Why the H-1B Visa Row has sparked Worry for Indians

An immigration row sparked by Donald Trump’s supporters over the H-1B visa has sparked uncertainty among Indians hoping to move to America for work.

The visa programme divides opinion.

It is criticised for undercutting American workers but is praised for attracting global talent.

Formerly a critic, Trump now supports the H-1B visa programme while Elon Musk says it is key to securing top engineering talent.

Indian nationals receive 72% of H-1B visas and the majority of such visa holders work in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, with 65% in computer-related jobs in 2023.

Their median annual salary was $118,000 (£94,000).

However, there are concerns over the H-1B visa and it ties into broader immigration debates.

A Pew Research report revealed that US immigration rose by 1.6 million in 2023, with Indians now becoming the second-largest immigrant group after Mexicans.

India has also become the leading source of international students, with 331,602 Indian students in the US in 2023-2024.

However, many Americans fear this rise in immigration could harm job prospects.

As a result, Indians who are working in the US have faced abuse.

Missouri resident Madhav Rao Pasumarti holds an H-1B visa and he revealed that in recent weeks, he and other H-1B visa holders have been called “invaders” and “cheap labour”.

Indians and the H-1B visa have had a long association.

Sanjoy Chakravorty, Devesh Kapur and Nirvikar Singh, authors of The Other One Percent: Indians in America, noted that new Indian immigrants spoke different languages and lived in different areas than earlier arrivals.

There was a rise in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu speakers.

Meanwhile, Indian-American communities shifted from New York and Michigan to California and New Jersey.

One of the biggest draws of the H-1B visa is that it provides an opportunity to earn much higher salaries, which can be life-changing.

For many, the H-1B programme is an aspirational pathway for permanent residency or a US green card.

While H-1B is a temporary work visa, it allows visa holders to live and work in the US for up to six years. During this time, many H-1B holders apply for a green card through employment-based immigration categories, typically sponsored by their employers.

Atal Agarwal, who runs an India-based firm that uses AI to help find visa options globally, says:

“Getting a green card means signing up for an endless wait for 20-30 years.”

He moved to the US after graduating in 2017 and while getting the H-1B visa was fairly easy, it then seemed he had “reached a dead end”. Mr Agarwal ended up returning to India.

He added: “It’s an unstable situation. Your employer has to sponsor you and since the pathway to a green card is so long, you are basically tied to them.

“If you lose your job, you only get 60 days to find a new one. Every person who is going on merit to the US should have a pathway to a green card within three to five years.”

This could be a reason that the H-1B visa has got tied up with immigration.

Shivendra Singh, vice president of global trade development at Nasscom, said:

“H-1B is a high-skilled, worker mobility visa.

“It is not an immigration visa. But it gets clubbed with immigration and illegal immigration and becomes a sensitive issue.”

Many US nationals believe the H-1B visa is flawed, citing fraud and abuse, especially by major Indian IT firms which are top recipients of these visas.

There have been reports that Americans in the tech industry have been laid off and replaced by “cheaper” H-1B visa holders.

However, Mr Singh argues that H-1B visa workers are not underpaid as employers must pay them above the prevailing or actual wage of comparable US workers in the area.

Companies also invest tens of thousands of dollars in legal and government fees for these costly visas.

It happens the other way around, with Indian tech companies hiring nearly 600,000 American workers.

According to Mr Singh, the Indian tech industry has prioritised US worker hiring and they bring employees on H-1B visas only when they are unable to find locals with the required skills.

India is working to ensure the H-1B visa programme remains secure as Trump prepares to take office later in January 2025.

India’s foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said:

“Our countries share a strong and growing economic and technological partnership, and the mobility of skilled professionals is a vital component of this relationship.”

Despite the uncertainty in the United States, Indian interest in H-1B visas remains steadfast.