Ok.

How does Microsoft pay the fee?

Which online portal do they go to? What bank account do they wire a check to over the weekend? What reason do they give for the payment? What USCIS code do they enter? What USCIS forms do they fill that USCIS will then snail mail (because they’re still living in the 90s) an I-797A to the employee that they will present at the border for evidence of payment. What address will USCIS mail the document to (which will be a U.S. address) and how does the employee who is currently abroad get that document from their U.S. mailing address to their current location abroad?

When are they gonna write the code for the lookup that the border agents can use to confirm the validity of this form and payment?

Also, how does all this happen over a Saturday and Sunday?

And even if there are answers to these questions where are those answers posted?

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ericmay 4 hours ago | parent [-]

Maybe Satya can call Donald Trump? I am sure he has his phone number. They can sort it

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dvdkon 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

So if you want your employees to be able to go back from vacation and back to their belongings, you have to pay a large fee. And to pay that fee, you have to talk to the president personally, otherwise you're screwed.

That's so dumb I can't believe you're suggesting it. In a rule-of-law country, lobbying the president should never be a solution to anything, much less routine bureaucracy.

	▲	ericmay 3 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Yea yea I get it - but you’re also drumming up a hypothetical scenario about Microsoft suggesting they have no way to pay the fee - I’m just suggesting a solution, not suggesting the path forward or that the abruptness of this policy change is a good idea. Satya has a direct line to the president’s office and can utilize that to help solve this acute concern if there is, as you are very confidently asserting, “no way to pay” the appropriate federal agency.
	▲	blibble 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		> In a rule-of-law country here's your problem

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rajup 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

They can "sort" it? Nudge nudge wink wink? Amazing.

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ericmay 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Yea why wouldn’t Satya or Microsoft be able to call the president’s office and figure out how to pay the fee?

Set aside this “nudge nudge wink wink” stuff - I’m providing a solution to the acute issue, not a moral judgement.

Looks like it was sorted https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/20/donald-trump-h1b-vi...

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habinero 2 hours ago | parent [-]

"A breathtaking level of corruption" is not a solution.

	▲	ericmay 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		That’s a separate point and unrelated to my post.

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jjav 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

The "Trump Corporate Gold Card" sounds like something straight out of The Onion, but it is real, and presumably how these bribes will be managed:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-unveils-gold-platinum-v...