Rubio says Indians not targeted for visa review. The 38.5% decline in H-1B registrations suggests otherwise | Today’s news

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has insisted that sweeping changes to the US visa system are part of a global modernization effort without a specific focus on India. But with H-1B registrations down 38.5 percent, India’s leading IT firms losing thousands of approvals and new rules forcing green card applicants out of the country, the numbers paint a very different picture.

Rubio tells India: Visa overhaul is a global effort, not a targeted move

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking alongside External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar at a joint press conference, was quick to reassure India that Washington’s reshaping of its immigration architecture is not targeting any individual state.

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Rubio strongly acknowledged India’s contribution to the US economy, noting that Indian companies have invested more than $20 billion in the US and expressing a clear desire to see that number grow.

“Above all, I embrace the contribution that Indians have made to the U.S. economy. Indian companies have invested more than $20 billion in the U.S. economy. We want that number to continue to increase,” Rubio said.

On J1, F1 and H-1B visas, he has equally directly opposed the view that India has been singled out.

“The changes that are happening now are not specific to India; they are global and are being used around the world,” Rubio said. “We are in a period of modernization.”

H-1B registrations drop 38.5 percent as USCIS tightens selection criteria

Whatever the intent behind the policy framework, the statistics coming out of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services tell their own story.

H-1B visa registrations fell 38.5 percent in fiscal year 2027, from 343,981 applications in fiscal year 2026 to just 211,600. The agency attributed the decline in part to its own stricter selection filters, which now heavily favor applicants with higher education and higher salaries.

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“The number of properly filed registrations fell by 38.5 percent, from 3,43,981 in FY2026 to just 2,11,600 in FY2027,” USCIS said.

The agency described this shift as a deliberate correction.

“We are approving more applicants with higher education and higher salaries, especially those who studied at US universities. An overwhelming 71.5 percent of selected foreigners have a US master’s degree or higher, compared to 57 percent last year,” the statement said.

USCIS also emphasized the move away from lower wage bands.

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“This year, only 17.7 percent of all selected registrations were in the lowest wage category,” the agency said. “These data are a clear sign that the days of abuse of the program through low-wage mass enrollments are over and that the program is better serving its intended purpose of attracting highly skilled foreign workers and protecting the wages, working conditions and job opportunities of American workers.”

Indians make up 71 percent of H-1B approvals. Fallout falls on them the worst

The reason Rubio’s assurances ring hollow to many in India is simple arithmetic. According to USCIS data, Indians account for an estimated 71 percent of all approved H-1B applications in recent years, with China in second place. Primary areas of employment include technology, engineering, medicine and research.

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India’s six largest IT firms, namely Tata Consultancy Services, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Wipro and Tech Mahindra, have collectively received 11,041 H-1B visas as of March 31, 2026. This represents a 40 percent decrease from the previous year, when the same group of companies received 18,469 visas.

The contrasts between these firms are stark. Infosys, India’s second-largest IT company, received 3,195 approvals, the most in the group and notably the only firm of the six to see an increase over the previous year. At the other end, Mumbai-based Tata Consultancy Services suffered the steepest decline in the cohort, with approvals falling by 3,242 from the previous year to around 2,885.

Rubio links the reforms to America’s broader border crisis

Rubio was careful to frame the visa changes within a larger narrative of border security and national sovereignty, rather than trade or bilateral relations.

“We’ve had a migration crisis in the United States. It’s not because of India, but in general we’ve had over 20 million people come into the United States illegally over the last few years, and we’ve had to address that challenge,” he said. “Everything you do as a country must be in your national interest, including your immigration policy.”

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He also characterized the United States as fundamentally open to legal immigration, drawing on his own family history.

“I believe the United States is the most immigration-friendly country in the world. Each year, roughly one million people become permanent residents of the United States and make significant contributions,” Rubio said. “My parents entered the United States as permanent residents in 1956 from Cuba. It’s a process that has enriched us.”

Proposed wage increases of up to 33 percent add another layer of pressure

In addition to registration numbers, a separate proposed U.S. Department of Labor rule adds financial pressure to the H-1B pathway. The rule, which was announced March 27 and open to the public for comment until May 26, proposes to increase the minimum prevailing wage paid to H-1B workers by up to 33 percent in all entry-level positions.

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Under the proposed changes, the prevailing wage for entry-level foreign workers would rise to $97,746 a year, from $73,279, a jump of 33.39 percent. Level II workers would see wages increase to $123,212 from $98,987, an increase of 24.47%.

Level III positions would move to $147,333 from $121,979, an increase of 20.79 percent, while Level IV, which covers the most experienced workers, would rise to $175,464 from $144,202, an increase of 21.68%.

The Labor Department argued that existing wage levels were set more than two decades ago and no longer adequately protect American workers from being undercut by cheaper foreign labor.

On September 19 of last year, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation restricting the entry of H-1B workers whose petitions are not accompanied by a $100,000 payment.

The new green card rule forces foreign workers to leave the US to apply

Perhaps the most disruptive development for long-term H-1B holders came on May 22, when US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that foreign nationals seeking permanent residency must now physically return to their home country to apply for a green card.

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“From now on, an alien who is temporarily in the U.S. and wants a green card must return to their home country to apply, except in extraordinary circumstances,” said Zach Kahler, a spokesman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

This change changes the lives of H-1B visa holders who may have spent years, in some cases more than a decade, building a career and living in the United States in the expectation that they could complete the green card process without having to leave. For Indian nationals in particular, this is a profound violation. India and China face green card issues that stretch back decades, meaning those affected face not just an inconvenient journey home, but a potentially long wait before they can return.