The massive green card backlog leading to longer wait for permanent residency, limited availability of non-immigrant H-1B visas and threat of layoffs by top tech giants — the tide seems to be turning against Indians with American dreams.
A 2021 government data has revealed that the USA remains the top country of choice among Indians leaving the nation after renouncing their citizenship despite prevailing headwinds such as limited availability of H-1B visas and the threat of layoffs by top tech giants.
In 2021, 1,63,370 individuals gave up their citizenship of India. Of them, 78,284 opted to go to the USA, cementing the fact that the American citizenship is the most sought after among Indians. The case is similar when it comes to students from India who go abroad to pursue higher education. There are over 10 lakh foreign students in the USA and Indian students account for 21 per cent of the lot, says data from the US High Commission.
Almost two lakh Indian students chose the USA as the destination to purse their higher education in the 2021-22 academic year, which is a 19 per cent increase over the year before, another report reveals. The fact that America has close to 4,000 universities works in its favour and thus the nation attracts students from across the globe.
The dearth of opportunities in India for an individual willing to pursue postgraduate programmes works against the nation, despite it having close to 52,000 educational institutions. As of 2018-19, only 35 per cent of Indian higher education institutions offered postgraduate programmes, and 2.5 per cent offered PhD programmes, unlike the US, which is far ahead in this respect.
Once the students graduate, they seek the opportunity to work onsite, earn in dollars and expand their
career opportunities in the USA rather than seek opportunities in India. What’s more Indian-American households have the single-highest income level in the USA, twice more than the income of the US population. Thus, of the over four lakh non-US residents working in the USA via the H-1B visa programme, roughly 75 per cent are from India. After Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit, the USA has said it will ease H-1B visa restrictions for skilled Indians.