New York, Sep 22 : Following the White House decision to raise the H-1B fee, investors shed shares of Indian IT outsourcing firms, including Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Tata Consultancy Services.

Shubra Singh’s Saturday night dinner at a bar in Pittsburgh was ruined by the White House.

Her eight Indian friends at the table, all techies on H-1B visas, were glued to their phones as they tried to get more information about U.S President Donald Trump’s latest move to raise fees for H-1B visa applications.

Their families were frantically sending “all kinds of articles on the H-1B situation”, said Singh, an Indian biotech professional on work travel to the U.S., adding that the “anxiety was apparent.”

About 71% and 11.7% of H-1B visa holders in the U.S are Indian and Chinese nationals, respectively. The Trump proclamation to increase H-1B visa fees to $100,000 mires their U.S. employment in uncertainty.

Relations between U.S. and India have been deteriorating for the last few months, as Washington imposed additional tariff on Indian exports in response to New Delhi’s ongoing Russian oil purchases.

Back in India, shares of Indian IT companies declined on Monday after the U.S. announced its work permit visa fee plans to bring new employees into the country.