Why US H-1B holders are turning to UK amid visa uncertainty, Green Card delays
As US Green Card queues stretch into decades and Donald Trump's immigration policy grows more unpredictable, Indian H-1B professionals are looking beyond America. For many, Britain's Global Talent Visa has emerged as a faster, more certain pathway to permanent residency.
A growing number of professionals working in the US on H-1B visas are exploring a move to the UK, due in large part to prolonged Green Card backlogs and uncertainty surrounding the US immigration system, pushing many to seek more predictable pathways to permanent residency.
According to a report by The American Bazaar, immigration lawyers in the UK are seeing a sharp rise in enquiries from H-1B holders — predominantly Indian engineers, researchers and technology professionals — who are considering the UK's Global Talent Visa while continuing to pursue their long-term ambitions in the US.
Yash Dubal, CEO and director of London-based A Y & J Solicitors, told The American Bazaar that he has been fielding more and more enquiries coming from Indian professionals in their 30s who have spent years waiting for US Green Cards, and were exploring a shift to the UK for obtaining permanent residency.
"Usually their spouses are on H-4 visas and they have US-born children. They have been waiting for Green Cards for years. The Global Talent Visa is the first route they have looked at where their professional record actually translates into a timeline," the American Bazaar quoted him as saying.
Introduced in 2020 as part of the UK's post-Brexit immigration framework, the Global Talent Visa is designed for individuals who have demonstrated exceptional talent or promise in fields such as digital technology, engineering, science, academia, medicine and the arts.
The application process itself is relatively straightforward and consists of two stages: obtaining an endorsement from the relevant body, followed by the visa application.
According to immigration consultants cited by The American Bazaar, the UK Global Talent Visa offers several advantages over the H-1B visa. Unlike the H-1B, which is employer-sponsored, lottery-based, and subject to an annual cap of 85,000 visas, the Global Talent Visa is evidence-based and uncapped. For highly skilled professionals who qualify, it can also provide a pathway to settlement in the UK in as little as three years.
This relatively quick path to permanent settlement that the UK's Global Talent provides is proving to be its biggest attraction.
Dubal noted that the April 2026 US Visa Bulletin lists the EB-2 India priority date as July 2014, effectively translating into a Green Card wait of around 14 years for many Indian applicants. "The UK Global Talent Visa gets you to settlement in three. It is not a more emotional decision than that. It is arithmetic. The clients I'm speaking to in San Francisco and Seattle are doing the same calculation," he was quoted as saying by The American Bazaar.
Immigration advisers also pointed to increasing unease over the future of the H-1B programme. Interest in alternative destinations has reportedly grown since the proposal of a $100,000 H-1B visa fee last year, despite subsequent legal challenges.
"Indian professionals are no longer treating uncertainty in the US as a temporary problem to wait out. They are treating it as a feature of the system and acting accordingly," Dubal told The American Bazaar.
According to the report, many H-1B holders are not abandoning their plans to settle in the US altogether. Instead, they are pursuing parallel immigration strategies, using the UK as a safeguard against prolonged uncertainty in the US system. "Indian H-1B holders are not abandoning the US plan. They are putting a UK plan alongside it, as a hedge," Dubal was quoted as saying by The American Bazaar.
To qualify for the Global Talent Visa, applicants must first obtain an endorsement from an approved UK body before submitting their visa application. Dubal said many prospective applicants underestimate how close they may be to meeting the requirements.
"Indian engineers applying to us are often closer to qualifying than they assume. What I see most often now is families running parallel options. Indian H-1B holders are not abandoning the US plan. They are putting a UK plan alongside it, as a hedge. The choice between three years to UK settlement and another decade of uncertainty in the US becomes harder to defer once it is sitting on the page," said Dubal.
For many H-1B professionals in the US, permanent residency remains the ultimate goal. However, a combination of decades-long Green Card backlogs and persistent uncertainty surrounding US visa policies is prompting many to consider greener pastures, with the UK emerging as a leading alternative while they keep their long-term American ambitions alive.
A growing number of professionals working in the US on H-1B visas are exploring a move to the UK, due in large part to prolonged Green Card backlogs and uncertainty surrounding the US immigration system, pushing many to seek more predictable pathways to permanent residency.
According to a report by The American Bazaar, immigration lawyers in the UK are seeing a sharp rise in enquiries from H-1B holders — predominantly Indian engineers, researchers and technology professionals — who are considering the UK's Global Talent Visa while continuing to pursue their long-term ambitions in the US.
Yash Dubal, CEO and director of London-based A Y & J Solicitors, told The American Bazaar that he has been fielding more and more enquiries coming from Indian professionals in their 30s who have spent years waiting for US Green Cards, and were exploring a shift to the UK for obtaining permanent residency.
"Usually their spouses are on H-4 visas and they have US-born children. They have been waiting for Green Cards for years. The Global Talent Visa is the first route they have looked at where their professional record actually translates into a timeline," the American Bazaar quoted him as saying.
Introduced in 2020 as part of the UK's post-Brexit immigration framework, the Global Talent Visa is designed for individuals who have demonstrated exceptional talent or promise in fields such as digital technology, engineering, science, academia, medicine and the arts.
The application process itself is relatively straightforward and consists of two stages: obtaining an endorsement from the relevant body, followed by the visa application.
According to immigration consultants cited by The American Bazaar, the UK Global Talent Visa offers several advantages over the H-1B visa. Unlike the H-1B, which is employer-sponsored, lottery-based, and subject to an annual cap of 85,000 visas, the Global Talent Visa is evidence-based and uncapped. For highly skilled professionals who qualify, it can also provide a pathway to settlement in the UK in as little as three years.
This relatively quick path to permanent settlement that the UK's Global Talent provides is proving to be its biggest attraction.
Dubal noted that the April 2026 US Visa Bulletin lists the EB-2 India priority date as July 2014, effectively translating into a Green Card wait of around 14 years for many Indian applicants. "The UK Global Talent Visa gets you to settlement in three. It is not a more emotional decision than that. It is arithmetic. The clients I'm speaking to in San Francisco and Seattle are doing the same calculation," he was quoted as saying by The American Bazaar.
Immigration advisers also pointed to increasing unease over the future of the H-1B programme. Interest in alternative destinations has reportedly grown since the proposal of a $100,000 H-1B visa fee last year, despite subsequent legal challenges.
"Indian professionals are no longer treating uncertainty in the US as a temporary problem to wait out. They are treating it as a feature of the system and acting accordingly," Dubal told The American Bazaar.
According to the report, many H-1B holders are not abandoning their plans to settle in the US altogether. Instead, they are pursuing parallel immigration strategies, using the UK as a safeguard against prolonged uncertainty in the US system. "Indian H-1B holders are not abandoning the US plan. They are putting a UK plan alongside it, as a hedge," Dubal was quoted as saying by The American Bazaar.
To qualify for the Global Talent Visa, applicants must first obtain an endorsement from an approved UK body before submitting their visa application. Dubal said many prospective applicants underestimate how close they may be to meeting the requirements.
"Indian engineers applying to us are often closer to qualifying than they assume. What I see most often now is families running parallel options. Indian H-1B holders are not abandoning the US plan. They are putting a UK plan alongside it, as a hedge. The choice between three years to UK settlement and another decade of uncertainty in the US becomes harder to defer once it is sitting on the page," said Dubal.
For many H-1B professionals in the US, permanent residency remains the ultimate goal. However, a combination of decades-long Green Card backlogs and persistent uncertainty surrounding US visa policies is prompting many to consider greener pastures, with the UK emerging as a leading alternative while they keep their long-term American ambitions alive.
