'10-15 year Green Card wait…': Indian-American on how US is becoming like Dubai for Indians

A Reddit post by an Indian-American citizen comparing the US immigration system to the Gulf model has sparked a heated debate online, with users calling out the changing nature of skilled migration, tightening visa norms, and growing systemic backlogs for Indian applicants.

The post, titled "For Indians, USA is becoming more like Dubai", was shared by a user who detailed their own decade-long legal immigration journey from an F1 student visa to H1B, green card (GC), and finally US citizenship.

Reflecting on recent policy changes, the user wrote: “I became more aware about what is going on in the legal immigration system… imagine my shock when I learned… an Indian applying for EB1 today (after getting advanced PhD or MD degree presumably) would face a 10-15 year backlog for GC!!!”

The user expressed concern over wage-based allocations of H1B visas and the near impossibility of smooth transitions from student visas to work permits under the new rules. “Clearly, US rules are turning this country into Dubai or Middle East as far as Indians go,” they wrote. “USA is becoming a country for the higher-earning Indians… save up good money, and return to India — the exact Dubai model.”

Reddit reacts

The post triggered mixed responses, with some supporting the frustration over systemic backlogs, while others blamed widespread misuse of the H1B route.

One user, identifying as an Indian-born US citizen, wrote: “Many IT Indians are incompetent at their jobs… they now start asking technical questions which sadly over 70% fail.” The comment added that U.S. agencies are now tightening scrutiny to counter fake resumes and inflated experience claims.

Another Redditor countered that “the current system is completely broken” and that green card allocations should reflect demand for specific roles, not arbitrary per-country limits. They added: “If courts didn’t block the birthright citizenship order, then kids born to Indian-born people would also be stuck. Then it’s truly like a Dubai or Middle East-like situation.”

However, not everyone sympathised with the original poster. “This is such an entitled viewpoint,” one user wrote. “The US will set an immigration policy based on what they think is good for the US. They are not concerned with solving India’s employment problem.”

The post reflects growing tensions around US immigration norms for skilled Indian workers — particularly as the Biden and Trump administrations continue to recalibrate legal migration frameworks in the name of merit, wage levels, and national interest.