India, Sept. 21 -- US President Donald Trump on Friday slapped a $100,000 annual application fee on the H-1B visa programme, effectively shutting the door on tens of thousands of skilled Indian employees, especially in the technology sector, and dealing a body blow to generations of people whose American dream was built on the back of the popular route to citizenship.

The drastic measure, which will come into effect at midnight on September 21 for 12 months and likely face legal challenges, forced tech giants to ask employees abroad to rush back to the US before the deadline, triggering chaos across flights and airports on Saturday, often with less than 24 hours at hand.

The presidential proclamation is likely to effectively kill the pr...