Facts checked on 9 and 23 October 2026 against the sources linked below. Rules change often — check the official page before you act. This is shared experience, not legal or financial advice.

Work, student, dependant and visitor visas

  • F-1 students may work up to 20 hours a week on campus in term (Study in the States), then take 12 months of OPT, and 24 more for STEM. For F and J holders entering on or after 15 September 2026, admission runs to the programme end date plus 30 days, or four years plus 30 days if shorter (final rule). A court challenge has been reported.
  • H-1B: 65,000 a year plus 20,000 for a US master's or higher, drawn by wage level since the FY2027 season. Two federal courts struck down the $100,000 payment in 2026, a Washington, DC court upheld it in December 2025, and appeals are pending; it never applied to a change of status inside the US. Check USCIS's H-1B page the week anyone files.
  • H-4 spouses may work only with an EAD, once the H-1B holder has an approved I-140. DHS has listed removing it on its 2026 agenda, but no proposed rule had been published when checked (analysis). An L-2 spouse may work from day one. A spouse without an SSN uses an ITIN for tax.
  • Visitors: a B-1 visitor may attend interviews but may not work. Parents on a B-2 cannot join an employer plan or buy a marketplace plan, so visitor medical insurance is their only cover.

Stamping in India

The interview waiver ("dropbox") ended for H-1B and H-4 renewals on 2 September 2025, and since 15 December 2025 H-1B and H-4 applicants must set their social media to public. The MRV fee for a petition-based visa is $205. Spring 2026 estimates ran from about a month in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata to three months or more in Hyderabad and Chennai, so check Global Visa Wait Times before you book. A valid visa in an expired passport is still valid: travel with both booklets (State Department).

The green-card queue

Employment-based green cards are capped at 140,000 a year worldwide, with a per-country ceiling India has exceeded for two decades. In the October 2026 Visa Bulletin the final action dates for India were 1 February 2023 for EB-1, 1 November 2013 for EB-2 and 1 January 2014 for EB-3. An EB-1A or national interest waiver needs no employer, but only EB-1 shortens the wait. Once an I-485 has been pending 180 days you may change jobs within the same or a similar occupation.

Passport, citizenship and the OCI card

Renew the Indian passport once it has less than a year to run: your I-94 cannot outlast it. Since 1 July 2026 a 36-page adult booklet costs US$125, plus US$2 ICWF and VFS's US$19, so US$146 before shipping; tatkal adds US$125. Start on VFS's US India site, which hands you to Passport Seva. A clean renewal takes three to eight weeks.

Citizenship comes five years after a green card, or three if married to and living with a US citizen. Form N-400 costs $710 online or $760 on paper; a proposed rule would raise both and was not in force when checked. India does not allow dual citizenship, so the Indian passport is surrendered ($62 all-in) and the OCI card replaces it: $297 all-in, six to ten weeks door to door, and since July 2026 an e-OCI with no printed card (VFS OCI page).

What to ask here

  • Your stamping experience: which consulate, how long, what was asked.
  • How a change of status or of employer went for you.
  • What you did while your priority date waited.
  • VFS timings for passports and OCI at your centre.

The full guides: Indians in the US, Jobs in the US, Indian passport renewal and OCI card from the US.