American Dream : Plight of the H1B

Last week, some H1B visa holders were hit with a harsh shock that could leave them stranded—separated from their families, jobs, and lives in the US. This setback came on the heels of a minor policy tweak, all while Prime Minister Modi was meeting President Trump, with spotlight on the India-US relationship.

Every 3 years or so, NRIs on H1B have to travel back to India to renew their ‘visa stamp’ on the passport – a crucial step for regaining entry in the US. Securing the visa extension appointments are notoriously difficult, with available dates sometimes being a year later. With these appointments booked and travels planned, once people leave the US, it is mandatory for them to have a successful appointment and a visa stamp to get back in. 

While new H1B visas require an interview, extensions normally qualify for an interview waiver.

However, the new policy now limits that waiver to extensions filed within 12 months of expiration instead of the previous 48 months. On the whole, the new policy itself is not troubling, although unnecessarily inconvenient. What is troubling is the insensitivity and abruptness with which the change was implemented. For a person, who has booked the appointment months in advance, flew to India, took vacation days from work, now standing in the line to drop-off their documents, suddenly being told your appointment is cancelled, and to book a new one for the interview. . With the next available date uncertain, you’re left outside the US, away from work and family for that period of time. Will the employers be okay with uncertain period of vacation time? Imagine receiving the news as you landed in India, or even those who have booked plane tickets and made plans.

All this chaos could have been avoided if the policy was rolled out for only new appointments. That small difference reveals a lot. What kind of relationship do US and India have when such minor details cannot be sorted out. Perhaps this is not a Modi-Trump issue, but one between the two department officials in India and US. Indian citizens make up the majority of H1B holders by a large margin, and this shows Indian ministry is not treated as a stakeholder or consulted in these policy changes. Neither is the Indian ministry concerned with these H1B issues. Remember, in 2023, Prime Minister Modi announced a pilot program to renew H1B visa without traveling abroad, with a promise to tackle this problem. This development is now a set-back to that promise.

This is not the first instance of unsettling news for NRIs in US. The ordinance signed by President Trump of changing birth right citizenship, was in fact not as promised by him in his campaign trails, it not only included children of illegal immigrant but also of H1B visa holders. (this policy change is paused by the federal court in the US). The inaccessibility to Green Cards for Indians is also not unknown and have loomed over NRIs for years. What is disappointing is not the absence of any solutions, but rather this vast void of indifference from the Indian ministry.

Avinav Sharan