India, Sept. 13 -- Indian professionals on H-1B visas are increasingly looking at the EB-5 immigrant investor route as an alternative way to secure a Green Card, with experts pointing to employment uncertainty and the long India-specific employment-based backlog as key reasons behind the shift.

The September 2026 Visa Bulletin shows the gap between the routes. The EB-2 category for India is unavailable for the rest of the fiscal year, while the EB-3 India final action date is January 1, 2014. At the same time, the rural, high-unemployment and infrastructure EB-5 set-aside categories are listed as current for India.

Suresh Rajan, Founder and Executive Chairman of LCR Capital Partners, said the difference is prompting more H-1B holders to...