Trump’s $100,000 H 1B visa payment sparks India US airfare surge, journey chaos for staff
US President Donald Trump’s choice to impose a $100,000 annual payment for H-1B employee visas, beginning midnight on September 21, has resulted in a pointy improve in airfare for flights from India to the US.
The airfares between India and US cities have elevated for flights departing on Saturday, following the Trump administration’s directive to cost $100,000 for H-1B employee visas beginning at midnight on September 21.
A number of firms, together with Amazon and Microsoft, have suggested their H-1B staff travelling overseas to return to the US by midnight September 21. Others have been requested to droop their journey out of the US. Of the overall H-1B visas issued by the US, Indians are the biggest beneficiaries, accounting for 71% in 2024.
The costs of flights between Indian cities and the US have jumped manifold, making it practically unimaginable for any H-1B holder visiting India to make it to the US throughout the Trump administration deadline. The earliest arrival within the US from India is an Air India flight taking 19:55 hours between Delhi and JF Kennedy, New York, with one cease in Mumbai. The flight departing on Saturday prices round Rs 1.18 lakh for economic system however will attain hours past Sunday midnight, making it virtually unimaginable to make it to the US from India.
The fares between India and the US for September 21 are again within the vary of a median Rs 40,000-Rs 50,000 on each home and worldwide carriers, as mirrored on on-line reserving platforms of assorted airways and different reserving platforms.
There have been studies that many H-1B visa holders deboarded flights at US airports and aborted overseas journey plans after the Trump administration signed the order early Saturday.
In accordance with a report citing USCIS information, TCS accounted for over 5,505 H-1B visas granted for fiscal 12 months 2025 (Oct 2024–September 2025), adopted by Cognizant (3,700), Infosys (2,004), LTIMindtree (1,807) and HCL Tech (1,728). US agency Amazon accounted for over 10,000 beneficiaries, adopted by Microsoft and Meta, each of which obtained H-1B visa approval for over 5,100 beneficiaries.
“The H-1B non-immigrant visa program was created to carry short-term staff into the US to carry out high-skilled features, nevertheless it has been intentionally exploited to interchange, moderately than complement, American staff with lower-paid, lower-skilled labour,” mentioned the White Home.
