India must formally oppose US move to scrap 60-day H-1B grace period before Nov 10: Former Bureaucrat to External Affairs Minister
Former Special Chief Secretary, Punjab, seeks legal-aid desk at Houston consulate for Indian families in Texas; says sham sponsors should be prosecuted, but a community should not be put on trial
Babushahi Bureau
Chandigarh, October 7, 2026: The Government of India should file a formal comment against the United States’ proposal to abolish the 60-day grace period for laid-off H-1B workers before the comment window closes on November 10, 2026, and establish a legal-aid desk at the Consulate General of India in Houston for Indian families affected by the visa crackdown in Texas, former Special Chief Secretary, Punjab, KBS Sidhu has urged External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar.
In a letter sent to the External Affairs Minister on Tuesday, with copies to the Ambassador of India in Washington and the Consul General in Houston, Sidhu said two separate developments in North Texas were being conflated in public debate, potentially leading to an entire community being viewed with suspicion because of the alleged conduct of some intermediaries.
The first, he said, concerns an enforcement drive against companies suspected of operating so-called “ghost offices”. According to Sidhu, the Texas Attorney General has served civil investigative demands on nearly 30 North Texas firms, while on August 13, the Inspector General of the US Department of Labor announced that investigators had conducted door-to-door checks at a Dallas building linked to more than 500 approved H-1B petitions and found little evidence of active business operations.
Sidhu said those responsible for obtaining H-1B petitions for fictitious jobs should face prosecution.
“Where petitions were obtained on fictitious jobs, those responsible should be prosecuted, and I do not ask the Government of India to defend them,” he wrote.
The second issue, he said, concerns H-1B workers and their families who have not violated any rules but could face serious hardship after losing employment.
Under the existing rules, a laid-off H-1B worker generally has up to 60 days to find a new sponsor or otherwise maintain lawful status. Sidhu said the situation has become more difficult at a time when the cost of a new H-1B petition has risen sharply.
He also referred to a proposal published by the US Department of Homeland Security on September 11, 2026, to abolish the 60-day grace period.
“If it is finalised, the last day at work becomes the last day of lawful stay, for a family that may have lived in the United States for over a decade and holds a mortgage there,” the letter states.
Sidhu cautioned against treating unverified social media reports about Indian families abandoning homes and vehicles in Dallas suburbs as established fact. He also noted that, according to his letter, no court has yet returned a finding against any of the firms under investigation.
At the same time, he said the potential hardship for affected families was genuine and could increase if the proposed rule is finalised.
Sidhu has made three key requests to the Ministry of External Affairs:
- A legal-aid and advisory desk at the Consulate General of India in Houston for Indian nationals who have lost their jobs or whose sponsoring firms are under investigation, including guidance on an orderly exit from the US where necessary.
- A formal Indian comment on the proposed US rule before November 10, 2026, with a request that any change be applied prospectively and preserve a reasonable transition period for people already residing in the US.
- Regulation of overseas placement consultancies in India, which, he said, largely fall outside the existing framework of the Emigration Act, 1983.
Sidhu also urged the Indian government to draw a distinction between alleged wrongdoing by individual firms and the wider Indian community in the US.
“Enforcement may properly name firms, but it should not describe a people,” he wrote.
In a separate regional recommendation, Sidhu suggested that white-collar overseas placement consultancies could be regulated along the lines of the Punjab Travel Professionals Regulation Act, 2012, under which the District Magistrate is the licensing authority for travel agents and consultants. He said consultancies operating in India that offer overseas employment and sponsorship services should be brought under an appropriate regulatory framework.
Sidhu, who has also served as Deputy Commissioner, Amritsar, said states such as Punjab should prepare to support skilled professionals who may return from the US.
“He comes home with fifteen years of experience that Mohali and Hyderabad would otherwise have to import,” he said.
The letter follows Sidhu’s article, “Texas Towns: Ghost Offices, Abandoned Homes and the H-1B Blame,” published in The KBS Chronicle on October 6.