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall jointly submit to the President, through the Assistant to the President and Homeland Security Advisor, a recommendation on whether an extension or renewal of the restriction on entry pursuant to section 1 of this proclamation is in the interests of the United States." |
