Why does NRI population stuck in India eager to fly back to the US?

Last updated on February 13th, 2023 at 03:57 pm

The Indian Diaspora that stays and earns in dollars is stuck in their homeland, since the lockdown was imposed on most of the Indian population. The NRI population that stays in the US is wishing to go back and appealing to PM Narendra Modi to open access to flights for their safe return.

Most of them fear losing jobs and are defaulting on loan payments. There is a precarious fear looming on their heads on restrictions on visa extensions as well. Most of them are running loans as big as Rs.40 lakh a month in terms of US currency.

Many have visa extensions due. The official US immigration website states that exceptions are made in case of natural calamities and catastrophes. But this is seen from a case-to-case basis, making it tough for each of the more than 100 Indians urgently seeking help to go back to the US. In most cases, re-routing work to India is out of question. There are data and security restrictions which most American companies are extremely rigid about.

In case of the pandemic, somehow, the concerned authorities are not showing genuine concern over giving time relaxation to deserving Indians in fields of STEM; an area where Indian talent is closely absorbed in the West.

There are many such NRIs stuck in India, including other visa holders such as H1B and Green Card holders (LPR-Lawful Permanent Residents). Many have similar issues of visa deadlines and are also separated from their families in the US.

Further, fear of drastic changes announced by Trump administration daily, including alterations in extension of visas and capping on immigration is a major concern for more than 700 NRIs individuals currently stuck in various states of India.

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While Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is in touch with the US counterparts to discuss genuine visa extension issues, nothing concrete has through on the discussions and the fate of the NRIs hangs on loose threads.