this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2025

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Microsoft issued internal memo advising H1B employees to return immediately if currently abroad, including family members. The new “fee” comes into effect tonight at midnight. (pbs.twimg.com)

submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by Pro@programming.dev to c/Technology@programming.dev

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Source: Olga Nesterova on X/Twitter — Private front-end.

People also share that this is causing travel disruption:

Relevant: President Donald J. Trump Suspends the Entry of Certain Alien Nonimmigrant Workers

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[–] TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world 22 points 1 day ago

After Trump tariffs, firing federal workers, deporting friends and loved ones, and censoring the media; ordinary people be like:

This is not what we voted for!

After April 2025 stock market crash, farms and corporations can't find workers and oligarchs be like:

This is not what we paid for!

[–] Evotech@lemmy.world 27 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Just introducing shit with a few hours deadline is insane

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Right? And nobody is grandfathered in I guess?

The cruelty is the point. Every time.

[–] SethTaylor@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

"I'm fairly certain nazis can't cum unless they've just harmed a few thousands of people"

This is not a John Oliver quote. I wrote it. But putting it in quotation marks makes me feel less dirty.

[–] plyth@feddit.org 15 points 1 day ago

Pray I don't alter it any further.

[–] Zedstrian@lemmy.dbzer0.com 90 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (5 children)

Trapping hard-working H-1B immigrants—who are already (relative to American citizens without a visa at stake) in a weak bargaining position regarding salary increases—in the country unless their employers pay a $100,000 bribe is such a despicable thing to do.

Edit: As a reply pointed out, the law mandates that such employees be paid at par with other employees. Despite this, the dependence on the benevolence of one's employer to remain in the country, in addition to the filing fees associated with any job transfer, already puts such employees at an inherent disadvantage.

[–] dan@upvote.au 19 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

underpaid relative to American citizens

The H1-B visa requires you to pay at least the prevailing wage, which is the average wage people are paid for the same position. At big companies like Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, etc., people on H1-B and similar visas (E-3, H1B1, etc) have the exact same starting salary and are in the exact same salary bands as US citizens.

There's some companies that abuse H1-Bs by doing things like using weird obscure job titles and (contracting companies like Tata and Accenture come to mind), but just because some companies abuse a system doesn't mean every company should be punished.

[–] Miaou@jlai.lu 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Immigrants are also under way more pressure than citizens. Doesn't that you get the same salary when you're expected to do 10h extra per week

[–] dan@upvote.au 1 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

It really depends on the company. I'm an immigrant myself - I was on an E3 work visa for six years, then got a green card. For me, workload and expectations weren't any different to a US citizen, and that's the case at my employer in general.

I plan projects for and and delegate work to junior employees, and I don't know or care if they're on a work visa or not. I've been in calibration meetings (to handle ratings and promotions) and the person's visa status is never discussed.

[–] trolololol@lemmy.world 26 points 1 day ago (2 children)

You're not mentioning salary bands which allow the same position and responsibilities to have up to 40% variation in salary, and promotions which allow you to officially state someone is not proven to work at the same level as another individual. Ah, and the restriction on the employee most powerful salary negotiation, the typical "I got a job offer and I'm leaving unless you match the salary".

[–] greenskye@lemmy.zip 15 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Also, you can't really move jobs either. So a H1B friend of mine was in fact underpaid for the work he was doing because actually moving to the job title he was doing would've restarted the clock on his citizenship.

[–] dan@upvote.au 6 points 1 day ago

restarted the clock on his citizenship

You can't apply for citizenship from a H1-B. You have to get permanent residency (green card) first, then be a permanent resident for 5 years.

[–] dan@upvote.au 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I'm not sure about other companies, but the big tech companies pay exactly the same regardless of whether you're on a work visa or not. At the company I work at, bonuses and raises are formulaic based on performance, and the performance discussions/calibrations for ratings and promotions don't take visa status into account at all (I've participated in them).

Smaller companies are less ethical, but they get a much smaller proportion of the H1-B visas.

[–] grue@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Nah, you can un-cross-out "underpaid;" it's accurate. The other employees are underpaid, too.

[–] Zedstrian@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 day ago

Edited it again to avoid implying that they're not underpaid, as the billions in profits that those companies make is certainly exorbitant.

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[–] SalamenceFury@lemmy.world 41 points 1 day ago

Holding people hostage outside of the US for a 100k fee just seems like on-the-nose corruption. Which is par for the course with this administration...

[–] JoMiran@lemmy.ml 40 points 1 day ago

The H1-B system has been abused for decades, so I agree that it needed to be addressed. This is not it. This was done the way it was done and when it was done (Friday evening) for only one reason. To create as much chaos as possible and inflict as much pain as possible.

[–] shawn1122@sh.itjust.works 27 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Already backtracking, they said it'll only apply to new H1bs.

[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 4 points 1 day ago

until they backtrack on the backtrack.

[–] salacious_coaster@infosec.pub 22 points 1 day ago

Surely this is the astronomically expensive and unpredictable rule change that will return stability to the economy

[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

I wonder how much micro$quash gave the demented rapist. At least a few million, right? Pennies, to them, really.

Ah well. Table stakes.

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