'Get yourself Green Card': Indian-origin CEO's long-term advice for H-1Bs stuck in India

Indian-origin CEO Vijay Thirumalai commented on the present H-1B situation as thousands of Indians got stuck in India as they traveled to their home country to get their visas stamped only to be informed that their appointments have been deferred by a minimum fo six months. As they are stranded in India without knowing if they will be allowed to work from India remotely, many people on social media mocked on how Indians can be stranded in India.

Thirumalai said the mocking is brutal as he knows what people are going through with their visa appointments getting delayed all of a sudden. The delay was triggered by the State Department's social media vetting process that started from December 15.




"People who mock the concept of being stranded, have no idea what is going thru. They have their homes, their jobs, kids school and their entire lives back in US, what was supposed to be a 2 week trip is now stretching to 3-4 months and maybe more, god knows, how long. It is brutal," the Indian-origin CEO noted.

H-1B visa appointments canceled en masse

The consulates in India rescheduled hundreds of appointments leaving candidates amid unprecedented uncertainty. As social media vetting in which visa officers are checking the social media profiles of applicants is taking a longer time, the consulates reduced the number of visa appointments per day. December appointments have been pushed after March; January dates have been deferred to November. Those who are still in the US can defer their travel to the US but those who are already in India are stuck for indefinite time now.

'Get out of H-1B quagmire'

Thirumalai said the ideal situation for Indian H-1Bs would be to get out of the H-1B quagmire as soon as possible. Immigration will become only difficult and hence H-1B visa holders should try to get Green Card. "With the hostile political rhetoric & AI job losses, immigration is going to get only worse. Do all you can to get yourself a GC. Don't listen to folks egging you to get to India, you have worked hard so far, to study here, get a job, have a base, invest 4-5 more years, get a GC + passport to build the optionality for you & you have the best of all worlds. Despite the best Govt, USD/ INR is 90 and macro only getting worse, imagine the situation with a bad govt + even more hostile neighbours," the Indian-origin CEO said.