White House scrambles to clear up H-1B visa confusion after panic throws corporate America into chaos overnight

President Donald Trump’s $100,000 charge for H-1B visas sowed mass confusion and panic among top U.S. firms overnight, forcing the White House to make clear the necessities.

On Saturday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt took to X to clarify which visa holders the charge applies to and when.

“This is NOT an annual fee,” she said. “It’s a one-time fee that applies only to the petition.”

Leavitt added that current H-1B holders at the moment outdoors the U.S. is not going to be charged $100,000 to come back, and that they’ll continue to depart and re-enter as they do proper now.

Trump’s new H-1B coverage also applies only to new visas, not renewals for current holders, she explained, noting that it is going to take impact in the next lottery cycle.

On Friday, Trump signed a proclamation that imposes a $100,000 charge for H-1B visas and announced a $1 million “gold card” visa that can serve as a pathway for rich buyers to gain U.S. citizenship.

At the time, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick prompt the charge, which kicks in at 12:01 a.m. ET on Sunday, could be annual.

When requested if the coverage applies to current holders, he replied that firms with H-1B workers must ask “Is the person valuable enough to have a $100,000 a year payment to the government? Or they should head home and go hire an American?”

That brought about U.S. tech giants, which rely closely on H-1Bs, to warn workers with those visas against overseas journey.

Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and others told affected workers to return to the U.S. on Saturday and cancel any plans to depart the U.S.

“While we don’t have all the answers right now, we ask that you prioritize the recommendations above,” a message from Microsoft said, according to Bloomberg.

Top banks JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs despatched related messages to workers on H-1B visas, according to the Financial Times.

H-1B visas had beforehand been a divisive issue in Trump’s circle. Late last 12 months, before falling out with the president, Elon Musk called for more extremely expert staff as did and fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. But MAGA hardliners have demanded that U.S. firms rent more American staff.

In a reply to a post taunting him about H-1Bs, the South African-born Musk hit back sharply.

“The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla, and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B,” he wrote in December. “Take a big step back and F–K YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend.”

This story was initially featured on Fortune.com