A new $100,000 fee for H-1B visas in the US that goes into effect on Sunday will be levied per petition and will not be applied to existing holders of valid visas re-entering the country, the White House said on Saturday, Reuters reported Sunday. The Indian government said the fee for applicants seeking US skilled worker visas will have "humanitarian consequences," BBC reported Saturday.

"This is not an annual fee. It's a one-time fee that applies only to the petition," White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X on Sunday.

Leavitt also said that current H-1B visa holders who are currently outside of the country right now will not be charged $100,000 to re-enter the US.

The Politico reported Saturday that the H-1B announcement on Friday immediately spurred chaos, with companies and immigration lawyers warning travelers to return to the US before midnight on Sunday, when the new policy is scheduled to kick in.

Some companies including Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab, JPMorgan (JPM.N), opens new tab, and Amazon (AMZN.O), opens new tab, had responded to the Friday announcement by advising employees holding H-1B visas to remain in the US, according to internal emails reviewed by Reuters. A Goldman Sachs(GS.N), opens new tab internal memo seen by Reuters on Saturday urged employees with such visas to exercise caution on international travel, Reuters reported.

According to BBC on Saturday, the Indian government has said a new $100,000 fee for applicants seeking US skilled worker visas will have "humanitarian consequences".

BBC reported that workers from India receive by far the most skilled visas in the programme, at just more than 70 percent of those issued.

The report said that a statement from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs on Saturday stated that the fee would have humanitarian consequences "by way of the disruption caused for families," and the Indian government "hopes that these disruptions can be addressed suitably by the US authorities."

New $100,000 fee for H-1B visas in US goes into effect; India warns 'humanitarian consequences': media reports