H-1B delays are rising, however there’s a greater path. Uncover why high Indian engineers are shifting to O-1 visas for sooner approvals
A rising development has emerged among the many tech professionals and Indian founders to actively discover alternate options to the H-1B visa route amid the rising prices, strict laws and lengthy delays within the US immigration system.
Indians account for over 70% of roughly 85,000 H-1B visas issued yearly in America which is primarily for specialised IT and engineering roles. This incudes the yearly quota of visas capped at 65,000 and a separate set of 20,000 visas put aside for these with superior levels.
However the latest structural adjustments and ongoing visa backlogs has prompted a number of Indian entrepreneurs and IT professionals to both return to construct in India’s tech ecosystem or leverage different various visas like O-1, EB-1 and EB-2 NIW.
In an interview with Indianexpress.comFredrick Ng, co-founder of Past Border, a Bengaluru and US-based immigration platform, mentioned founders and startups ought to chart out their US mobility plan at the least 10 months forward of time. He added that processing by US Citizenship and Immigration Providers (USCIS) have climbed up considerably.
Offering an instance of a substitute for H-1B visa, Fredrick mentioned the traditional processing time for O-1 visa “to simply get a call has gone as much as median 10 months, versus 4 months in the beginning of Trump’s 2nd administration.”
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Finish of H-1B Period? Why Indian founders are wanting elsewhere
In response to Fredrick, the Trump administration must “loosen up nation particular quota – particularly on precedence / present date ideas for EB-1A and EB-2 NIW classes which stay extremely well-liked.”
Fredrick added that consulate wait time additionally acts as a hindrance after the visa will get permitted. “It would take one other 2-3 months, with expectation of ready time rising, for anybody who acquired an O-1 visa for instance to get a house nation US consulate stamping given the rule,” the Past Border co-founder added.
Why O-1 visa is changing H-1B for high tech expertise
Some vital H-1B visa holders previously embrace Sundar Pichai, Google and Alphabet’s CEO and Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO and Chairman. A Bloomberg report, quoting LinkedIn, said that it witnessed a 40% enhance in tech professionals altering their location to India within the third quarter of 2025.
Fredrick believes O-1 to be a “higher path” for “certified people” compared to H-1B visa because the “O-1 visa continues to be up within the 90% and above approval fee.” Whereas an H-1B visa has a 25-30% approval fee relying on the chances of profitable a lottery.
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“Past Border information exhibits that our variety of enquiries for H1-B alternate options grew 3x quarter over quarter in Q1 2026 to this point, as we edge in direction of the brand new H1-B cycle with individuals on the lookout for alternate options,” Frederick informed Indianexpress.com
H-1B uncertainty reshaping tech careers
Indian tech professionals have dominated the H-1B visa programme for a number of years and therefore nearly three-quarters of the visa approval is linked to Indian job seekers or entrepreneurs. However it seems to be just like the occasions have modified and a US-educated engineer returning to India doesn’t appear an unbelievable thought.
For instance, Indian entrepreneur Kunal Bahl, who accomplished his MBA on the College of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Faculty and adopted it by an internship at Microsoft. It later led to an invite by Microsoft Co-founder Invoice Gates for a dinner and finally to a full-time job on the tech big, Bloomberg reported.
However actuality struck in 2007 when Bahl’s H-1B visa software was rejected. Attributable to varied restrictions and new guidelines launched by the Trump administration, many Indian tech professionals are pivoting to Canada, the UK, Germany, and Singapore the place immigration pathways are welcoming in nature.