Overview

• Indian families are delaying or rethinking marriages to U.S.-based citizens because of job and visa risks tied to stricter immigration rules, according to matchmakers and prospective couples.
• Premium platform Knot.dating added a U.S. visa filter in September, and about 1,000 NRIs have registered, with 60% on H-1B visas and the rest on green cards or other visas, most of them men.
• Indians received about 71% of H-1B visas last year and roughly three-quarters of H-1Bs issued to Indians in 2024 went to men, reinforcing why NRI grooms were especially sought after.
• International Trade Administration data show Indian student arrivals to the U.S. fell 50% in August 2025 compared with a year earlier, as overall U.S. student arrivals declined 19%.
• Matchmaking agencies and families are directing interest toward Canada, the U.K., Europe and the Middle East as U.S. pathways look less predictable.