Washington
\nThe United States\u2019 embassy in India has said that it will deny tourist visa applications if its consular officers believe that it is primarily aimed at giving birth in the country to secure US citizenship for a child. \u201cThis is not permitted,\u201d the US embassy in New Delhi said in a post on X.
\nThe move, as reported by the Gulf News, adds to uncertainty for Indian visa holders which have so far caused unease among professionals accounting for over 70% H-1B approvals and nearly 90% H-4 visas with work authorisation. The US embassy in India has rescheduled visa interviews with some applicants given fresh appointment dates extending to mid-2026.
\nThe Trump administration, back in September, proposed that would rework the H-1B visa selection process to favour higher-skilled and better-paid workers, according to a related Federal Register notice, a move that follows a White House proclamation on Friday introducing a $100,000 fee for the visas.
\nThe new process, if finalised, would give heavier weight to applications by employers who pay high wages if annual requests for the visas exceed the statutory limit of 85,000, the notice said. The move aims to better protect Americans from unfair wage competition from foreign workers, it said.
\nPresident Trump, a Republican, sought to reshape the H-1B process during his 2017-2021 presidency, but was stymied by federal courts and limited time at the end of his presidency.
\nTighter US immigration policies, particularly for the H-1B skilled-worker visa, are making families in India less inclined to marry their children to Indian citizens based in the US for fear the potential partners might lose their job or immigration status, according to matchmakers, academics and prospective brides and grooms.
\nThere is no official government data on marriages between Indian citizens living at home and overseas.
\nThe US has the world\u2019s largest Indian diaspora, according to Indian government including around 2.1 million Non-Resident Indians (NRIs).
\nSince returning to office in January, Trump has launched a broad immigration crackdown, including efforts to limit legal pathways to residency. His overhaul of the H-1B visa marks the most prominent effort to reshape temporary work visas and hit Indians, who accounted for 71% of those visas last year, particularly hard.
\nAbout 75% of the H-1B visas issued to Indian citizens in 2024 were awarded to men, according to data from US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
\nTrump\u2019s visa overhaul has also prompted many Indian students to rethink the \u2018American Dream\u2019. There were some 422,335 Indian students in the US in 2024, according to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement data.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington The United States\u2019 embassy in India has said that it will deny tourist visa applications if its consular officers believe that it is primarily aimed at giving birth in the country to secure US citizenship for a child. \u201cThis is not permitted,\u201d the US embassy in New Delhi said in a post on X. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":519726,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-519712","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n