Texas Governor Greg Abbott has ordered state agencies and public universities to immediately halt new H-1B visa petitions, tightening hiring rules at taxpayer-funded institutions in a move likely to affect Indian professionals.
The freeze will remain in force until May 2027.
According to a directive issued on Tuesday, state agencies and public universities must stop filing new H-1B petitions unless they receive written approval from the Texas Workforce Commission.
The order, issued in a Republican-led state that is home to thousands of H-1B visa holders, comes as the Trump administration has initiated steps to reshape the federal visa programme.
“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 letter also mandates institutions to submit detailed reports on their H-1B usage, including the number of visa holders, job roles, countries of origin and visa expiry dates.
The development follows a proclamation signed by US President Donald Trump on September 19 last year titled ‘Restriction on entry of certain non-immigrant workers’, which restricted entry into the US for workers whose H-1B petitions are not accompanied or supplemented by a payment of USD 1,00,000.
The USD 1,00,000 H-1B visa fee applies only to new applicants, covering all new H-1B 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 (USCIS), followed by China. The primary sectors include technology, engineering, medicine and research.
USCIS data shows Amazon topped the list of H-1B beneficiaries in 2025 with 10,044 workers, followed by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) with 5,505 approvals. Other major recipients include Microsoft (5,189), Meta (5,123), Apple (4,202), Google (4,181), Deloitte (2,353), Infosys (2,004), Wipro (1,523) and Tech Mahindra Americas (951).
Texas public universities employ hundreds of foreign faculty members and researchers, many from India, across engineering, healthcare and technology disciplines.
Data from Open Doors — a comprehensive information resource on international students and scholars in US higher education — for 2022–2023 shows that 2,70,000 Indian students pursued graduate and undergraduate degrees in US universities. They accounted for 25 per cent of the international student population and 1.5 per cent of the total student population in the country.
According to the same data, Indian students contribute nearly USD 10 billion annually to US universities and related businesses through tuition and living expenses, while supporting around 93,000 jobs.
Analysts have warned that the freeze could slow the recruitment of highly skilled professionals, potentially affecting academic research and innovation. Supporters of the move argue it safeguards local employment, while critics caution it could undermine Texas’ competitiveness in higher education and research.
The order comes amid a broader national debate over skilled immigration and the role of state governments in influencing federal visa programmes.
H-1B visas allow US employers to hire highly skilled foreign professionals for specialised roles that are not easily filled domestically. The visas are initially granted for three years and can be extended for another three years.
In September 2025, Trump had also signed an executive order titled ‘The Gold Card’, aimed at creating a new visa pathway for individuals committed to supporting the United States. Under the programme, individuals who pay USD 1 million to the US Treasury, or USD 2 million if sponsored by a corporation, would be eligible for expedited visa processing and a pathway to permanent residency.