With the Trump administration’s second-term immigration clamp-down raising the filing fee for a new H-1B petition to USD 100,000 and tightening prevailing-wage checks, many highly skilled Indians are abandoning the employer-dependent visa in favour of the self-petitioned EB-1A “extraordinary ability” green-card route.
According to data cited by consultancy Boundless Immigration, EB-1A applications jumped 56 % quarter-on-quarter to 7,338 in FY-2025 Q1, the sharpest rise since records began. Immigration lawyers in Bengaluru and Hyderabad report a three-fold increase in Indian tech founders and senior engineers asking for citation-analysis support and reference letters to meet the 10-point EB-1A evidentiary test.
![Costly H-1B and stricter US rules push Indians toward self-sponsored EB-1A green cards]()
The shift reflects both economics and control. An H-1B now requires employers to absorb steep fees, endure random lotteries and risk mid-contract lay-offs. EB-1A, while documentation-heavy, lets applicants “port” straight to US permanent residence without job offers or labour-market tests, offering stability for long-term client engagements and intra-company transfers.
For multinationals the trend alters talent-mobility strategy: HR teams must budget for longer US assignment lead-times while also reviewing claw-back clauses because EB-1A staff are not tied to a sponsoring entity. US-bound assignees should begin building provable achievement portfolios—patents, peer-reviewed publications, media coverage—12–18 months before filing.
Experts warn that adjudication standards under Trump-era USCIS memos remain high; denial rates for EB-1A stood at 26 % last fiscal year. Companies may therefore explore backup postings in Canada or the UK while petitions are pending.
According to data cited by consultancy Boundless Immigration, EB-1A applications jumped 56 % quarter-on-quarter to 7,338 in FY-2025 Q1, the sharpest rise since records began. Immigration lawyers in Bengaluru and Hyderabad report a three-fold increase in Indian tech founders and senior engineers asking for citation-analysis support and reference letters to meet the 10-point EB-1A evidentiary test.
The shift reflects both economics and control. An H-1B now requires employers to absorb steep fees, endure random lotteries and risk mid-contract lay-offs. EB-1A, while documentation-heavy, lets applicants “port” straight to US permanent residence without job offers or labour-market tests, offering stability for long-term client engagements and intra-company transfers.
For multinationals the trend alters talent-mobility strategy: HR teams must budget for longer US assignment lead-times while also reviewing claw-back clauses because EB-1A staff are not tied to a sponsoring entity. US-bound assignees should begin building provable achievement portfolios—patents, peer-reviewed publications, media coverage—12–18 months before filing.
Experts warn that adjudication standards under Trump-era USCIS memos remain high; denial rates for EB-1A stood at 26 % last fiscal year. Companies may therefore explore backup postings in Canada or the UK while petitions are pending.
