It's time to come back

Why children of H-1B workers may now have to leave America

The issues faced by H4 dependent kids have been grossly underrepresented by both the Indian and US governments and the IT firms in both countries.

Jahnavi Parikh was two when her father Piyush Parikh, an IT professional, moved to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1999. Jahnavi began school in the US and, later when her father moved back to India between 2004 and 2007, he enrolled her in a Mumbai school. Post 2007, she was once again studying in the US. 

Two years ago, when Jahnavi applied for college admissions, she realised that unlike most of her classmates, she was not entitled to any of the scholarships that American students can apply for. “I had been a topper in  and this was a big blow. Even worse was that I couldn’t join any medical course, which is what I had set my heart on. Also, I can’t take up any job assignments in the US, because of my visa status as an H4 dependent child,” Jahnavi told ET Magazine from Atlanta. (Family members — spouse and unmarried children — of an H-1B worker are admitted to the US in the H4 category.) Jahnavi has now joined a second major in management information systems along with her pre-medical undergraduate course at the University of Georgia. 

Her problems don’t end there. Jahnavi’s father is on an H-1B visa extension with his employer, a business intelligence and analytics company, having filed his petition for a green card in 2009. Skilled Indian immigrants in green card queues foresee long waits going up to even 30 years or more in some cases.