This is how the rollout of the H-1B $100,000 fee has gone thus far

— Prof Gautam Menon —

– During the Friday White House Press Conference, the Secretary of Commerce, who has no authority over immigration, was invited to communicate the rollout of the new policy, where he said that it would be an annual $100,000 fee for all H-1Bs for everybody renewing their visas and for those applying for the first time.

– The same day, the White House releases the proclamation, which reiterates that it applies to literally all H-1B workers who are outside of the U.S., and that it goes into effect the following Monday.

– A day later, the Press Secretary tweets that the effects of the proclamation start during next year’s H-1B lottery and doesn’t impact people who already have a visa or who are renewing their visas, and that they can all re-enter the country without paying the fee–a complete contradiction from what was said at the White House press conference and what was written in the White House proclamation.

– Hours later, USCIS and CBP (which have no direct authority in implementing this proclamation) claim that it only applies to future petitions, but doesn’t specify if people petitioning for a renewal are subject to it or exempt from it. Meanwhile, the State Department, the agency that actually has the authority to implement this proclamation, still says nothing on the subject.

In other words, we still have no idea who is subject to this proclamation and when it goes into effect because we’ve been given multiple contradictory statements by different U.S. government officials. And the actual agency who is implementing the ban still has yet to issue any clarifying information.”