- Piyush Goyal said fewer H-1B approvals could keep skilled talent in India and support domestic startups.
- USCIS approved 406,348 H-1B petitions in fiscal year 2025; Indian-born professionals accounted for 69.9%.
- The FY 2027 selection system gives higher-wage jobs more entries, while litigation and potential fees add uncertainty.
(INDIA) — Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on October 9, 2026, that every H-1B visa not granted by the United States could benefit India by keeping skilled professionals, technology work and startups at home.
Goyal made the remarks at the ET Startup Awards 2026, as U.S. restrictions on foreign-worker hiring and uncertainty over employer costs reshape the visa program. He argued that fewer Indian workers moving to the United States could strengthen domestic technology businesses and expand high-value work in India.
His comments recast a debate often centered on Indian professionals’ access to U.S. jobs. The H-1B visa remains a major route for employers seeking specialized workers, while Indian nationals continue to account for the largest share of beneficiaries.
Goyal pointed to deep-technology startups and multinational companies’ global capability centers, or GCCs, as possible sources of growth. These centers conduct work such as research, engineering, software development and finance from India.
His remarks followed restrictions affecting labor-certification applications involving major technology companies, including Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Wipro and HCL Technologies. PERM labor certification is generally used by employers sponsoring eligible foreign workers for employment-based permanent residence; a pause does not automatically cancel an existing H-1B visa, but it can disrupt a worker’s longer-term green-card process.
The H-1B program permits U.S. employers to hire foreign nationals in specialty occupations requiring highly specialized knowledge and at least a bachelor’s degree or equivalent in a related field. Software development, data science, engineering, medicine, finance, architecture and university research are among the fields that use the program.
USCIS approved 406,348 H-1B petitions in fiscal year 2025. That total includes extensions, continuing employment, employer changes and other petitions involving workers already in the program, not just newly admitted workers.
Indian-born professionals accounted for 283,772 approvals, or 69.9% of the total. Chinese-born professionals received 49,161 approvals, or 12.1%. Computer-related occupations made up 252,088 approvals, approximately 62% of all approvals.
The reported median annual salary for approved H-1B beneficiaries reached $133,000 in FY 2025. Approximately 58% held a master’s degree; others held bachelor’s, doctoral or professional degrees.
The Cap and the Registration System
The annual statutory cap remains 85,000 visas: 65,000 under the regular cap and 20,000 for qualifying graduates of U.S. institutions. Universities, nonprofit research organizations and certain affiliated institutions can qualify for cap-exempt treatment, which generally removes their petitions from the annual lottery.
Demand continues to exceed the available cap numbers. A registration is not an approved petition: after selection, an employer must file Form I-129 and establish that the job qualifies as a specialty occupation, the offered wage meets requirements and the worker has the necessary qualifications.
USCIS recorded 343,981 eligible registrations for FY 2026, down 26.9% from 470,342 for FY 2025. The agency attributed much of the decrease to the beneficiary-centric system introduced in 2024, under which each individual is counted once in selection even when multiple employers submit registrations.
The lower registration count did not bring demand below the cap. It reflected a change intended to reduce duplicate filings and prevent multiple registrations for one person from increasing that person’s selection chances.
Wage-Weighted Selection Takes Effect
The FY 2027 cap season brought a wage-weighted model, which took effect on February 27, 2026. Under the system, registrations receive between one and four entries based on how the offered wage compares with Department of Labor prevailing-wage levels for the occupation and work location.
The previous selection approach generally gave each eligible beneficiary an equal chance. The new model gives higher-paid positions more entries, while retaining a lottery. It can favor senior or specialized workers and positions in high-wage locations, while making selection less favorable to some entry-level roles and employers with limited salary budgets.
One analysis estimated that India’s share of selected registrants could fall from approximately 66.8% under the previous system to a range between roughly 55.7% and 63.5%, depending on wage assumptions and design details. The estimate is not an official forecast, and the figures do not mean Indian workers will cease to dominate the program.
The $100,000 Fee and Ongoing Litigation
A separate source of uncertainty concerns a $100,000 fee imposed under a September 19, 2025 presidential proclamation on certain petitions for workers outside the United States. The charge took effect for qualifying filings submitted on or after September 21, 2025, and generally did not apply to workers already in the country seeking an extension or change of status while maintaining valid status.
A federal district court vacated the fee on June 8, 2026, and the First Circuit Court of Appeals denied the government’s request for a stay on July 24, 2026. The fee was reportedly not being collected at the time of the latest update, though USCIS indicated collection could resume if the government prevails on appeal.
The Department of Homeland Security has separately proposed a $103,265 H-1B fee under different legal authority as a possible alternative. Premium processing rose to $2,965 effective March 1, 2026. A new $4,000 response and biometric entry-exit fee may apply to certain covered employers from September 9, 2026, including companies with at least 50 U.S. employees where more than half hold H-1B or L-1 status.
Continuing Employment vs. New Applicants
Indian nationals’ share is especially high among workers continuing employment in the United States. They represented 77.6% of continuing-employment approvals in FY 2025, compared with 50.3% of initial-employment approvals.
The distinction matters to workers and employers because restrictions on overseas hiring do not necessarily affect a person already holding valid H-1B status in the same way. Current workers face questions involving extensions, employer changes, travel, dependents’ status and delayed permanent-residence sponsorship. Prospective applicants abroad must contend with selection, wage and specialty-occupation requirements, as well as potential fees.
Companies could shift more work to India, expand local delivery centers or reduce sponsorship as costs and compliance demands rise. Employers in artificial intelligence, semiconductors and advanced manufacturing may still need workers recruited across borders.
What Goyal’s Forecast Depends On
Goyal’s forecast depends on whether India can turn reduced migration into domestic jobs, investment and company formation. Skilled workers may instead choose destinations such as Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia or Germany, while companies may automate or move work elsewhere.
India’s capacity to attract research investment and support startups will shape whether talent stays. Infrastructure, research funding, access to capital, intellectual-property protections and the supply of high-value jobs will affect the choices of both workers and multinational employers.
