India responds to Trump’s H-1B visa hike

India has responded to U.S. President Donald Trump‘s administration hiking the price of skilled worker visas to the states.

On Friday, the White House announced that applications for an H-1B visas—allowing U.S. employers to temporarily hire foreign workers in specialized fields—would now need to be accompanied by a $100,000 payment to “curb abuses that displace U.S. workers and undermine national security.”

The administration later clarified that this fee would only apply to new applicants, and not current holders or renewals, but Indian officials and companies have still taken serious issue with the move.

On Saturday, India’s Ministry of External Affairs warned that this “is likely to have humanitarian consequences by way of the disruption caused for families.”

On Sunday, India’s Minister of Commerce Piyush Goyal said the U.S. was “a little afraid of our talent.”

Some 71 percent of H-1B recipients come from India, followed by China with 12 percent, and largely contribute to specialized sectors such as information technology, software development and engineering.

India’s leading IT trade body Nasscom similarly said that the change would “potentially have ripple effects on America’s innovation ecosystem,” and lead to “considerable uncertainty for businesses, professionals, and students across the world.”

This is a developing story. More to come.