The Indian Diaspora
H-1B Visas and Indian IT
How the US H-1B visa became the main route for Indian tech workers, why Indians receive most H-1Bs, and how the 2025 100,000-dollar fee changed the calculation.
The H-1B visa lets US employers hire foreign workers in specialty occupations.
Indians and H-1B
- Indians have received around 70 percent of H-1B visas in recent years.
- Many work in IT and tech.
Indian IT firms
- Infosys, TCS, Wipro and HCL used H-1Bs to send engineers to serve US clients.
- US tech giants like Amazon, Microsoft and Google also hire many Indians on H-1Bs.
The lottery
Demand exceeds the annual cap of 85,000 visas, so a lottery decides who gets them.
Green card backlog
Because of per-country limits, Indians face very long waits for green cards, potentially decades.
The 2025 fee
In September 2025, the US announced a 100,000-dollar fee on new H-1B petitions, sharply raising the cost of hiring through the programme.
Effects
- Indian IT firms had already reduced H-1B use by hiring more locally in the US.
- Companies may shift work to India or other countries.
- Students weigh the US against other destinations.
A software engineer from Hyderabad enters the H-1B lottery three years in a row before being selected, then faces a long wait for a green card.
Demand far exceeds the cap, and a lottery decides.
- Indians receive around 70 percent of H-1B visas.
- Demand exceeds the 85,000 cap, so a lottery is used.
- Indians face long green card backlogs.
- A 100,000-dollar fee was announced in September 2025.
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