US visa no longer a passport to love for Indians after Trump H-1B squeeze

By Abinaya V, Rishika Sadam and Urvi Dugar

BENGALURU/HYDERABAD (GWN) -Sidhi Sharma wished to marry an Indian citizen with a high-flying job in the United States.

But the 19-year-old medical pupil from India’s northern Haryana state dropped the thought after seeing current headlines about U.S. President Donald Trump‘s immigration crackdown.

“I had always dreamed of settling in the U.S. after marriage,” she said, without elaborating on her causes. “Trump has shut the door for me.”

Tighter U.S. immigration insurance policies, significantly for the H-1B skilled-worker visa, are making households in India less inclined to marry their youngsters to Indian residents based in the United States for worry the potential companions may lose their job or immigration standing, according to matchmakers, lecturers and potential brides and grooms.

There is no official authorities data on marriages between Indian residents residing at home and abroad.

“Immigration policies may be written in Washington, but its ripple effects are seen at dinner tables of Indian families when they’re talking about marriages,” said Anuradha Gupta, the founder of bespoke matchmaking service ‘Vows For Eternity’.

Traditionally, marriages in India are family-driven choices, with relations and matchmaking companies facilitating “arranged” matches. While marriages for love are gaining ground, particularly in the cities, households often still play supportive roles.

FROM PRIZED PROSPECTS TO UNCERTAIN MATCHES

The U.S. has the world’s largest Indian diaspora, according to Indian authorities data, including around 2.1 million Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), some of the most sought-after marriage prospects.

Since returning to workplace in January, Trump has launched a broad immigration crackdown, including efforts to restrict legal pathways to residency. His overhaul of the H-1B visa marks the most outstanding effort to reshape short-term work visas and hit Indians, who accounted for 71% of those visas last yr, significantly exhausting.

For many Indians, marrying a compatriot residing in the U.S. was a ticket to financial security, and a better high quality of life, while households welcomed the custom of them sending money home and offering help to prolonged households.

About 75% of the H-1B visas issued to Indian residents in 2024 had been awarded to males, according to data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

“Up until last year, there was a lot of demand and craze for NRI suitors and men settled abroad,” said Vanaja Rao, the managing director of the Vanaja Rao group of firms, popularly identified as Vanaja Rao fast marriages.

“We’ve started to see a slowdown ever since Trump took over, and it intensified in the last six months. And of course, after the recent chaos and curbs on H-1B, there’s more panic,” said Rao, who has been in the business for practically 5 a long time.

In some instances, households are delaying weddings.

“There is a lot of uncertainty in terms of immigration in general and not just H-1B, it has only escalated in the past year,” said a 26-year-old Indian based in Atlanta, Georgia on condition of anonymity because of the issue’s sensitivity.

He is conscious of three weddings that have been delayed as a outcome of Trump’s coverage adjustments, he said.

“Every time there has been speculation about stopping or tightening the restrictions around H-1B visas and skilled-worker migration, there has always been a corresponding impact on the marriage market,” said Harshita Yalamarty, an assistant professor at Toronto Metropolitan University.

She pointed to Trump’s first administration when he also focused H-1B visas and proposed spouses not be allowed to work. His successor, Joe Biden, later withdrew the coverage.

Trump’s visa overhaul has also prompted many Indian college students to rethink the ‘American Dream’. There had been some 422,335 Indian college students in the U.S. in 2024, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement data.

VISA STATUS IS OFTEN A DEAL MAKER OR BREAKER

Some matchmakers are adapting to the new actuality.

Premium matchmaking platform Knot.courting launched a ‘U.S. visa filter’ on its app as it expanded into India’s south. The company’s cofounder and CEO Jasveer Singh said many households there have been significantly eager on NRIs.

“Families want to see the visa status of the suitor or match from abroad before proceeding further,” Singh said.

Since the characteristic launched in September, about 1,000 NRIs have signed up, with 60% on H-1B visas and the remaining on inexperienced playing cards or other visas, Knot.courting’s Singh said. Of the 1,000 who signed up, 81% had been males.

Knot.courting requires male customers to earn at least 5 million rupees ($56,332.32) a yr but has no income standards for girls.

That determine is “astronomically higher than what a fresh graduate or professional typically earns in India, that’s equivalent to many years’ worth of income here,” said KP Singh of abroad training consultancy IMFS.

“This U.S. salary offers a level of financial security many here can only dream of.”

With the American Dream slipping out of attain, some Indian purchasers are trying more in direction of Canada, the UK, Europe, and the Middle East for potential matches, said Nikita Anand, founder of matchmaking company Wedding Tales Matrimony.

“When families consider marriage, factors like mobility and security are deeply embedded in their decision-making. It’s about long-term stability, not just for themselves but for future generations as well,” Vows For Eternity’s Gupta said.

($1 = 88.7590 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan and Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru, Rishika Sadam in Hyderabad and Manoj Kumar in New Delhi; Editing by Dhanya Skariachan and Kate Mayberry)