Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, ask H-1B, H4 visa holders to return to US by tomorrow after Trump H-1B visa order

Microsoft has urged its workers with the H-1B and H-4 visa to return to the United States by tomorrow, September 21, before the deadline, according to a report by Reuters.

The announcement comes hours after US President Donald Trump issued a proclamation imposing a $100,000 fee on H-1B visa applications.

In an email seen by Reuters, Microsoft has “strongly” recommended its H-1B and H-4 visa holding workers to come back to the US.

The company has also recommended its H-4 visa holders to remain in the US. It said that H-1B visa holders should remain in the US “for the foreseeable future”.

Meta, Amazon issue advisory

Tech giants have primarily been affected due to Trump's H-1B orders, as a chunk of employees in these companies hold the permit meant for IT workers.

Amazon has asked its employees with H1-B and H4 visas to stay in the US for the time being. Those who have gone abroad have been advised to return to the US by 12:00 ET, September 21, when the deadline will expire.

A similar advisory was issued by Mark Zuckerberg's Meta. The company asked employees to stay in US for at least 14 days, until ‘practical application’ of the order issued by Trump is understood, according to NDTV. Workers currently outside the US have been advised to return within 24 hours.

JPMorgan's recommendation to H-1B visa holders

The outside immigration counsel of JPMorgan has also made similar requests to its H1-B visa holders.

According to an email seen by Reuters, JPMorgan as advised its employees to remain in the US and avoid international travel until further guidance is issued by the Trump administration.

It has also “strongly advised” H-1B visa holders who are currently outside the US to return before 12:01 ET on September 21, in accordance with the deadline set by Trump, after which the $100,000 annual fees will be imposed.

The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa which allows US-based companies to hire and employ foreign workers for speciality jobs like science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM), and IT (High skills and at least a bachelor's degree).

H-1B visa fees: Why did Trump impose $100,000 fees?

Donald Trump on Friday signed the proclamation ‘Restriction on entry of certain nonimmigrant workers’. Under this, restrictions will be imposed on the entry into the US of those workers whose petitions are not accompanied or supplemented with a fee of $100,000.

“The H-1B nonimmigrant visa programme was created to bring temporary workers into the United States to perform additive, high-skilled functions, but it has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labour,” Trump said in the proclamation.

He described the alleged ‘abuse’ of the H-1B visa programme as a “national security threat”.

“Domestic law enforcement agencies have identified and investigated H-1B-reliant outsourcing companies for engaging in visa fraud, conspiracy to launder money... and other illicit activities to encourage foreign workers to come to the United States,” the US President said.

Trump ordered that the Secretary of Homeland Security shall restrict decisions on petitions not accompanied by a $100,000 payment for H-1B speciality occupation workers, who are currently outside the United States, for 12 months following the effective date of the proclamation, which is September 21, 2025.

Indian workers in the US hold the most number of H-1B visas.