'If I have to go back, I would rather go back now because I don't want to face that situation when I'm in my 40s.'
A young couple's journey through immigration uncertainty reveals not just the human cost of policy announcements, but a surprising rekindling of love for the homeland left behind.
The notification pinged on smartphones across America on Friday, September 19, night. US President Donald Trump had signed a proclamation that would add a staggering $100,000 fee to H1B visa applications, sending shockwaves through the Indian Diaspora that forms the backbone of America's tech industry.
For Priya and her husband Rajesh (names changed on request), the news arrived like a digital earthquake in their quiet suburban home.
She, on an H4 dependent visa, watched helplessly as her husband -- an H1B holder with three years remaining on his current visa -- absorbed the implications of what seemed like a career-ending decree.
"I was not really impacted by it initially," Priya recalls, her voice still carrying traces of that night's uncertainty. "It would be my husband who would be affected."
But as the hours stretched into a sleepless dawn, the reality of their precarious situation began to crystallise.
The 24-Hour Nightmare
The new $100,000 fee only applies to new visas, not renewals or current visa holders, but this clarification wouldn't come until Saturday evening -- leaving hundreds of thousands of families suspended in immigration limbo for nearly 24 agonising hours.
Rajesh's initial reaction was measured but telling. "He was pretty straightforward that Trump was going to charge $100,000 for the petition," Priya remembers. "But he didn't provide any official documents when he announced it. So I was waiting for more information."
That wait would prove torturous. Videos began circulating on social media of panicked H1B holders rushing to airports, abandoning flights mid-boarding, convinced they might never be allowed back into the country that had become their home.
"People actually got into flights and then immediately vacated, thinking they won't be able to come back and their life was going to be affected," Priya recounts, her voice reflecting the collective fear that gripped the community for almost 24 hours.
Even as chaos swirled around them, Rajesh maintained a strategic calm born from experience with Trump's policy announcements.
"I was just waiting for more information. I was pretty calm because this is the typical way of dealing with Donald Trump. He just scares people in the beginning and then backs out."
Calculating Life in Dollar Terms
The numbers were stark and unforgiving. Companies would need to pay $100,000 annually to hire a worker on an H1B visa, compared to the current fee structure of $1,500 to $4,500 -- a 25-fold increase that threatened to price out all but the most essential employees.
During those crucial 24 hours, Rajesh's mind raced through scenarios with the precision of an engineer solving a complex algorithm.
"What I was thinking is I have three years left on my current H1B. So if I were to pay $100,000 for a new H1B that would start three years from now."
The couple outlined their contingency plans with clarity: "Either figure out something to cope with $100,000 in those three years, or convince your employer to pay on your behalf, or be ready to leave the country and start life again -- from another country or maybe back to India."
The psychological preparation was perhaps the most telling aspect of his response. "You have to come back if somebody is not willing to pay $100,000 and if he is not letting it go," he states matter-of-factly, revealing how H1B holders have learned to compartmentalise existential uncertainty as just another variable in their American Dream.
When Policy Becomes Personal
The proposed fee hike threatened to transform the entire ecosystem of skilled immigration. Last year's H1B registration drew 470,000 applicants competing for 85,000 available visas. Rajesh calculated that the $100,000 fee would likely reduce applications to around 80,000 TO 100,000, potentially generating $8.5 billion in annual revenues for the US exchequer.
"Even if they technically go ahead with the $100,000 fee, they are probably making $85 billion out of it," he observed, recognising the policy's revenue-generating potential while questioning its fairness.
Between Two Flags: Loyalty Tested by Policy
Beyond the financial calculations lay deeper questions about belonging and contribution. Rajesh suspected the timing wasn't coincidental.
"Trump wanted to scare the Indian diaspora. Based on what's going on with the country regarding trades, there is intent behind it -- he wanted to scare the Indian population."
Yet even facing potential displacement, Rajesh maintained a measured perspective that revealed his enduring respect for both nations: "If they are really doing this to save American jobs, then I have no problem. But if they are doing it because India is buying Russian oil and they are putting tariffs on India, then it's wrong."
His words reflected a complex loyalty -- to the American dream that had given him opportunity, and to the Indian nation whose interests he still defended even from thousands of miles away. The policy had unwittingly forced a reckoning with questions of identity and allegiance that many H1B holders had carefully compartmentalised.
When Policy Breeds Patriotism
The psychological toll was evident in conversations throughout the Indian professional community, but it revealed something unexpected -- a renewed connection to India that years of American assimilation had gradually eroded.
"Every day they start thinking -- if I have to go back, I would rather go back now because I'm young and I don't want to face that situation when I'm in my 40s," Rajesh observed about his colleagues' mindset.
But this wasn't just about timing or logistics. The conversations revealed a deeper shift in how H1B holders viewed their relationship with both countries.
The threat of forced departure had awakened dormant feelings about contributing to India's growth rather than simply being beneficiaries of America's opportunities.
"Are there conversations among Indian H1B visa holders that they need to go back to India and start contributing to India's growth?"
When asked this question, Rajesh's response was immediate and telling: "Every day they say that if I have to go back, I would rather go back now."
This sentiment reflected a broader awakening within the Indian Diaspora -- that perhaps their skills, honed in Silicon Valley and Wall Street, belonged not just to American corporations but to the nation that had nurtured their foundational education and values.
The threat had transformed what could have been viewed as professional failure into an opportunity for national service. Young professionals who had once measured success by their ability to stay in America were now reconsidering whether their greatest contribution lay in returning to build India's technological ecosystem.
When Relief Comes with Conditions
Within 24 hours, a White House official clarified that the new fee would only apply to new visas, not renewals or current visa holders. For families like Priya and Rajesh's, it was a reprieve -- but one that highlighted the precarious nature of their American dreams.
The clarification revealed additional complexities. Students on F1 visas who win the H1B lottery and file for change of status within the US might avoid the fee entirely -- a detail that still remains frustratingly vague in official communications.
"If you file change of status in the United States, then you probably don't have to pay $100,000, which is still unclear. They haven't clarified that yet," Rajesh notes, highlighting how immigration policy often exists in gray areas that affect real lives.
As the immediate panic subsided, longer-term concerns emerged. The executive order would need to navigate legal challenges and regulatory processes, potentially taking months or years to implement fully.
But for the community of skilled immigrants who have built their lives around visa renewals and green card queues, the message was unmistakable: Their welcome in America comes with an increasingly expensive price tag.
For now, families like Priya and Rajesh's can breathe easier, their three-year timeline intact. But they -- along with hundreds of thousands of others -- have learned once again that in the complex calculus of American immigration, security is always temporary, and the next policy announcement is just a smartphone notification away.