Hyderabad: Telangana’s Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy expressed serious concerns about the impact on Telugu IT professionals following US President Donald Trump’s decision to significantly increase the H1B visa fee. He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to deal with this issue urgently. Reddy remarked that these executive orders were unexpected and do not align with the longstanding ties between India and the US.
He stated that the central government needs to create a plan to address this situation, considering the contributions of skilled Indian workers to the US. “The difficulties faced by our Telugu tech workers will be extreme,” he emphasized, appealing to the Prime Minister and External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar for swift action.
Earlier, D Sridhar Babu, the state’s IT and Industries Minister, criticized the central government for not responding to the US’s steep visa fee increase. He announced that the state government would formally request the central government to take immediate steps. He warned that the fee hike could severely affect India’s economy, particularly in Telangana.
The decision by President Trump introduced a hefty $100,000 fee for H-1B visa applications, causing panic among Indian professionals in the US. The White House quickly addressed the concerns. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified that this fee is a one-time charge for new applications and does not apply annually or retroactively. Current H-1B visa holders are not required to pay this fee to re-enter the US, and their travel rights remain unchanged. She also noted that renewals are not subject to this fee, which will be implemented in the next visa lottery cycle.
