The US has sharply curtailed a key immigration route used by hundreds of thousands of Indian professionals, directing officers to approve green card applications filed from inside the country only in “extraordinary circumstances” — the latest in a series of curbs that have, according to new data, driven down H-1B visa registrations for people from all nations.
The drop in registrations is 38.5%, a reflection of the Trump administration’s tough-on-immigrants policy that has reshaped the prospects of Indian workers who make up 71% of all approved H-1B applications.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the policy change on Thursday through a new memo, instructing officers to default to consular processing — requiring applicants to return to their home country and apply through a US embassy or consulate — rather than allowing adjustment of status from within the United States.
USCIS also released data showing that registrations for H-1B visas fell from 343,981 in fiscal year 2026 to 211,600 in fiscal year 2027. USCIS said 71.5% of selected applicants held a US master’s degree or higher, up from 57% the previous year, and that only 17.7% of selected registrations were in the lowest wage category. “The days of abusing the programme with mass, low-wage registrations are over,” USCIS said in a post on X.
For Indian H-1B workers, many of whom have spent a decade or more in employment-based green card backlogs, the change introduces fresh uncertainty at the final stage of a process they have already waited years to complete.
“The traditional assumption — that if you maintained status, paid your taxes, and met the requirements, your I-485 would go through — is no longer reliable,” Nicole Gurnara, an immigration attorney told HT. “Applicants will need to earn the green card, not just qualify for one.”
The memo does not alter the underlying law, which treats adjustment of status as a discretionary benefit. But for years, that discretion was exercised rarely. The new policy signals officers will invoke it far more often — and a 2022 US Supreme Court ruling in Patel v. Garland means such denials are largely unreviewable in federal court.
The practical consequence of Thursday’s memo falls hardest on Indian applicants in the EB-2 and EB-3 backlog categories, who routinely wait 10 to 15 years for a visa number to become available. Many have built their lives in the US with children and spouses. Under the new framework, that accumulated history — family ties, tax records, career progression — becomes the primary evidence applicants must present, rather than background detail officers take for granted, Gurnara said, adding that maintaining valid H-1B or L-1 status throughout the green card process is not, on its own, enough to justify a favourable decision.
Students on F-1 visas face particular exposure.
