By Yashaswani Chauhan Sind
Copyright thehindubusinessline
As Trump tightens the H-1B visa process with a new $100,000 fee, data show that issuance of various categories of US Visas such as work, education and dependents have all been on a decline in the last three years while the tourism/business visa issue has seen a spike.
US State Department data show that H-1B, H4 and F1 visa declined by 36, 34 and 35 per cent from 2023 to 2025, but the number of B1/B2 visas, the largest among all categories, has seen a robust 22 per cent growth.
B1/B2 visas issued by the US to Indians increased from 3.7 lakh in 2023 to 4.6 lakh in 2025. In contrast, H-1 B visas dropped from 99,938 in 2023 to 63,323 in 2025, H4 visas from 71,130 to 46,982, and F1 student visas from 17,761 to just 11,484.
In the current US fiscal year, 72 per cent of H-1 B visas and 78 per cent of H4 visas were issued to Indians. 15 per cent of US’ B1/B2 visa issues were for Indians.
B1/B2 visas are for temporary visitors for business or tourism purpose. H-1B visas are for highly skilled professionals in speciality occupations, H4 visas are dependents (spouses and children) of H-1B holders, and F1 visas are issued to students pursuing academic or language training programmes.
“This rise in B1/B2 visas reflects both strong pent-up demand for travel and the relatively easier processing of tourist visas compared to work or student categories,” said Subhash Goyal, Chairman, Aviation and Tourism, Expert Committee, Indian Chamber of Commerce.
GCC presence
Kamal Karanth, Co-founder, Xpheno, a specialist staffing company, said that Covid made Indian IT services companies and their clients recognise that project delivery can be also done remotely for better cost-efficiency. This led to a gradual decline in need for H-1B petitions and visas, he said. “In case of the big tech majors, they have expanded their GCC presence in India in the last few years with many of them taking up large real estate spaces too, leading to a drop in H-1B dependence,” he added.
Data of the 12-month period leading up to May 2025 show that B1/B2 issuances consistently crossed the monthly 90,000 mark, peaking at 96,982 in March 2025. H-1 B visas show a downward trend from 12,283 issuances in May 2024 to 10,035 in May 2025. The steepest fall was in student (F1) visas from 11,829 in May 2024 to just 6,984 in May 2025.
Published on September 23, 2025
