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What’s India’s policy for American tech immigrants? Do they have the equivalent of an H1B? Is it easier to become a resident with fewer strings attached after

What’s India’s policy for American tech immigrants? Do they have the equivalent of an H1B? Is it easier to become a resident with fewer strings attached after a fewer number of years?

opportune 4y ago
India allows naturalization after 11 years of residence, all of which can be on time-limited visas. India also appears to grant work/business visas as renewable on a 5 year basis https://www.startupindia.gov.in/content/sih/en/international/go-to-market-guide/indian-visa.html https://www.startupindia.gov.in/content/sih/en/international.... So you can become a resident after 11 years and ~3 visa renewals - you don't need to become a permanent resident first, and indeed, based on a cursory search India only grants permanent residence (without citizenship) for a few reasons that don't seem related to work-immigration. But you still have a clear path to permanent residence through naturalization. In the US you can be naturalized only if you are already a permanent resident. The issue I'm mentioning is from converting from a temporary visa (like H1b) to a permanent residence (Green Card). It's subject to something called the Green Card quota. If you have an H1b and technically qualify for getting a GC, you can become subject to the quota and remain on the H1b indefinitely. More info: https://www.immi-usa.com/h1b-visa/h1b-visa-extension/ https://www.immi-usa.com/h1b-visa/h1b-visa-extension/ Effectively this means you can stay in the US forever on H1b as long as you keep getting the visa renewed, but it's hard to switch jobs because of all the bureaucracy involved, and you don't have a path to citizenship until you get a GC.
- klipt 4y ago
  > But you still have a clear path to permanent residence through naturalization. At the cost of your existing citizenship, since India doesn't allow dual citizenship. One nice thing about permanent residence e.g. green card is that it can coexist with a citizenship that doesn't allow dual.
rajup 4y ago
You forgot to also ask, how many Americans actually want to immigrate to India? I'll answer that for you since you seem to have more questions than answers: close to zero.
- Stupulous 4y ago
  Out of curiosity I looked into the numbers for this. As of 2017, there were 700,000 Americans in India. As of 2018, there were 4.2 million Indians in the US. Dividing by population, that means ~0.2% of Americans are in India and ~0.3% of Indians are in America.
throwaway_1928 4y ago
Foreigners must reside in India for 11 years before applying for citizenship [1]. Indians must wait for 150 years before getting a green card [2]. [1] https://indiancitizenshiponline.nic.in/Home2.aspx?formcode=08 https://indiancitizenshiponline.nic.in/Home2.aspx?formcode=0... [2] https://www.cato.org/blog/150-year-wait-indian-immigrants-advanced-degrees https://www.cato.org/blog/150-year-wait-indian-immigrants-ad...
- jmyeet 4y ago
  While the plight of Indian nationals is undeniable, arbitrary and capricious, I would strongly suggest not citing figures like "Indians must wait 150 years" because it simply won't engender any sympathy at all from anyone not already sympathetic because it's a patently ridiculous claim. People don't live 150 years. Even if they did they don't work for 150 years. This is a case where simplistic mathematical extrapolation and hyperbole is really (IMHO counterproductive. It actually reminds me of this [1]. [1]: https://xkcd.com/605/ https://xkcd.com/605/
  - throwaway_1928 4y ago
    > figures like "Indians must wait 150 years" ... it's a patently ridiculous claim. The wait time is patently ridiculous, not the claim. There is no hyperbole here. The reality is stranger than fiction. The wait time for a green card has been described as lifetime [1], 50 years [2], 150 years [3][4], and 195 years [5]. I agree that people don't live 150 years. But that is how long they need to 'wait' for a green card as per the current system. Is your argument that the law does not explicitly state that "Indians must wait 150 years for a green card" and therefore the 150 year expected wait time is not true? The wording of the law does not matter as much as its effect. The law can be weasel worded to seem like it is intended to save baby seals while in practice resulting in a sinister outcome. [1] https://tulanehullabaloo.com/57051/intersections/opinion-lifetime-wait-for-indian-green-card/ https://tulanehullabaloo.com/57051/intersections/opinion-lif... [2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/the-employment-green-card-backlog-tops-800000-most-of-them-indian-a-solution-is-elusive/2019/12/17/55def1da-072f-11ea-8292-c46ee8cb3dce_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/the-employment-gr... [3] https://www.newsweek.com/under-trump-indian-immigrants-wait-150-years-green-card-through-eb-2-visas-977881 https://www.newsweek.com/under-trump-indian-immigrants-wait-... [4] https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/us-canada-news/wait-time-in-the-green-card-queue-for-some-is-150-years/articleshow/81245570.cms https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/us-canada-news/wait-... [5] https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2021/03/01/immigration-bill-shows-need-to-end-employment-based-immigrant-backlog/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2021/03/01/immig...

What’s India’s policy for American tech immigrants? Do they have the equivalent of an H1B? Is it easier to become a resident with fewer strings attached after a fewer number of years?

opportune 4y ago

India allows naturalization after 11 years of residence, all of which can be on time-limited visas. India also appears to grant work/business visas as renewable on a 5 year basis https://www.startupindia.gov.in/content/sih/en/international/go-to-market-guide/indian-visa.html https://www.startupindia.gov.in/content/sih/en/international.... So you can become a resident after 11 years and ~3 visa renewals - you don't need to become a permanent resident first, and indeed, based on a cursory search India only grants permanent residence (without citizenship) for a few reasons that don't seem related to work-immigration. But you still have a clear path to permanent residence through naturalization. In the US you can be naturalized only if you are already a permanent resident. The issue I'm mentioning is from converting from a temporary visa (like H1b) to a permanent residence (Green Card). It's subject to something called the Green Card quota. If you have an H1b and technically qualify for getting a GC, you can become subject to the quota and remain on the H1b indefinitely. More info: https://www.immi-usa.com/h1b-visa/h1b-visa-extension/ https://www.immi-usa.com/h1b-visa/h1b-visa-extension/ Effectively this means you can stay in the US forever on H1b as long as you keep getting the visa renewed, but it's hard to switch jobs because of all the bureaucracy involved, and you don't have a path to citizenship until you get a GC.

klipt 4y ago
> But you still have a clear path to permanent residence through naturalization. At the cost of your existing citizenship, since India doesn't allow dual citizenship. One nice thing about permanent residence e.g. green card is that it can coexist with a citizenship that doesn't allow dual.

rajup 4y ago

You forgot to also ask, how many Americans actually want to immigrate to India? I'll answer that for you since you seem to have more questions than answers: close to zero.

Stupulous 4y ago
Out of curiosity I looked into the numbers for this. As of 2017, there were 700,000 Americans in India. As of 2018, there were 4.2 million Indians in the US. Dividing by population, that means ~0.2% of Americans are in India and ~0.3% of Indians are in America.

throwaway_1928 4y ago

Foreigners must reside in India for 11 years before applying for citizenship [1]. Indians must wait for 150 years before getting a green card [2]. [1] https://indiancitizenshiponline.nic.in/Home2.aspx?formcode=08 https://indiancitizenshiponline.nic.in/Home2.aspx?formcode=0... [2] https://www.cato.org/blog/150-year-wait-indian-immigrants-advanced-degrees https://www.cato.org/blog/150-year-wait-indian-immigrants-ad...

jmyeet 4y ago
While the plight of Indian nationals is undeniable, arbitrary and capricious, I would strongly suggest not citing figures like "Indians must wait 150 years" because it simply won't engender any sympathy at all from anyone not already sympathetic because it's a patently ridiculous claim. People don't live 150 years. Even if they did they don't work for 150 years. This is a case where simplistic mathematical extrapolation and hyperbole is really (IMHO counterproductive. It actually reminds me of this [1]. [1]: https://xkcd.com/605/ https://xkcd.com/605/
- throwaway_1928 4y ago
  > figures like "Indians must wait 150 years" ... it's a patently ridiculous claim. The wait time is patently ridiculous, not the claim. There is no hyperbole here. The reality is stranger than fiction. The wait time for a green card has been described as lifetime [1], 50 years [2], 150 years [3][4], and 195 years [5]. I agree that people don't live 150 years. But that is how long they need to 'wait' for a green card as per the current system. Is your argument that the law does not explicitly state that "Indians must wait 150 years for a green card" and therefore the 150 year expected wait time is not true? The wording of the law does not matter as much as its effect. The law can be weasel worded to seem like it is intended to save baby seals while in practice resulting in a sinister outcome. [1] https://tulanehullabaloo.com/57051/intersections/opinion-lifetime-wait-for-indian-green-card/ https://tulanehullabaloo.com/57051/intersections/opinion-lif... [2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/the-employment-green-card-backlog-tops-800000-most-of-them-indian-a-solution-is-elusive/2019/12/17/55def1da-072f-11ea-8292-c46ee8cb3dce_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/the-employment-gr... [3] https://www.newsweek.com/under-trump-indian-immigrants-wait-150-years-green-card-through-eb-2-visas-977881 https://www.newsweek.com/under-trump-indian-immigrants-wait-... [4] https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/us-canada-news/wait-time-in-the-green-card-queue-for-some-is-150-years/articleshow/81245570.cms https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/us-canada-news/wait-... [5] https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2021/03/01/immigration-bill-shows-need-to-end-employment-based-immigrant-backlog/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2021/03/01/immig...