US student visa: How to stay back in America after finishing your course? Expert explains

Noting the same, Immigration Attorney Robert Webber said, My understanding is that Indians are getting F-1 student visas in record numbers and will surpass Chinese international students in the US very soon. 

Currently, India stands in the second position, after China, in terms of the student population in the USA.

Top universities in the US: 

There are 177 US universities and colleges among the world’s best. Out of these, 34 colleges made it to the top 100, while 7 featured in the top 10 for the class of 2023. 

The top five colleges in the US are Harvard University, Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology, Princeton University

But it seems getting to the US on a student visa is the easiest part. Life gets tougher once they finish the course. Webber points out, The main issue that Indian students face is that if they want to stay in the US after they graduate, the H-1B cap lottery is very difficult to overcome. 

How to stay in the US after finishing your course? 

Indian students should be looking for major fields of study that position them for jobs at employers that are exempt from the H-1B cap lottery, Webber opines.

This would include jobs at universities and university-affiliated hospitals and health systems. “Many of the most sophisticated hospitals have lots of job openings not just for doctors and nurses but also IT professionals, biostatisticians, and even various kinds of engineers.”

In that sense, Indian students have a considerable advantage as most of them go to the US to pursue their higher education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Though few also opt for courses such as business and management, social sciences, and education.

Apart from this, Weeber advised, students need to better understand the H-1B cap and the H-1B cap exemption from the lottery and position themselves accordingly.