New Delhi: A 32-year-old biomedical engineer landed in Pune with his wife and son in the first week of December for his wife’s H1B visa renewal appointment. But the same evening, he received a message stating that the appointment had been cancelled. No revised date was offered. The New Jersey-based family is the latest to be separated as the Donald Trump administration tightens rules around the grant of H1B visas, over 70 per cent of which go to Indians every year.
“I have to leave my wife and son, who is a US citizen, in India because there is no guarantee that the next appointment will go through,” the engineer told ThePrint over a WhatsApp call.
Thousands of Indians who had returned to India to renew their American work permits are now stranded. Appointments between 15 and 26 December were either abruptly cancelled or rescheduled. The disruptions come at a time when social media platforms are being vetted as a part of Trump’s clampdown on immigration rules. With expired visas and uncertain appointment dates, many Indians are now spending their December holidays in stress.
Meanwhile, the US embassy in India, in a statement released Monday, urged “applicants to apply as early as they can and anticipate additional processing time” for H1B and H4 visa applications.
“It feels like a rat trap, we are forced to come to India, and it is a deliberate attempt so that we do not go back to the US”, said the engineer.
A repeat of September
For Indians staying in the US, concerns started rising in September when Trump signed a proclamation that increased the annual fee for H-1B visas from around $5,000 to $100,000.
At the time, the New Jersey-based biomedical engineer had come to Delhi for a weekend trip. When he heard the news, he spent the entire day calling his colleagues and friends in panic. He wanted to get on the next flight to the US, but none was available.
“My wife and kids were in the States. I was scared if I was stuck here in India, because it was a hefty amount of money to pay,” he said. “But in the next two days, there was more clarity, and I flew back to the US.”
He didn’t think he would be in such a situation in December. The month is considered to be ideal for Indians working abroad to return home for visa renewals and other formalities. The end of the year is generally the holiday season in Western countries, especially the US.
The couple had planned their December visit around eight months in advance. Their motive to visit this time was to get a visa renewal and to spend some time with family. They didn’t know their family would be separated.
“My wife teaches class 11 at a school. We had applied for the H1 extension well in advance, we knew that it would take time. The wife’s employer had to pay $3,000 dollars to expedite a decision in 15 days,” he said.
As soon as the wife’s extension was approved, the couple started hunting for appointments in India.
“It was a very calculated trip. We had scheduled our son’s doctor visits. My wife had to send the grades to the university there. She had to finish the syllabus before leaving. We had made all the arrangements keeping our professional and personal appointments in mind,” said the engineer, who returns to the US next month.
US visa scheduling groups on Reddit and Facebook are flooded with comments. Anonymous accounts have been describing their ordeal. One user wrote how he has to go back to the US for his child’s treatment. He had applied for an emergency appointment, but there were no slots available. Another worried parent wrote about how his kids are missing school because the appointment was pushed to six months later in May.
“We have been in the US for over 10 years, and I am wondering how one would even begin if we needed to start schooling here from scratch,” wrote a user in a Facebook closed group called ‘SOS Global Indians’.
Stress, uncertainty, expenses
A Texas–based techie was visiting his home for the third time this year. He was done with his biometrics appointment in early December and was waiting for his interview. But he was informed that the appointment had been pushed to March.
“I cannot go back for the next three months, I have my apartment there, and a car. I have to continue to pay the rent,” he said. “I have already informed my landlord, they were also worried because the season is changing, the apartment needed maintenance, and it was all done when I was not there.”
The techie has been working with the company for five years. He said that his employers are trying their best to bring him back to the US, but the hassle worries him.
“My mother lives in India, which requires me to travel to my home country frequently, while my job demands that I return to the United States. We simply cannot afford to go through such uncertainty every time,” he said.
While travel has become a concern among the US-based Indians, many fear that they would lose jobs. The New Jersey-based teacher’s school is worried that she will not be able to go back to the US for months.
“My wife has taught there for five years, and they are worried. She knows the kids, and they also want her back, but the circumstances are uncertain,” said the engineer.
What worries him more is how he will manage expenses if his wife is unable to return on time and loses her job. The family, which came to India on vacation, is spending its days in stress and uncertainty.
“I cannot take my kid back with me to the US; he needs his mother,” the engineer added.
He was married five years ago and had lived in the US for nine years. He had never faced such a problem. He got his H1B renewed from Canada in May, before Trump ended the broad practice of third-country visa stamping in September.
“If my wife does not come back, I probably have to get a roommate so that the rent is shared, otherwise it is pretty expensive to live there,” he said.
For those stranded in India, the biggest concern is reuniting with their families.
“I do not know how I will live my life if my wife and kid cannot make it back to the US. It’s like a car, one wheel down, how will the car run?”
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)