After the Donald Trump administration's new move to impose an annual fee on H-1B visas from September 21 onwards, various companies in the US have urged their foreign employees holding H-1B and H-4 visas to stay in the country.
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Employees who are currently outside the US for vacation or other purposes have also been urged to return to the US before 12:01 AM EDT on September 21 (9:01 PM PT on September 20).
"If you have H-1B status and are in the US, stay in the country for now," Amazon said in a note to its employees.
"H-1B visa holders who are currently in the US should remain in the US and avoid international travel until the government issues clear travel guidance," read an email sent to JPMorgan employees by Ogletree Deakins, a company that handles visa applications for the investment bank, as per a Reuters report.
Microsoft and Meta issued similar email notices to their employees, the report said.
"The Proclamation was released within the last 30 minutes, so we realise that there isn't much time to make sudden travel arrangements. But again, we strongly encourage you to do your best to return," the email from Microsoft added.
⚡ BREAKING: Microsoft asks all its foreign staff to return to US by Sunday after Trump's H1-B bombshell:
— OSINT Updates (@OsintUpdates) September 20, 2025
Microsoft has urged its H-1B and H-4 visa employees to promptly return to the United States before the September 21 deadline. This follows President Trump's announcement of… pic.twitter.com/lcvvJNNEG6
The White House order detailing the new move also mentions that the departments of State and Homeland Security were now authorised to reject entry to petitions that did not comply with the measure.
"H-1Bs still in India may have already missed the deadline as there is no way a direct flight from India will get in time,” New York-based immigration attorney Cyrus Mehta said in an X post—a sentiment shared by numerous others who will be stranded abroad due to the change in H-1B visa policy.
H-1B visa holders who are out of the US on business or vacation will get stranded unless they get in before midnight September 21. H-1Bs still in India may have already missed the deadline as there is no way a direct flight from India will get in time https://t.co/Ae2q6NKFCF
— Cyrus Mehta (@cyrusmehta) September 20, 2025
US-based immigration attorney Rajiv Khanna also pointed out a particular clause in the new policy, as per which Homeland Security might consider hiring an individual if it were “in the national interest”, and if they posed no security threat.
The full impact of the H-1B visa policy update on various industries in the US and abroad—especially tech—is yet to be seen.
