H-1B visas: ‘Not bound by choice’: Indian Americans explain why H-1B visas are dominated by Indians and green cards trap them in temporary status

An Indian-American immigration advocate says so many Indians hold H-1B visas not out of choice but because of flaws in the U.S. immigration system that make it extremely difficult for them to obtain permanent residency.Sidharth, founder of the Indian American Advocacy Council, posted on X that the long wait for green cards has forced many Indians to stay in the H-1B program for years. “This is not because Indians like to hold temporary visas. It is because the green card system does not allow them to exit the temporary visa program,” he wrote.In his post, Sidharth pointed to the way green cards are distributed in the United States, saying Indians face longer wait times than people from many other countries. “India gets the same quota as Iceland,” he wrote, adding that the wait for an EB-2 green card could be more than 134 years for Indians, while it could be less than two years for Pakistani and Somali citizens.He said the system differentiated between people with the same job, employer and skills based solely on their place of birth. “A different place of birth equals a different life,” Siddharth writes. He added that Indians are not voluntarily “stuck” on H-1B visas but are “trapped by a system that penalizes one country’s needs while liberally doling out green cards to others.” Additionally, he pointed to the artificial impact of the backlog, claiming that more than 400,000 Indian applicants will die before receiving green cards.The comments come as the United States under the Trump administration is making several changes to the H-1B work visa program that affect Indian workers and employers. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) replaced the traditional random lottery for H-1B visas with a salary-based screening system that prioritizes high-wage and high-skilled applicants. This change takes effect on February 26, 2026 and applies to the 2027 cap season.The annual cap on H-1B visas remains at 85,000, but the agency also charges a hefty $100,000 filing fee for employers seeking H-1B workers.Meanwhile, many Indian applicants for H-1B visas face long waits for appointments to complete their visa stamping interviews in India, with some delayed until 2027. U.S. officials said the delays stemmed from increased vetting and security measures, not discrimination against any nationality.Separately, U.S. immigration experts have noticed a sharp decline in H-1B applications, which they attribute in part to changes such as higher fees. These developments have forced some Indians working or seeking to work in the United States to explore other visa options or postpone their plans while facing longer waits and new rules.