US green card approvals for Indian applicants in the EB-1A category fell to 35% in H1 FY26, down from 49.1% in FY25. With annual EB-2 visa quotas also exhausted, major Indian IT services companies are facing operational hurdles, increasing the pressure on workforce planning and project execution in the United States.
Indian technology professionals seeking permanent residency in the United States are facing significantly tougher hurdles. Recent data indicates that the approval rate for the EB-1A visa—a pathway reserved for individuals with extraordinary abilities—dropped to 35% in the first half of fiscal year 2026. This is a sharp decline compared to the 49.1% approval rate recorded in the 2025 fiscal year. Out of 7,316 petitions filed by Indian nationals during the first two quarters of the current fiscal year, only 2,571 were approved, while 1,131 were denied.
The challenge for Indian professionals is compounded by the exhaustion of the EB-2 immigrant visa quota for the 2026 fiscal year. The US Department of State has confirmed that no further EB-2 visas will be issued to Indian nationals until the new fiscal cycle begins in October 2026. This double layer of immigration friction—stricter scrutiny for extraordinary ability visas and a hard cap on traditional employment-based categories—has created significant uncertainty for skilled workers currently in the US.
For investors, these immigration trends carry clear implications for Indian IT services companies, such as TCS, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra. Historically, these firms have relied on a model that involves moving skilled Indian employees to client sites in the US on various visa types. As securing visas becomes more difficult and expensive, these companies face the risk of higher operational costs. If firms cannot deploy the right talent to client locations due to visa denials or backlogs, project execution timelines may face delays, or companies may be forced to hire more expensive local talent in the US to meet their service-level agreements.
To mitigate these risks, many Indian IT majors have been gradually shifting their strategy. There is a documented move toward increasing 'local hiring' in the US and strengthening offshore delivery centers to reduce dependency on visa-reliant staffing models. However, this transition is not instantaneous and often requires time to stabilize.
Investors monitoring the IT sector should focus on management commentary in upcoming quarterly results regarding the mix of onsite and offshore talent. A key area to track is whether companies are successfully managing the increased cost of local hiring or if margins are beginning to feel pressure from these changing workforce dynamics. Additionally, any policy updates from the US administration regarding immigration reforms or further visa quota changes will be a critical factor to watch in the coming months.