Understanding the US Green Card Crackdown and India's Strategic Response

Gist The United States' recent restrictions on foreign worker visas and green card certifications are forcing a structural shift in the global IT sector. Rather than securing tech jobs for American citizens, these administrative barriers are accelerating the relocation of high-value work to offshore hubs and Global Capability Centres GCCs in India. For UPSC aspirants, this highlights a critical transition in India's digital economy: while the country stands to capture relocated global tech roles, the simultaneous adoption of artificial intelligence by IT firms is severely shrinking domestic entry-level opportunities, demanding urgent policy interventions in taxation and workforce skilling. Background The US immigration system relies on H-1B visas for specialized foreign workers and the EB-2 category for employment-based permanent residency green cards . Historically, Indian IT service majors depended heavily on these routes to deploy engineers at American client sites. However, this business model has been changing for years, with Indian firms increasingly pivoting to local US hiring and offshore delivery to reduce visa dependency. The latest US crackdown—driven by rising domestic unemployment in tech sectors—suspends new PERM labour certifications ,…