The U.S. government has raised the fee for H‑1B work visas to an unprecedented USD 100,000, prompting widespread panic among Indian professionals on these visas.
The sudden visa policy change announced just weeks before major Indian festivals like Diwali has led many to cancel or delay trips to India for weddings, holiday celebrations, and family visits due to uncertainty about the fee’s impact.
President Donald Trump displays a signed executive order at the White House on September 19, 2025, introducing the new $100,000 H-1B visa fee. The sudden policy announcement led to widespread confusion among visa holders.
Trending travel news, updated daily.
We track the most relevant travel headlines and filter out the rest, giving you only the news that matters now.
Travel Plans Thrown into Chaos
When President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on September 19 imposing a staggering $100,000 fee on H-1B visas – a gigantic increase from the typical $2,000–$5,000 application cost – it caught thousands of Indian visa holders off guard.
Within hours of the announcement, scenes of chaos unfolded at airports across the United States as travelers scrambled to react.
Some Indian professionals received frantic messages from employers or news alerts while literally waiting to board flights to India, leading them to abort their trips at the last minute.
In one dramatic incident, an Emirates flight at San Francisco International Airport was delayed by over three hours because multiple H-1B passengers panicked and insisted on deplaning before takeoff.
Airline staff ultimately allowed at least five travelers to disembark rather than fly with anxious, unwilling passengers on board.
To illustrate the fear gripping these visa holders, one software engineer even convinced the pilot of a taxiing flight to return to the gate so she could get off the plane, after her company’s lawyers urgently advised all employees abroad to rush back to the U.S..
Another H-1B worker described the situation as “a crazy sense of panic,” saying it felt like “a travel ban” specifically targeting foreign tech workers – even those with valid visas – because they feared they might not be allowed back into the U.S. without proof of paying the hefty new fee.
Major tech companies including Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet (Google’s parent) sent urgent notices warning their staff on H-1B (and H-4 dependent visas) to either stay in the country or return immediately before the policy’s effective date.
Employers were essentially cautioning visa holders not to travel abroad, or else risk being unable to re-enter the United States in the face of the new rule.
Festive and Family Trips Disrupted
The timing of the visa fee hike could not have been worse for Indian expatriates.
It came just ahead of Diwali – one of the biggest annual festivals when many Indian professionals in the U.S. fly home for celebrations – as well as the peak season for Indian weddings and year-end family visits.
As news of the policy spread, countless travelers canceled trips for events they had long planned.
In one case, an H-1B employee in the U.S. scrapped his flight to India for his own wedding at the last moment, uncertain if he would be able to return to his job afterward.
Others already in India cut their visits short and scrambled to book earlier return flights to the U.S., unwilling to risk being stuck abroad.
Indian families that would normally reunite during the holidays are now facing heartbreaking decisions to postpone or forgo gatherings, a fallout that even the Indian government warned could cause “disruption for families”.
Travel agencies in India reported a surge in urgent, last-minute flight bookings to the U.S. as H-1B visa holders who were visiting India rushed to return before the fee took effect.
At the same time, airlines and agents braced for a wave of cancellations on upcoming flights to India, since many visa holders have put their Diwali-season trips on hold in light of the uncertainty.
What would normally be a busy festive travel period between the two countries has instead turned into a time of anxiety and reversed plans for this segment of travelers.
Skyrocketing Fares and Airline Chaos
The frenzy triggered by the visa announcement sent airfares and demand on India–U.S. routes soaring overnight.
Within hours, one-way economy tickets from Indian cities to the U.S. spiked to as high as ₹270,000 (approximately $3,250) – many times the usual fare.
All direct flights from India to the U.S. in the day leading up to the fee deadline were quickly sold out, forcing desperate travelers to pay premium prices for any remaining seats they could find.
“All nonstop flights leaving for the U.S. on Saturday and early Sunday have been nearly sold out,” confirmed Anil Kalsi, vice president of the Travel Agents Federation of India, as people scrambled to get back before the cutoff.
At major airports like New Delhi and Bengaluru, long queues formed at airline ticket counters with H-1B visa holders trying to advance their return dates. “All seats are gone or cost a fortune… it feels like the world has turned upside down,” lamented one software engineer in Bengaluru, who was frantically searching for a flight to New York in time.
Some travelers paid exorbitant last-minute fares, only to arrive after the deadline and remain unsure how the rules would apply to them. For a few, the sudden uncertainty meant making agonizing choices: one H-1B worker visiting India decided not to rush back at all upon hearing the news, saying “I’d rather stay here than risk being deported with my daughter” and opting to extend his stay with family instead of potentially being stranded.
The visa fee shockwave thus upended travel itineraries and created chaos in what is usually a high-demand travel corridor.
Late Clarifications Provide Relief
Amid the tumult, U.S. officials moved to clarify the new visa policy – a step that eventually helped temper the panic.
The White House emphasized that the $100,000 H-1B visa fee would not apply to current visa holders or to renewals, but only to new applications, and that it was a one-time charge per petition (not an annual fee as some initially feared).
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt explicitly reassured that “those who already hold H-1B visas and are currently outside of the country right now will NOT be charged $100,000 to re-enter” the U.S., underscoring that the rule “does not impact the ability of any current visa holder to travel to/from the US”.
Officials clarified that the fee would only impact petitions filed on or after 12:01 a.m. EDT on September 21, 2025 – meaning individuals who already have a valid H-1B visa can continue to travel abroad and return without paying this new charge.
These clarifications, coming a day or two after the initial announcement, began to ease the community’s worst fears. By Sunday, “the panic… was cleaned up”, as one U.S. business leader noted, since it became clear that existing H-1B workers would not be personally hit with an immediate $100k bill to come back into the country.
However, the damage had been done for many travelers who had already canceled important trips or incurred hefty costs to change flights in the interim.
Immigration lawyers noted that the episode caused “mass confusion” – some workers’ start dates were delayed and money was lost on scrapped travel plans and accommodations.
The incident served as a lesson in how abrupt policy moves, without prior warning or detailed guidance, can wreak havoc on individuals’ mobility and travel plans.
Why It Matters for Travelers
- Huge Impact on Indian Professionals: Indian nationals receive about 70–75% of all H-1B work visas each year , so this U.S. visa policy change directly affects a vast community of Indian professionals and their families. Many of them travel frequently between India and America for work assignments, family visits, and cultural events – meaning any sudden visa rule change can upend their travel plans almost overnight.
- Disruption of Seasonal Travel: The fee hike’s timing clashed with major Indian festivities (like Diwali) and the South Asian wedding season, when travel between India and the U.S. usually surges. The abrupt change led to immediate Diwali travel cancellations and postponed trips for weddings and holidays, showing how visa policies can disrupt even personal life events and peak travel periods.
- Airline Route Demand Shock: With over two-thirds of H-1B visa holders being Indian, changes to this program can significantly alter travel demand on certain India–U.S. routes. Airlines could see reduced bookings in the long run if visa hurdles discourage non-essential trips – industry experts warn that this policy “could reduce family visits” and leisure travel among Indian professionals. Even in the short term, the fee scare created an unnatural spike (rush flights before the deadline) followed by a potential drop-off in travel, making it hard for airlines to predict and manage capacity.
- Last-Minute Chaos and Costs: As seen in this case, abrupt policy moves can cause last-minute travel chaos – from passengers literally deplaning en masse due to fear, to flights delayed amid confusion, to individuals paying exorbitant fares or losing money on canceled tickets. Such scenarios highlight the importance of clear communication and grace periods in policy changes. For travelers, it’s a stark reminder that visa and immigration rule changes can have very real, immediate consequences on their mobility and finances, especially in high-travel seasons.
Sources: Recent news reports and official statements on the H-1B visa fee hike and its impact on travel.
This includes coverage from Reuters, Al Jazeera, and The Economic Times, among others.
All cited content is sourced from these reports to ensure accuracy and up-to-date information on the developing situation.