Shikha Dalmia immigrated to the United States when she was 23. This was in 1985 when immigration in the US was at its heyday. Still, it took her and her husband seven years to switch from their student visas; Shikha’s husband switched to an H-1B and she an H-4 spouse visa. Later, they both earned permanent residency and it wasn’t until seventeen years later, in 2002, that Shikha becomes a naturalized US citizen.

Fast forward a few decades and Shikha’s wait time to get a green card seems to be a rare opportunity. Today, wait times for green cards have become exceptionally long, with some projectiles estimating a 150-year wait. Yet, what this statistic doesn’t show is that for an H-4 visa holder, this opportunity may not be offered at all.

An H-4 visa is issued to immediate family members of H-1B visa holders and allows them to lawfully live in the United States. Sometimes also referred to as the “dependent spouse visa,” H-4 comes with some serious limitations. While dependents on the visa are often highly qualified individuals- doctors, engineers, entrepreneurs, researchers, scientists, teachers, and attorneys- they are typically barred from working in the United States, in turn making it difficult for them to earn a living and be financially independent.  For Shikha, this meant having to put her career on hold until she was 30, despite having years of journalism experience and a degree in the sciences.

The unfortunate reality, however, is that Shikha’s plight is shared by many other females. In fact, some polls have shown that over 95 per cent of people on an H-4 are women. According to a 2014 survey called “H4 Visa, A Curse,” by blogger Rashi Bhatnagar, a majority of these women have college degrees and are between the ages of 26 and 35, a time that we would normally consider the height of one’s career growth. Instead, many of these migrant wives end up staying at home and in isolation. This feeling of despondency has led many Indian wives to colloquially refer to the H-4 as an “involuntary housewife visa.”  Not only are these women financially dependent on their spouses, but they have excruciatingly long wait times to get a work permit (if they’re lucky). In Roshni’s survey, these women are described as having “no identity” and are not given equal rights like other immigrant dependents such as social security. 

Yet, it is not just the dependent wives of H-1B holders that are adversely impacted by the limitations of H-4.  While the H-4 visa has no age restrictions for spouses, children lose their H-4 visas once they turn 21. Popularly known as the “ageing out effect,” children on H-4 start to face threats of deportation as soon as they turn 21 merely because their parents’ green cards are stuck in the backlog. For many of these children, however, America is the only home they have known since infancy; they come to the US at the tender age of 2 or 3 and lead completely normal American lives. Take the example of Sarvani Kunapareddy, who was recently interviewed for an article by India Abroad. Sarvani came to the United States as a toddler and grew up in the suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri. Like any other American, she quickly became involved in school, friends, and other extra-curricular activities. Now, as a 15-year-old, she is burdened by the unfortunate fear of what will happen to her future once her H-4 expires.

Sarvani is one of approximately 40,000 children who came to this country as a dependent on their parents H-1B visa. Like so many others, she and her family are scrambling to find a solution for their future. Going back to India, a country where these children would likely be foreigners is not the preferred option of choice. And, while, getting their dependent visa changed to an international student visa (F-1) is an alternative, it is only a temporary solution for the time that they attend college. Even so, attending a US university as an international student comes with severe financial burdens. Typically, international students have to pay higher tuition and are ineligible for scholarships and grants/loans. This makes it increasingly more difficult for students like Sarvani to consider careers such as medicine or law, where post-graduate schooling almost always requires some sort of loan assistance.  With a limited number of H-1B visas being offered and less employer sponsorship of work visas, there is also no guarantee that an F-1 visa could be easily converted into an H-1B for these students.

Could EB-5 Be a Better Substitute?

With so many restrictions surrounding H-4, the EB-5 Investor Visa could provide immigrants and their families with a better immigration solution.

Through this program, investors and their nuclear families are eligible to apply for a green card (permanent residency). EB-5 does not depend on employer sponsorship nor on a lottery system. Instead, it gives the investor the flexibility to live and work anywhere in the United States. Unlike H-4, EB-5 gives the added advantage of work authorization for one’s spouse. An extra layer of the benefit comes to families with children (under 21), who also become permanent residents, and are eligible for in-state tuition at universities. The biggest benefit, perhaps, is that the investor visa opens up the door to US citizenship. After an investor fulfils the five-year lawful permanent residency requirements, he/she is eligible to apply for citizenship.

Today, many dependent spouses on H-4 are not as lucky as Shikha Dalmia. Not only are their chances at permanent residency extremely limited, but to even get a work permit is cumbersome. Like Sarvani, the story of children on H-4 isn’t much brighter- they are only given half the chance of building their American dream, which can later be shattered. For those that what to provide their spouses and children with the opportunity to build their future, EB-5 may be their best solution.