Fearing that they would not be allowed to enter the country when the new regulations took effect and the erratic behavior of Mr. Trump, many H-1B visa holders rushed to return to the United States.

US President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order tightening visas for highly skilled workers coming to the US – Photo: REUTERS

According to Reuters, H-1B visa holders from India and China were forced to cancel their travel plans and rush back to the US after hearing that President Donald Trump had ordered the application of a new visa fee of up to $100,000 per application.

Tech companies and banks have sent urgent notices to immigration employees overseas, advising them to return to the US by midnight on September 21, eastern time, and not to leave.

Change of schedule

Fearing they would not be allowed back when the new rules came into effect, some Indians at San Francisco airport decided to cut short their overseas vacations. Some even insisted on getting off the plane even though they were already seated.

“This is a situation where we have to choose between our family and staying here,” an engineer at a major technology company told Reuters, whose wife took an Emirates flight from San Francisco to Dubai on September 19.

The engineer’s flight was delayed for more than three hours after some indian passengers were told about the new visa fee rules or were asked by their companies to get off the plane, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

At least five passengers were eventually allowed to leave the plane, the engineer added. A video of the incident circulating on social media shows several people leaving the plane.

The engineer’s wife, also an H-1B visa holder, chose to stay in India to care for her sick mother. “It’s tragic as we have tried to build a life here,” he told Reuters.

Experience like COVID-19 times

On the popular Chinese social media app Rednote, H-1B visa holders also shared their experiences of having to rush back to the U.S. Some said they had to board a plane just hours after landing.

Some likened the panic they felt to their experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, when they had to rush to fly back to the US before travel bans took effect.

“My feelings are a mix of disappointment, sadness and frustration,” one woman shared in a social media post.

The woman said she was on a United Airlines flight from New York to Paris when she received news of the new visa fees . After some discussion with the airline, the captain agreed to return to the airport so she could disembark.

Companies including Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Goldman Sachs are among those that have sent urgent emails to their employees with advice about travel outside the US.

A White House official previously sought to clarify that the new H-1B visa fee rule only applies to new applicants, not those who already have such visas or are applying for extensions.

But Mr Trump’s announcement a day earlier set off alarm bells in Silicon Valley.

“Some employers, using practices now widely used in many sectors, have abused the H-1B and these regulations to artificially suppress wages, resulting in a labor market disadvantage for U.S. citizens,” Mr. Trump’s statement on H-1B visas said.

An NVIDIA engineer who has lived in the United States for 10 years told Reuters at San Francisco airport that he was preparing to go on vacation to Japan with his wife and young child when he hurriedly changed his flight back after hearing the news.

“It feels so strange. Everything is changing in the blink of an eye,” he exclaimed.