Pick your stage of the journey.
From the flight you haven't booked to the passport you'll surrenderStep 00Groundwork
Route FStudent
Route HWorker
Route EBSponsored
Route IR/FFamily
Green cardResident
CitizenNaturalised
NRI / OCICross-border
India → USA · the lawful immigration journey
Legal immigration,
for NRIs.
From the flight you haven't booked to the passport you'll surrender — every stage of the India-to-US journey, read like a day in your life. Pick a stage; each snap opens in full.
8
Stages, from
groundwork to citizenship
groundwork to citizenship
7%Per-country GC cap
H-1BThe Indian workhorse
$250kLRS yearly limit
OCIAfter you naturalise
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200 snaps across 8 stages · Always confirm on .gov sources.
Every snap in this journey, as a list · 201
- Immigrant vs nonimmigrant intent — why it decides everything
- FEMA, LRS and the $250,000 rule for going abroad
- The DS-160 and the 214(b) refusal, decoded
- ◷
- Nonimmigrant vs immigrant intent
- Dual-intent doctrine (H-1B, L-1)
- Visa category map
- Cost & timeline reality check
- Why per-country caps matter for Indians
- Passport & police clearance (PCC)
- FEMA, 1999 & RBI rules
- Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS)
- Education & forex loans (TCS on remittance)
- Tax-residency exit & RNOR
- Educational credential evaluation (WES/ECE)
- Apostille & MEA attestation
- Birth & marriage certificates
- Financial proof & sponsorship
- Affidavits & notarisation
- DS-160 nonimmigrant application
- US Consulate interview (Mumbai/Delhi/Chennai/Hyderabad/Kolkata)
- Visa appointment wait & interview waiver (dropbox)
- 221(g) administrative processing
- SEVIS & visa fee structure
- Visa refusal under 214(b)
- F-1 to OPT to H-1B: the most-walked Indian path
- STEM OPT, day-1 CPT, and what actually triggers a denial
- The J-1 two-year home residency requirement (212(e))
- F-1 vs M-1 vs J-1
- I-20 & DS-2019
- SEVIS I-901 fee
- Proof of funds & ties to India
- Visa interview strategy
- Full course load rule
- On-campus work (20 hrs)
- SEVIS reporting & address updates
- School transfers
- Reduced course load (RCL) authorisation
- Curricular Practical Training (CPT)
- Optional Practical Training (OPT)
- STEM OPT 24-month extension
- Unemployment-day limits
- Day-1 CPT risks
- H-1B cap-gap protection
- Change of status (F-1 → H-1B)
- J-1 two-year home rule (212(e))
- Grace periods (60 / 30 days)
- Returning for a second degree
- The H-1B lottery, registration and cap — start to finish
- Laid off on H-1B: the 60-day grace clock and your options
- H-1B in 2025–26: fee hikes & the wage-selection shift
- H-4 EAD: who qualifies and how it survives policy swings
- H-1B FY2027 lottery — what changed
- Reading the June Visa Bulletin for India EB
- STEM OPT employer obligations refresh
- I-751 joint vs waiver filings
- FBAR deadline & streamlined disclosure
- Naturalisation civics test 2026 update
- Immigrant vs nonimmigrant intent
- Lottery & electronic registration
- Labour Condition Application (LCA)
- Prevailing wage levels
- Cap-exempt employers
- 6-year limit & AC21 extensions
- H-1B transfer (porting)
- L-1A / L-1B intra-company transfer
- O-1 extraordinary ability
- E-2 treaty investor (limits for India)
- Why TN & H-1B1 exclude India
- B-1 in lieu of H-1B risks
- H-4 status
- H-4 EAD eligibility
- L-2 spouse work authorisation
- Children aging out at 21
- Schooling & travel on dependent status
- Maintaining valid status
- Layoffs & the 60-day grace period
- H-1B amendment on material change
- Requests for Evidence (RFE)
- FDNS site visits
- Specialty-occupation scrutiny
- Dropbox / interview-waiver eligibility now
- Birthright citizenship & your US-born child
- PERM, I-140, I-485: the three doors of the employment green card
- Why an Indian EB-2 filed today may wait a decade — the bulletin explained
- Visa Bulletin 2026: reading your priority date
- EB-1A and the NIW: self-petition paths that skip PERM
- Prevailing wage determination
- Recruitment & test of the labour market
- PERM audits
- DOL processing times
- When PERM is skipped (EB-1, NIW)
- EB-1A / EB-1B / EB-1C
- EB-2 advanced degree
- EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW)
- EB-3 skilled & professional
- EB-5 investor route
- Premium processing
- Priority Dates & Backlog
- Reading the Visa Bulletin
- Per-country cap & retrogression
- India EB-2/EB-3 decades-long wait
- Final Action vs Dates for Filing
- Porting between EB categories
- I-485 Adjustment of Status
- EAD & Advance Parole (combo card)
- Consular processing (NVC, DS-260)
- Immigration medical exam (I-693)
- Maintaining the underlying status
- family
- CR-1 spouse visa vs adjustment of status — which is faster?
- The I-864 Affidavit of Support: a 10-year financial promise
- Removing conditions on a 2-year green card (I-751)
- IR-1 / CR-1 spouse of a citizen
- IR-2 children under 21
- IR-5 parents of a citizen
- No annual cap — but still a queue
- Child Status Protection Act (CSPA)
- F1 unmarried adult children
- F2A spouse/children of LPRs
- F2B / F3 / F4 categories
- Following-to-join derivatives
- K-1 fiancé(e) visa
- K-3 spouse visa
- Conditional residence (2-year)
- I-751 removal of conditions
- Proving a bona fide marriage
- I-130 petition
- Affidavit of Support (I-864)
- Sponsor income (125% of poverty line)
- Public-charge ground of inadmissibility
- Joint sponsors
- How long can a green-card holder stay outside the US?
- The re-entry permit and the returning-resident SB-1 visa
- Offences that can cost you your green card
- Right to live & work anywhere
- Worldwide-income tax residency
- Selective Service registration
- No federal voting rights
- Sponsoring relatives as an LPR
- Re-entry permit (I-131)
- Abandonment of residence
- 6-month & 1-year absence rules
- Returning Resident (SB-1) visa
- Maintaining continuous residence
- Green card renewal (I-90)
- Conditional → permanent (I-751)
- Updating address (AR-11)
- Replacing a lost card
- Continuous residence for citizenship
- Deportable offences
- Crimes of moral turpitude
- Grounds of inadmissibility
- Removal proceedings & relief
- Abandonment through long absence
- N-400 to oath: the naturalisation timeline in full
- Why an Indian must surrender their passport on naturalising
- The civics test, the English test, and the exceptions
- 5-year rule (3 for spouse of a citizen)
- Continuous residence & physical presence
- Good moral character
- English & civics requirement
- Age 18+ (derivative for minors)
- N-400 application
- Biometrics appointment
- Civics & English test
- Naturalisation interview
- Oath of Allegiance
- Child Citizenship Act, 2000
- N-600 certificate
- Children born abroad to US citizens
- Acquisition vs derivation
- Reporting a birth (CRBA)
- India prohibits dual citizenship
- Surrendering the Indian passport
- Renunciation certificate
- Timing the naturalisation oath
- Planning the OCI transition
- RNOR: the two-year window that softens your return to India tax
- FBAR & FATCA: what every Indian in the US must file
- The OCI card after naturalisation — rights, limits, paperwork
- Resident / RNOR / NRI status
- US substantial-presence test
- India-US DTAA & tie-breaker
- Foreign tax credit
- Days-in-India counting rules
- FBAR (FinCEN 114)
- FATCA (Form 8938)
- PFIC trap on Indian mutual funds
- Reporting Indian assets & income
- Streamlined disclosure for past gaps
- NRE / NRO / FCNR accounts
- Repatriation limits ($1M/year)
- Owning & selling property in India
- Inheritance & gifts across borders
- Loans to/from resident relatives
- OCI card after renouncing citizenship
- OCI rights & limits (no farmland, no vote)
- Surrender certificate requirement
- Re-establishing Indian residency
- Children's OCI registration
