For years, many Indian professionals on H-1B visas viewed life in the United States as a long-term plan, often buying homes, saving for retirement and settling down with their families.
That mindset now appears to be changing.
A new analysis of more than 240,000 H-1B-related searches on the anonymous professional networking platform Blind suggests that many visa holders are increasingly focused on preserving their legal status and finding new jobs rather than making long-term financial plans in the US.
Blind found that searches related to layoffs, visa grace periods and switching from H-1B status to a B-2 visitor visa rose sharply between 2024 and 2026. At the same time, searches related to home purchases, retirement savings and other long-term financial goals declined significantly.
Searches involving the H-1B grace period climbed to 36.1 mentions per 1,000 H-1B-related searches during July and August 2026, more than three times the previous peak.
Queries related to switching from H-1B to B-2 also reached their highest level during the period tracked by Blind, at 8.3 mentions per 1,000 searches.
A B-2 visa does not allow employment, but some laid-off H-1B workers use it as a temporary option to remain legally in the US while looking for a new employer willing to sponsor their work visa.
Layoff-related H-1B searches also rose sharply, increasing 63 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026 and 66 per cent in the second quarter. Searches related to hiring, the job market and visa sponsors more than doubled in the first quarter.
Sunguk Moon, co-founder and CEO of Blind, said around 31 per cent of laid-off tech workers in the US leave the country because of visa-related issues.
He said many H-1B workers, including a large number of Indians, have only a limited period to find another job after being laid off, forcing them to look for ways to extend their stay.
The changing mindset is also showing up in long-term financial planning.
According to Blind, searches involving Roth IRAs, 401(k) plans, home purchases and side-income opportunities fell from 13.5 mentions per 1,000 H-1B searches in the second quarter of 2025 to just 2.5 by the fourth quarter. The decline continued into 2026.
The shift comes at a time when international home-buying activity in the US is also declining.
According to the National Association of Realtors’ 2026 report cited by The American Bazaar, international buyers purchased $45.3 billion worth of existing US homes between April 2025 and March 2026. That represented a 19.1 per cent decline in dollar value and a 14 per cent drop in the number of properties purchased compared with the previous 12-month period.
Indian buyers have traditionally been among the most prominent foreign buyers in the US and have often paid some of the highest median prices.
But growing uncertainty over jobs and immigration status appears to be making some professionals more cautious about buying property or making other long-term commitments.
Blind’s data also showed a change in employment preferences. Searches associated with companies such as Amazon and Meta declined, while interest in AI-focused companies increased.
Searches related to Nvidia reportedly rose nearly eightfold between 2025 and 2026, reflecting growing interest in companies seen as benefiting from the artificial intelligence boom.
International travel has also become another source of anxiety for visa holders. Searches related to visa appointments, rescheduling and being stuck outside the US increased after restrictions were placed on the visa interview-waiver, or “dropbox,” process in late 2025.
Overall, the data points to a significant change in priorities among H-1B workers.
Instead of focusing primarily on buying homes, investing and building long-term roots in the US, many now appear to be concentrating on keeping their legal status, finding another sponsor and buying enough time to remain in the country.
