New Delhi: “This is devastating. I can’t express it in words,” said one Indian technology professional in Silicon Valley as the news of US President Donald Trump’s H1B visa fee hike spread on Saturday.

“I’ve invested a lot of time here in America. I’m staying positive right now but there are times when it’s hard,” adds another Indian professional on an Optional Practical Training (OPT) visa, who was hoping to secure an H1B sponsorship and stay on in America after completing a master’s degree.

A pervasive mood of fear and uncertainty looms large among many in the Indian diaspora, particularly young professionals working for technology firms.

For these individuals, the Trump administration’s decision to hike H1B visa application fees to $100,000 per foreign worker has shrunk an already narrow window for Indian professionals to work in America.

For decades, Indian students arriving in the United States on F1 student visas were able to find jobs with companies that were willing to sponsor them for H1B visas and subsequently, for employment based green cards.

This pathway became the basis of the Indian-American dream and allowed many in India’s 5-million strong diaspora to set down roots in America. After Trump’s H1B visa decision, many in the diaspora believe that pathway is fundamentally broken. “The education pathway of coming to America and subsequently staying in the United States will collapse because these visa moves make it so much harder for entry level workers to find a job,” says Debarghya Das, a partner at Menlo Ventures, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm.

“For an Indian master’s student, it is not a wise decision to come to America right now,” says another Indian professional on an H1B visa, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Many in the diaspora said that Trump’s H1B visa fee hike decision only compounds the negative impact of other visa changes over the last year. “Processing times for many visa categories, including green cards, have shot up.

The US government is making more requests for information during the H1B visa process, which can cause delays. Because of layoffs in the tech industry, many companies that used to sponsor H1B visas and green cards are not legally eligible to do this anymore,” explains Sophie Alcorn, a Silicon Valley-based immigration lawyer who works closely with Indian professionals in the tech sector.