Donald Trump’s second term: What are the visa options for Indians to get US green card? H-1B, L-1, OPT & more

With the Donald Trump-led Republicans returning to the White House early next year, immigrants from India and elsewhere are anxious over the prospect of procuring H-1B visas and US green card. Ahead of the 2024 elections, Trump proposed several steps to restrict immigration. These include slashing the number of H-1B visas and introducing stricter criteria.

One of the plans of the Trump administration, which will take over the reins of the US government in January 2025, will be to end the citizenship by birth to immigrant parents.

Even during Trump's first term (2016-2020) in office, the US government had increased restrictions on H-1B visas, which raised initial denial rates from 4 per cent to 17 per cent and L-1 visa denials from 12 per cent to 28 per cent.

These are some of the popular visa options Indians tend to avail to procure a US green card.

Different visa options

L-1 visas: These are typically non-immigrant visas that allow US companies to temporarily transfer employees from overseas offices to work in the US. They are valid for anywhere between three months and five years, but they can be extended to a maximum of seven years.

F-1 visa: This is also a non-immigrant visa which primarily permits overseas students to study a full-time programme in the United States.

OPT: International students who study in the US are eligible to apply for a 12-month visa under what is known as optional practical training (OPT). OPT is a form of work authorisation available to F-1 international students who have been full-time students for at least two consecutive semesters and plan to seek employment in their fields of study in the US.

Those graduating in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM fields are eligible to seek another 24-month extension of their OPT.

H-1B visa: United States Citizenship and Immigration Services issues H-1B visas to skilled workers who have found sponsored employment related to their qualifications in the US. These visas are so popular among the Indian IT workforce that two-thirds are typically issued to Indian passport holders. Of the total 4.41 lakh H-1B applications approved by the USCIS in fiscal 2022, nearly 72.6 per cent were allotted to Indians.

While there is a standard cap of 85,000 for H-1B visa allotments in a year, some employers' categories are exempt from this limit.

Getting a green card: The H-1B visa is initially given for three years, which can be extended by another three years later. After six years, the visa holder has two options: either to leave the country or to apply for a green card. In order to stay in the US, the H-1B visa holder must have applied for a green card.

The waiting time for the US green card is typically very high. Interestingly, Aravind Srinivas, CEO of Perplexity, recently tweeted that he had been waiting for the US green card for three years. Following this tweet, Elon Musk had replied saying that Trump would fix this.

So, one can stay in the US until the green card application is pending before the USCIS. Alternatively, one should have an approved I-140 petition to be able to stay upon the expiry of the six-year period of anH-1B visa.

I-140 is also referred to as the Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, which allows a prospective employer to petition for a foreign national to work in the US on a permanent basis.

There are three categories for which applicants can apply for permanent residency using Form 1-140: EB-1 for extraordinary ability, outstanding professors, and certain executives or managers; EB-2 for advanced degrees, exceptional ability, and national interest waivers; and EB-3 for skilled workers, professionals, and other workers.