TEXAS Governor Greg Abbott has ordered state agencies and public universities to immediately halt new H-1B visa petitions, a move that could affect Indian professionals. The freeze will remain in place until May 2027.
Under the directive issued on Tuesday, state agencies and public universities must stop filing new H-1B visa petitions unless they receive written approval from the Texas Workforce Commission. The order applies to taxpayer-funded institutions across the state.
“In light of recent reports of abuse in the federal H-1B visa programme, and amid the federal government's ongoing review of that programme to ensure American jobs are going to American workers, I am directing all state agencies to immediately freeze new H-1B visa petitions as outlined in this letter,” Abbott said.
The order also requires institutions to report details of their H-1B usage, including the number of visa holders, job roles, countries of origin and visa expiry dates.
The move comes as the Trump administration has taken steps to reshape the H-1B visa programme. US President Donald Trump on September 19 last year signed a proclamation titled ‘Restriction on entry of certain non-immigrant workers’, which restricted the entry of workers whose H-1B petitions are not accompanied or supplemented by a payment of USD 1,00,000.
The H-1B visa fee of USD 1,00,000 applies only to new applicants. This includes all new H-1B visa petitions submitted after September 21, including those for the FY2026 lottery.
Indians account for an estimated 71 per cent of all approved H-1B applications in recent years, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services, with China in second place. The main fields include technology, engineering, medicine and research.
According to USCIS data, Amazon had 10,044 workers on H-1B visas in 2025, making it the largest beneficiary. Tata Consultancy Services was second with 5,505 approved H-1B visas. Other companies include Microsoft with 5,189, Meta with 5,123, Apple with 4,202, Google with 4,181, Deloitte with 2,353, Infosys with 2,004, Wipro with 1,523 and Tech Mahindra Americas with 951.
Texas public universities employ hundreds of foreign faculty members and researchers, many from India, across engineering, healthcare and technology fields.
Data from Open Doors, an information resource on international students and scholars in the US, showed that 2,70,000 students from India pursued graduate and undergraduate degrees in US universities in 2022–2023. They accounted for 25 per cent of the international student population in the US and 1.5 per cent of the total student population.
The Open Doors data also showed that Indian students contribute around USD 10 billion annually through tuition and other expenses and support about 93,000 jobs.
Analysts have warned that the freeze could slow the recruitment of skilled professionals and affect academic research and innovation. Supporters of the move say it protects local jobs, while critics say it could affect Texas’ position in higher education and research.
The order comes amid a wider debate in the US on skilled immigration and state-level action in federal programmes.
H-1B visas allow US companies to hire technically skilled professionals who are not easily available in the country. The visas are initially granted for three years and can be extended for another three years.
In September 2025, Trump also signed an executive order titled ‘The Gold Card’, which aims to create a new visa pathway for individuals who pay USD 1 million to the US Treasury, or USD 2 million if sponsored by a corporation, offering expedited visa processing and a path to a Green Card.
