To add to your pt.5, even if you were an Indian student in the last decade (like me in 07-09),even if you went to one of the top 5 universities in your field and even if you are in a high paying job (location adjusted), the path to GC doesn't realistically exist.
People like me got screwed the most because when we started basing our lives here, there was a 5-7 wait for a green card. It has been a decade since but still no realistic path exists as the wait has grown exponentially.
>To add to your pt.5, even if you were an Indian student in the last decade (like me in 07-09),even if you went to one of the top 5 universities in your field and even if you are in a high paying job (location adjusted), the path to GC doesn't realistically exist.
Well, technically, it does if you're in the O or EB-1 category. But probably over 95% of Indians are not.
Since it has not bee mentioned yet, the priority date for Indians in EB-2 (typically a MS or PhD degree) is June 1, 2009. This means they are currently processing candidates who had cleared their labor certification by June 1, 2009 - over a decade ago.
That date has barely moved in the last decade. I remember it being about 2006 back in 2012. It quickly moved to 2008, and then regressed all the way back to 2003, and then jumped to 2008 again.
I know Indians who started working in 2008. Because of the economic downturn, the company did not apply for their green card (almost guaranteed to get rejected as it's pretty hard to show a shortage in a recession). The company finally applied for them in 2011, so their priority date is 2011. They've been working over a decade, and USCIS is not even close to processing them.
Once you have a priority date, a change in job, or a change in location is not a realistic option. The laws allow you to do it, but then the employer has to redo the labor certification, potentially risking a rejection, or a new priority date.
Things have been bad for Indians since the Obama days. Whatever Trump may have added to it is just noise.
(Edit: Amusingly, the priority date for Indians with only a BS degree (EB-3) is April 2010. They are now ahead of the MS/PhD's in the queue. They usually lagged by several years. Interesting...)
People like me got screwed the most because when we started basing our lives here, there was a 5-7 wait for a green card. It has been a decade since but still no realistic path exists as the wait has grown exponentially.