Indian Americans seek Elon Musk's help for H-1B visa reforms, ‘It took you 10 years to…’

An Indian man took to X to ask Elon Musk to ensure there are H-1B visa reforms now that Donald Trump has won the election. Musk backed Trump during his campaign, having endorsed the president-elect after he survived an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania.

“Dear @elonmusk, Congratulations on winning the election! It took you 10 years to obtain citizenship in the USA, including your undergraduate and master's studies. You moved to the US in 1992 and became a US citizen in 2002,” Sanjeev Ranjan wrote on X. “Please do justice for Indian-born H-1B visas.”

‘So many are stuck in this problem’

Many supported him in the comment section of the post, echoing his thoughts. “So many are stuck in this problem unfortunately. And there is a lot of misinformation about this and particular hate for this visa,” one user wrote. “Revive the American dream! The infinite wait time for legal immigrants for Indian born is nightmare. I invented a concrete product that will benefit the USA, and being on H1B, im stuck and can not pursue my dreams because of the complex legal immigration,” another user commented. One said, “also Indians are not eligible to apply for permanent resident status through the Diversity Visa LOTTERY. At least make ALL nationalities eligible for the LOTTERY if they spend hundreds of thousands of $ on their Ungergrad / grad / PhD programs ( say $200k spent in total on FEES )”.

“Spot on. Many of us (including myself) who came here legally via H1 in the 90s were able to obtain citizenship in less than 10 years. Hope Elon and @realDonaldTrump administration do something about it in providing an accelerated path for those who are here legally,” one user wrote, while another said, “Expedite the visas for intelligent, law abiding, tax paying highly qualified immigrants. America needs them. We also should consider worker visas for temp helpers, house cleaners, handymans etc. So they come here legally”. “We are waiting for green card from past 10 years too @elonmusk please do something for Indian H1B holders. We cannot buy a house n settle as any time if the renewal is declined we have to go back. No good life just working hard everyday,” said a user. Another said, “@elonmusk atleast make it a point for students who come here on a F1 visa and work harder than ever to get a job and H1-B and make a life for themselves.”

A Washington Post report previously claimed that Musk briefly worked illegally in the US after he abandoned a graduate studies program in California. Musk has been promoting Trump’s opposition to “open borders,” and previously said that his transition from student to entrepreneur was a “legal grey area.”

However, Musk later denied the claims made in the report. Sharing a video ofJoe Bidenreferencing the Washington Post report’s claims on X,Musk wrote, “I was in fact allowed to work in the US. The Biden puppet is lying.”

According to experts, Trump couldtighten H-1B visa rules after assuming office. Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) Founder Ajay Srivastava said, according to NDTV, “Trump's stricter immigration stance could lead to changes in visa rules, impacting Indian IT professionals and raising costs for Indian IT companies.”

Trump is known for havinga tough stance on immigration. In India, former Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor recently told CNBC-TV18 that Trump being strongly anti-immigration might affect the number of possibilities for the H1-B visas that Indians want, as well as for family reunions of those who have gone there, have stayed, become permanent residents, and want their families to come over and join them.

A report by Prabhudas Lilladher stated that Trump has plans to tighten immigration rules and reduce H-1B visas. The report also noted that under the Republican leader, the number of approvals for the visa fell in 2017-18, before recovering in 2019-20.

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