Six Indian-origin students have made it to the 2024 Class of Distinguished New Americans and each of them has won the $90,000 fellowship grant for up to two years. Thus, they have entered the prestigious cohort of Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows, including Dr Vivek Murthy, the first US Surgeon General of Indian descent who played a crucial role in leading national response to epidemic outbreaks, and healthcare leader Nirav Shah who worked for US CDC.

Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship, since its establishment in 1998, has supported nearly 800 New Americans – immigrants and children of immigrants – for their educational pursuits in USA. As immigrants themselves, Paul and Daisy Soros believe in the transformative impact of a single opportunity for talented individuals seeking to fulfil their potential in the land of American Dream. Every year, the merit-based graduate school program provides $90,000 fellowship grants to 30 students of various ethnic origins, with ‘potential to make meaningful contributions to the United States.’

PC: Pdsoros.org

Akshay Swaminathan from New Jersey

The $90,000 fellowship grant will support Akshay Swaminathan’s Ph.D. studies in biomedical data science at Stanford University. He has developed several data-driven tools, including a suicide detection system. The budding data scientist has published 40 research papers and co-authored a book on applying quantitative methods to address healthcare-related issues. He has also built a primary care clinic in Bolivia. His current research focuses on the role of AI in healthcare.

Being a language instructor and author, Akshay Swaminathan founded ‘Start Speaking’ platform to help language learners. He led ESL programs for Chinese immigrants and published 5 textbooks. He founded ‘Start Speaking’ platform to help language learners. As a future physician, he aims to bolster the healthcare system in marginalized regions. The third-generation Indian American born in a Tamil family practices Carnatic music as a way of nurturing his cultural roots.

Shubhayu Bhattacharya from Los Angeles

Kolkata-born Shubhayu Bhattacharya noticed common healthcare challenges in his community across India and California. Deeper research and a quest for solutions led him to found a startup, Auditus Technologies, to roll out hearing devices for adults suffering from dementia. He was pursuing a double degree in biomedical engineering and applied mathematics and statistics from Hopkins University at the time.

Later, he invented the first computational bedside system to monitor and classify motor functions in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients. His Ph.D. thesis on AI methods for effective TBI treatment was published in leading health journals, and he was invited to deliver a keynote at international conferences. An MD student at Harvard, Shubhayu wants to become a physician-engineer in neurocritical or neurosurgical care. He aims to harness big data to improve the effectiveness & accessibility of brain injury care.

Malavika Kannan from Pennsylvania

One of the $90,0000 Paul & Daisy Soros fellowship winners in 2024, Malavika Kannan will fund her Master’s program in Fine Arts (Fiction) with the grant. Currently a senior at Stanford University, Malavika is a published author of ‘All the Yellow Suns’, a coming-of-age novel narrating the emotional journey of a queer Indian American girl as she explores her identity, engages in activism, and finds love. Her fictional pieces surrounding the themes of identity, culture and politics have been published in The Washington Post, Teen Vogue, Refinery29, and The San Francisco Chronicle. She aspires to be a novelist and a professor of literature.

Keerthana Hogirala from Chicago

Keerthana’s family moved to the US from Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh when was 6. Her family endured a prolonged period of uncertainty during the wait for naturalization. The experience motivated Keerthana to make the most of the opportunity available to her amid the green card backlog. After graduating in neuroscience, she became a special education teacher at DC Public Schools.

She was instrumental in leading DC schools’ response to COVID-19 pandemic. She gradually overhauled operations with her innovative approaches. Her subsequent role as chief of staff put her in charge of the DC schools’ multi-year digital transformation initiative. She earned a full-tuition merit scholarship for MBA and 90% tuition merit scholarship for MPP. Keerthana is now pursuing an MBA and MPP dual degree at the University of Chicago. Her future goal is to address pressing public needs and drive social development in underprivileged communities.

Ananya Agustin Malhotra from Georgia

Ananya Agustin Malhotra of Indian and Filipino descent developed a deep interest in global history and international relations owing to her multiethnic background. She graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University. She was a Rhodes Scholar while pursuing an MPhil in modern European history at Oxford University. Ananya actively advocates for women rights as well as peaceful foreign policies with focus on nuclear disarmament and risk reduction.

She has authored/co-authored several policy briefs. Her research papers, writings on world history, international law and order, security, peace and other works were published in popular media such as Global histories, American Oxonian, and Oxford Review of Books. She has effectively collaborated with her alma matter – Princeton University – on projects of science and global security. She is currently enrolled in the Juris Doctor Program at Yale University.

Aayush Karan from Wisconsin

A summa cum laude graduate pursuing Ph.D. in Quantum Science and Engineering at Harvard University, Aayush Karan has been exceptional at academics since childhood. His research skills are remarkable too. From his high school research in low-dimensional topology to undergraduate research involving application of mathematical concepts to solve scientific problems, his work earned him several rewards, including Davidson fellowship and Barry Goldwater Scholarship.

Aayush inherited his passion for scientific research from his parents, who moved to USA from India for advanced research in cancer biology. In future, he aims to contribute towards safe and effective utilization of AI technology. If not research, he immerses himself in creative pursuits, exploring various mediums of storytelling, from music to writing.

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On April 8, an Indian-origin woman took the Oath of Allegiance and became a US citizen at the age of 99, much to the surprise and delight of Indians stuck in the #GreenCardbacklog. The naturalization of Daibai, a great grandmother of US-born kids of Indian descent, not only made headlines but also elicited an overwhelming response from all quarters. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) shared a lively picture of Daibai holding the certificate of her new status, with the adage, “They say age is just a number”, on X (formerly Twitter).

PC: USCIS

The nonagenarian, who would turn 100 in 2025, has divided Green Card applicants from India into two groups – the hopefuls and the cynics – over her naturalization that took place in Orlando, Florida. The hopefuls celebrated Daibai’s newly attained US citizenship and called it a ray of hope amid the challenges of America’s outdated immigration system. They found her journey to citizenship inspiring for those on the verge of losing hopes even for legal permanent residency in the land of American Dream.

The news of Daibai having become a US citizen before she hit a century has driven google searches, ‘What is the maximum age for naturalization?’, ‘What is the current Green Card wait time for H1B visa holders from India?’ The cynics opined that her stars aligned to make her a US citizen, while the 134-year Green Card backlog is like a life sentence to nearly 11,00,000 Indians. They are happy for her; on the other hand, they are afraid whether many H1B visa professionals would be able to live as long as 100 years or more for a Green Card.

“I hope to become an American citizen before turning 99,” wrote an individual in response to the news of Daibai on X, calling for pressing reforms in the US immigration policy that seems to perpetuate the unprecedented wait times for Indians. Another individual wrote that like the 99-year-old Indian woman, he would be headlined for taking the Oath of Allegiance with senile bones, withered cheeks, drooping shoulders, unstable feet, and a toothless smile after 75 years from now. “I don’t want to die within months of receiving the citizenship. Rather, I would like to taste the fruit of my efforts to become a US citizen,” wrote one of the individuals.

“Not many immigrants know that the civic test for US Citizenship comes a lot easier for senior citizens aged 65 years or more. If they have resided in the US as permanent residents for at least 20 years, they are eligible an easier and simpler version of the civic test for naturalization. What is more interesting is that they can take the test in their native language,” said Sourav Agarwal, the Editor of Travel Beats, a leading community portal for Indians in America.

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In 2023, the Indian Police arrested five people involved in a most shocking incidence of forgery against NRIs. All the five accused, including a lawyer, had teamed up to forge the documents of an NRI’s land valued at Rs 40 crore. NRIs and OCIs, who live abroad most of the time in a calendar year, do often fall prey to such crimes as land encroachment, forgery, unauthorized money withdrawals…in India. Precisely, one out of every 3 NRIs is a victim of organized crime, according to the NRI Grievance Forum led by Indian American Subhas Balappanavar in San Francisco.

Indian Diaspora, at over 30 million, is not only the largest in the world but also more successful than any other immigrant community. Besides their substantial contribution to the economy of their country of residence, they play an important role in bolstering India’s foreign exchange reserves through investments, remittances and deposits. More than one-fourth of NRIs, OCIs and PIOs invest a significant portion of their overseas earnings in various sectors, including real estate, stocks, mutual funds and bonds, in India.

PC: IndianEag;e.com

Some own ancestral properties in India, some others deposit their money in Indian bank accounts, and a large number of NRIs send money to their families and relatives back home. The total remittance inflow into India in 2023 accounts for $125 billion, which is higher than the net worth of the richest Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani. Notably, India is the largest recipient of foreign remittances. A common concern of the overseas Indian community with active financial ties to their homeland is their susceptibility to fraud and deception.

Non-residents are an easy target for scamsters who indulge in criminal activities from property encroachment to signature forgery and illegal bank withdrawals. And seeking legal action is full of challenges for NRI victims. They are often plagued by jurisdictional complexities, lack of proper awareness and guidance, and lengthy legal proceedings often requiring NRIs to be physically present for extensive documentation, court appearances, etc.

The grim situation of NRIs who lose their hard-earned money to swindlers prompted the NRI Grievance Forum to advocate for the ‘NRI Protection Bill’ at every Indian embassy and consulate, marking one of the largest worldwide initiatives by NRIs. This month, Subhas Balappanavar and his team visited all 6 consular offices across the USA and petitioned them to protect NRI investments and assets in India. They had already emailed their concerns to the Prime Minister of India and also submitted the memorandum at Indian consulates in East Asia, Australia, Middle East, Europe and Canada.

The Forum urges the Indian Government to enact the NRI Investment Protection Bill and establish a centralized NRI Investigation Agency to address NRI grievances, digitize documentation processes, and provide timely resolution. Its other proposals include legal protection for property disputes, provisions for online FIR filing, online inquiry and documentation, 90-day timeframe for issue resolution, non-bailable warrants for accused parties, invalidation of counter FIR against NRIs, and prosecution of officers involved in false arrest of NRIs.

The NRI Protection Bill also advocates for a uniform tax structure for NRI taxation in India in terms of TDS etc. Swift repatriation of investments and online voting facility are other proposals of the bill. Assurance of safety and legal protection can go a long way in encouraging NRIs’ participation in the nation’s growth, reiterates Subhas Balappanavar.

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Reforming the ‘long-broken’ US immigration system has been one of the foremost agendas of the Biden-Harris administration. The President vowed to establish a ‘fair and orderly’ immigration law that not only welcomes legal immigrants, but also keeps their families together and allows them to contribute more to the country in the long run.

PC: Image by Freepik

On 4 February, the US Senate introduced the bipartisan National Security Agreement with reform measures aligned to President Joe Biden’s vision for a fair immigration law in America. The bill not only addresses border security concerns caused by illegal immigration, but also seeks to expedite work permits to eligible H4 visa holders, introduce ageing-out protection for children of H1B visa professionals, and increase the cap on the number of Green Cards issued annually. The bill finds strong support at the White House as the Biden-Harris administration urges the Congress to pass the bill immediately.

The National Security Agreement, if passed into law, will benefit one lakh skilled H4 dependents – spouses and children of certain long-term H1-B visa holders – looking for employment in the US. At present, H4 visa holders are required to obtain a work permit, Employment Authorization Document (EAD), to work in the US. This process takes 6-12 months or longer, because of which many miss out on the employment opportunity.

To address this, the bipartisan bill proposed automatic work permits to 100,000 H4 dependents of H1B visa holders who have completed their immigration visa petitions. This would eliminate the need to apply and wait for EAD approval to seek employment in the US, thus allowing skilled dependents ‘to contribute more fully to the country’. It, in turn, is a relief to over 250,000 H-4 dependent children as they will have a legal right to stay and work in the US temporarily even if they age out during the immigration process. However, the benefit applies to those who accompanied their parents as children and stayed in the US for at least 8 years before they turned 21 years old.

The Senate bill also propounds significant measures to clear the massive Green Card backlog, which has become a challenge for both applicants and USCIS officials alike. It seeks to increase the number of Green Cards (Permanent Resident Card) issued every year, thus effectively getting to the root of the backlog.

An increase of the annual limit of 1,40,000 employment-based green cards to 1,58,000 for the next five years would benefit a total of 90,000 employment-based green card seekers. Of the proposed 250,000 additional green cards over the next five years; 1,60,000 family-based green cards would facilitate lawful pathways to citizenship and ‘keep families together’. To further support family reunions, the bill includes a provision for certain noncitizens’ travel to the US on a temporary visitor visa (B visa) to meet their family members.

Additionally, 25,000 K-1, K-2, and K-3 visa holders (foreign-citizen fiancé of a US citizen, children of foreign-citizen fiancé, and foreign-citizen spouse of a US citizen respectively) are among the eligible beneficiaries of the automatic work authorization.

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Now NRIs and OCI cardholders are eligible to obtain an Aadhaar Card given they fulfil certain criteria. The government of India has brought new Aadhaar rules to make it easier and simpler for them. Hence, Non-Resident Indians and Overseas Citizens of India are required to use specified forms to enroll for an Aadhaar Card. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) introduced separate forms for non-resident Indians under the Aadhaar (Enrolment and Update) Amendment Regulations, 2024 to eliminate confusion with resident Indians.

First things first, is it mandatory for NRIs to have an Aadhaar Card? Well, all overseas Indians holding an Indian passport are eligible for the Aadhar program, but applying for the 12-digit Aadhar ID is an individual choice as far as non-residents are concerned. It must be noted that they need a valid identity proof issued by the Indian Government such as Aadhaar to make any financial transactions in the country.

PC: Businessleague.in

As an NRI, if you seek Aadhaar for yourself or your minor children, you can apply any time you travel back to your homeland. You can visit an Aadhaar Seva Kendra (service center) to complete the registration and biometric verification process. Your valid Indian passport is a sufficient proof of identity (in fact the only accepted ID proof) for Aadhaar enrolment. However, a birth certificate is a must for applicants born on or after October 1, 2023, as per India’s new Aadhaar rules for NRIs.

Also, the latest amendment necessitates periodic update of individual information on their Aadhar document. Once every 10 years, Aadhar holders including NRIs must update their current address and other information in the centralized database. You can now do this online (through official website or mobile app) or offline (at an Aadhar enrolment center) as per your convenience.

New Aadhaar Enrolment/Update Forms for NRIs

UIDAI has introduced 9 forms for residents and overseas Indians. The form you need to fill for Aadhar enrolment/update depends on whether your address is in India or outside the country and the age group you fall in.

Form 1 and Form 3 are for applicants (both residents and non-residents) with a valid proof of address in India. Form 1 is the Aadhar enrolment/update form for those above 18 years of age while Form 3 is for enrolling children aged between 5 and 18 years.

Form 2 and Form 4 are specifically introduced for NRIs who apply for Aadhar enrolment/update with an address proof outside of India. Form 2 is applicable for NRI adults and Form 4 is for NRI children aged between 5 and 18 years.

You can also enroll children below 5 years and for this, you need to access separate forms – Form 5 (if the address is in India) and Form 6 (if the address is outside India).

Aadhaar Forms for OCI Cardholders

Earlier, Overseas Citizens of India were not eligible for an Aadhaar Card. After the government clarified that Aadhaar does not certify one’s citizenship, OCIs have been added to the categories of overseas Indians eligible for Aadhaar. However, there is a condition. Minimum 182 days of stay in India in a calendar year is compulsory for OCI cardholders to apply for an Aadhaar Card.

Applicants above 18 years, among OCI cardholders, should use Form 7 for Aadhaar enrolment. Form 8 is for OCI cardholders under 18 years. Their application without a valid email ID will be rejected.

And during the enrolment process, you must not fail to provide your email address. It must be noted that UIDAI doesn’t support international numbers and thus you wouldn’t receive any SMS/text notification regarding your Aadhar if you provide a non-Indian phone number.

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Good news! The deadline for foreign citizens of Indian origin to convert their PIO cards to OCI cards has again been extended. Earlier, the government of India had set December 31, 2023 as the deadline. 31 December 2024 is the new deadline for the Person of Indian Origin cardholders to acquire the Overseas Citizen of India card, according to the latest press release by Indian Missions worldwide. Precisely, all PIO cards including the handwritten ones will remain valid travel documents for one more year.

All PIO cards including the handwritten ones will be accepted by the Indian immigration authorities at all airports until December 31, 2024, in compliance with the extended deadline for PIO card to OCI card conversion. All PIO cards will continue to be a valid travel document for entry into and exit from India. But, Indian Immigration Check Posts will not accept any PIO card, machine readable or handwritten, without a valid foreign passport.

The latest extension of the PIO to OCI card conversion deadline is subject to a condition for the handwritten PIO cardholders. If the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) issues a new deadline any time before December 2024, the validity of handwritten PIO cards will expire, thereby making it compulsory for them to get converted into machine-readable cards. Or else, the handwritten PIO cardholders will have to get an appropriate visa from Indian Missions.

To be precise, the deadline extension for conversion of handwritten PIO cards to OCI cards is conditional. All Indian-origin foreign citizens holding PIO cards, machine readable and handwritten, make sure to convert their PIO card to an OCI card in the meantime. Since the process takes 3-4 months, the sooner the better.

Also Check: Everything about Travel to and from India in 2024

Is it mandatory to convert PIO card to OCI card?

Yes, it is. All Person of Indian Origin Cardholders are deemed to be OCI Cardholders in India’s Citizenship Amendment Bill 2015. Hence, you need to convert your PIO card to OCI card before or by December 31, 2024. Until then, your PIO card is valid for travel to and from India.

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The US is home to more than a million Hindi-speaking Indian immigrants, who have been eagerly anticipating linguistically inclusive classrooms for their kids for years. After all, the day may not be far when Hindi will be exalted to the status of a second language at American schools and when Indian-origin kids will essentially learn Hindi from the elementary school level. California seems to be spearheading this linguistic inclusivity in schools and finally, the most widely spoken Indian language in the US is getting her due.

Two renowned schools – John M. Horner Middle School and Irvington High School in Fremont – are all set to add Hindi as a world language to their curriculum for the academic year 2024-2025 that starts in August. The Indian American community welcomed the Fremont Unified School District (FUSD) Board’s pilot program, which came with the promise of expansion to other middle and high schools in the region in the coming years.

PC: IndianEagle.com

“I look at the demand, and I look at the value that this Hindi offering will produce for the community, (and hence) for me, it’s a no-brainer,” said FUSD Board member Vivek Prasad, who voted in favor of the pilot program along with other trustees and board president.

Nearly one lakh Asian Indians have settled in and around Fremont, the epicenter of the Silicon Valley, making it one of the American cities with a growing Indian-origin population. Kids of these Indian immigrant families account for more than 50% of students attending Fremont schools, including Horner Middle School and Irvington High School (where a whopping 65% students are from Indian-origin households).

The scenario is more or less the same in various US cities like San Francisco, New York, Dallas, and Washington DC with the highest concentration of Indian immigrants. Hence, the vast Indian-origin community, whose contribution to America’s economy is significantly higher than any other ethnic group, has been demanding inclusion of Hindi in the US education system for years. As of now, Hindi-language courses are offered at the high school or university level in the USA. Therefore, many Indian families resort to after-school programs for their kids to learn Hindi and foster their cultural connection to the Indian language.

Leading Indian American groups have also submitted a proposal to the US President Joe Biden for teaching of Hindi as a second language in US schools, highlighting its socio-economic impact among other potential benefits. While the proposal is yet to find its course to approval, the latest initiative by the US Silicon Valley schools raises hopes of a favorable outcome in near future, just as the declaration of Deepavali as a public school holiday by New York and other states fueled the hope for Deepavali Day Act enactment – another long-awaited dream of the Indian American community in USA.

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The United States is set on modernizing the H1-B visa program with a slew of new reforms, including digital upgrades to the e-registration system. Ahead of the opening of the online filing period for H-1B registrations for fiscal 2025, the USCIS announced new measures to streamline the H1B visa application process, with effect from February 2024.

Image by Freepik

As part of the new changes, the H-1B e-registration platform will feature new ‘organizational accounts’ in addition to the two types of online USCIS accounts – registrant account and representative/attorney account – for submitting H-1B registrations. The new feature will facilitate collaboration between multiple individuals working for the same organization (a company or business entity) and their legal representatives in preparing and submitting H1B registrations for prospective beneficiaries. A registrant account can be upgraded to form a company group, and all authorized members may join the organization’s group upon receiving invitation.

The coordination between the group of people authorized by the employer and their attorneys/accredited representatives will help prevent duplicate submissions for the same beneficiary. Thus, the ‘organizational accounts’ feature, besides simplifying the registration process for employers, addresses concerns regarding overrepresentation in H-1B visa registrations. For years, the H1-B lottery system has been plagued by multiple registrations for a single beneficiary to amplify their chance of selection.

As per the changes in the H1B visa application process, the USCIS is going to start online filing of H1B visas (USCIS lockbox) and allow petitioners or their legal representatives to file H1-B petitions online and also submit requests for premium processing through the online portal. At present, both Form I-129 (Petition for a Non-immigrant Worker) and Form I-907 (Request for Premium Processing Service) are typically filed at a USCIS service centre. With this transition from offline filing to online filing, the H1-B petition process becomes paperless, right from registration to processing to selection.

Online filing of H-1B petitions will be introduced as an alternate option to paper-based filing. Thus, employers may choose to file H-1B petitions themselves through organizational accounts or have it filed online by a legal representative on their behalf or go for the traditional method of filing Forms I-129 and I-907 at the direct filing address. However, the H1-B registration is an online-only process.

This announcement regarding online H-1B petition filing came a few weeks after USCIS hiked the premium processing fee for H1-B and other visas. The new fee structure to be effective from February 26 will cost sponsoring employers $2,805, a 12% hike on the previous $2500, to avail premium processing service for an H1-B petition (Form I-129). Additionally, USCIS proposed a massive visa fee hike for various categories, including H1-B. It proposed to increase the H-1B registration fee to $215 from current $10 and the Form I-129 fee to $780 from present $460.

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“PM Modi himself had announced the White House’s decision to renew certain non-immigrant visas, including H1B, within the US while addressing the Indian Diaspora gathering in Washington DC during his first state visit in June this year. A thundering applause followed the announcement,” said Sourav Agarwal, the Editor of Travel Beats.

Officially, the United States is all set to start a pilot trial for domestic H1B visa renewal in January 2024, with the presidential approval, after announcing its move to issue paperless visas. Undoubtedly, resumption of the domestic US visa renewal service, which was in place until 2004, will benefit Indian techies on H1B. The much-awaited pilot program will begin in January with the first lot of 20,000 H1B visa renewals, a majority of which is for Indian nationals in the US.

However, the pilot program does not include H4 visa holders, the dependents of H1B visa professionals in America. Speculations are rife that success of the pilot trial would enable spouses and children of H1B workers to renew their H4 visas within the US later in 2024.

Who are eligible for H1B Visa Renewal in USA?

The pilot program for H1B domestic visa renewal will be launched at the Canadian and Indian Consulates in the United States in January 2024. Who among the Canadian and Indian H1B visa holders are eligible for the program at the pilot stage? You must have valid H1B status, an unexpired petition for renewal, and fingerprints on file with the Department of State among the eligibility criteria for H1B visa renewal in the US. At the same time, you must be qualified for an in-person interview waiver. You can participate in the pilot program only if your H1B visa was issued between February 1 and September 30, 2021 by the US Embassy or a US Consulate in India. Your application for the pilot program does not require residence proof in America.

The pilot program application window for H1B visa renewal stamping in USA will open on 29 January 2024 and will close on or before 1 April 2024 depending on the availability of slots.

What is the application fee for H1B visa domestic renewal in the States?

The application fee is $205. The fee is non-refundable and non-transferable. 6 to 8 weeks is the approximate processing time for your employment visa renewal in the USA.

America’s New Year Gift to Indians 

May Deepavali become a federal holiday in the US or not; once the stamping of H1B visas within the US is resumed, this will surely be the best gift of the year to Indians. The resumption of H1B visa stamping in the US was unanimously recommended in October 2022 by the US President’s advisory commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI). Indian American Ajay Jain Bhutoria, an entrepreneur in the San Francisco Bay Area and a member of the AAPI National Leadership Council, was the driving force behind this recommendation in the White House.

“Indians are the largest skilled group of workers in the United States. We hope that India will benefit quite a bit from this program and it will prevent Indians from having to travel back to India or anywhere for a visa appointment to get their visas renewed. It will allow our missions in India to concentrate on new applicants,” said Julie Stufft, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services.

H1B visa renewal stamping in India continues to have been a nightmare for lakhs of Indians since the onset of the pandemic. Hundreds of thousands of H1B visa holders got stuck in India due to the pandemic-induced closure of US Embassy and consulates. Currently, the nightmare drags on over the US visa renewal appointment delays in India. This affects Indian families and causes their separation. Over 800 days is the visa interview wait time at the US Embassy and Consulates in India. Many Indians on H1B visa lost their US jobs as they could not travel back without visa stamping during the pandemic.

Another movement is gaining momentum for H1B visa holders

Resumption of domestic stamping for H1B visa renewals in USA has more to it. The Presidential commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders would like USCIS to update its visa stamping policy, which was done many years ago but it was not honored. It is also recommended that H1B visa holders should be provided with advanced travel documents so that they don’t get stuck back home and can re-enter the US on an expired visa.

If H1B visa holders are given advanced travel documents, they may be able to travel to India via Europe without a transit visa. As of today, if your US visa has expired, you need a transit visa to travel to India from USA via Europe. Traveling through the Middle East on an expired US visa does not have any transit visa requirement. Given advanced travel documents, you will be able to choose a round-trip flight between USA and India over two one-way flights. Usually, round-trip flights to India cost lesser than two one-way flights booked separately. Without worrying about visa stamping in India and needing a transit visa for Europe, you will be able to visit your parents and attend to their medical needs back home.

Domestic US Visa renewal promises to ease travel for Indians

The presidential approval to resumption of H1B visa renewal service in America promises a host of benefits, including enhanced ease of travel between USA and India. This is a most pressing need of the hour in view of the understaffed US Embassy and Consulates, India struggling to clear the visa backlogs that have built up over the past two years of the pandemic. It is draining financially and mentally those who traveled to India for unprecedented reasons such as family emergency, and in the hope of getting their visa renewal applications processed during a definite period of stay. They end up paying a fare difference for rescheduling their flights more than once, which costs them additional hundreds of dollars each time, due to the US visa processing delays in India.

“This is when an open ticket comes in handy. Keeping your flight tickets in open status is cheaper and better than rescheduling your reservation and paying a fare difference twice or thrice. Once your return travel date is confirmed, you can use the open ticket by paying a fare difference (if any) and certain fees (as per the airline policy) within 6 to 12 months from the date of original booking. We recommend open-ended air tickets to our customers without certain return travel dates,” said the chief ticketing officer of IndianEagle.com, a leading travel-booking partner of Indians in America.

Also Check: Save more than $1000 on traveling to India from USA this Holiday season

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It will cost US visa seekers dearly to fulfil their American Dreams in the near future, as USCIS’ proposed visa fee hikes are likely to be effective in early 2024 for H1B, L, O, and EB5 categories. The visa fee hike proposal will also impact applicants seeking employment authorization, US citizenship, and green card status adjustment. Only the USCIS fees for premium processing of visas in all categories will remain unaffected; however, the premium processing timeline will increase from 15 calendar days to 15 business days as proposed by USCIS.

EB5 – the Golden Visa that ensures the fastest route to earning a Green Card – will cost foreign investors and entrepreneurs 204 times more than its current fees. Once USCIS’ visa fee hike proposal is approved, an EB5 visa will cost $11,160 instead of $3,675. This will surely be another setback to EB5 visa seekers, since the investment cap has been raised from $500,000 to a minimum $800,000.

The proposed H1B visa fee hike is, undoubtedly, not a fair surprise to H1B visa sponsors. The US employers hiring high-skilled foreign workers will have to shell out $780, a 70% hike on $460 per application. Moreover, the H1B pre-registration fee is to get a steep hike by 2050% – from a meagre $10 to a whopping $215. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agency reasons that they sought a significant hike in the H1B pre-registration fee based on a review of the increasing cost of managing the H1B registration system.

In its US visa fee hike proposal, USCIS sought a 201% increase from $460 to $1385 for an L1 visa, a non-immigrant visa for intra-company transfer. The O1 visa fee is likely to go up by 129%. O1, a visa for non-immigrant individuals with extraordinary ability or achievements, is one of the few options that highly-accomplished STEM professionals on H1B can switch to during the 60-day grace period following a layoff. They may find this option a deterrent in the event of the O1 visa fee increase.

Justifying the H1B, EB5, L1 and other visa fee hikes, USCIS said that the revision of the current visa fee schedule is a pressing need of the hour to meet the agency’s operating overheads, especially in view of the pandemic-hit revenue. The agency’s revenue plummeted by 40% during the pandemic – which resulted in freezing the hiring process and reducing the workforce, thereby affecting the capacity to clear backlogs. USCIS’ annual revenue is expected to rise from $3.28 billion to $5.2 billion if the latest revision of the visa fees is approved. The estimated revenue increase will help USCIS prevent the mounting of visa backlogs, upgrade the technological infrastructure, and augment the legal immigration system.

USCIS also proposed eliminating separate biometric services fee. At the same time, USCIS assured that the visa hike proposal would not impact the existing fee waiver eligibility norms for low-income groups. The agency also sought to introduce fee exemptions for visa applicants in the ‘humanitarian programs’ category.

The US visa hike proposal includes plans to introduce a new ‘Asylum Program Fee’ which will be levied on the employers filing Form I-129 (a petition for non-immigrant workers) and Form I-140 (a petition for employment-based LPR) for their foreign employees. The Asylum Program Fee, $600, will help the agency afford the expenses of administering the asylum programs.

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