Stateless legal immigrants at The Age of 21: The Journey of Indian-Origin H-4 Children Through America's Immigration Maze

Abstract (English)

This paper focuses on the growing yet ignored communities of H-4 visa holders, children of H-1B migrant workers from the Global South (especially India), who face legal exile from the only country they’re known as home. These youth come as dependents with their H-1B visa holder parents, embrace the United States culture and society, and grow up embedded in the United States. When they reach age 21, their H-4 visa expires, and they are denied legal rights in the only country they know as their own. The “aging out” process forces many ex-holders into statelessness, where they must migrate back to their homeland on paper, not in reality. Based on personal stories from the Indian diasporic communities, legal policies, or policy recommendations, this paper positions H-4 aging out as a uniquely modern form of migration injustice, one that stems not from border crossing but from bureaucratic abandonment.

These H-4 dependents experience a precarious legal status shaped by racialized immigration policies, which have not been updated since 1986. The United States has benefited from high-skilled workers, while denying legal and socio-economic recognition to their migrant families. The research is based on participant observation, open-ended questionnaires, and structured interviews with 20 aging-out H-4 youth that capture their shattered dreams. This paper also draws on close readings of immigration statutes, policy memos, visa regulations (such as H-4 and F-1 transitions), and relevant court cases to trace how U.S immigration policies contribute to their exclusion.