Indian techie loses H-1B visa lawsuit; remains away from family for 18 months

An Indian software engineer employed by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), who has been stranded in India for more than 18 months due to repeated US visa refusals and prolonged administrative processing, has lost his legal challenge against several US government officials, according to a TOI report.

A US district court dismissed Navdeep Sharma's lawsuit, ruling that although it sympathised with his prolonged separation from his wife and two children in Texas, the delay in processing his visa could not be considered unreasonable under the law.

The court also held that Sharma did not have the legal standing to sue most of the government departments and officials he had named in his petition.

Who is the Indian techie?

According to the lawsuit, the Indian engineer Navdeep Sharma has worked for TCS since 2001. He lives in Georgetown, Texas, with his wife and two children.

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In December 2023, TCS filed an H-1B petition seeking to extend Sharma's work authorisation until March 2027. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) approved the petition in early 2024.

Sharma later submitted his DS-160 visa application form in November 2024 before travelling to Hyderabad for a visa interview in January 2025.

What happened after the visa interview?

Following the interview, Sharma's visa was refused and he was directed to undergo a medical examination with a panel physician appointed by the US Consulate.

After completing the medical examination, he was later asked to undergo another medical examination while he remained in India awaiting a decision.

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In July 2025, his visa application was marked as approved. However, when Sharma visited the US Consulate in Hyderabad to collect his passport, he was informed that the visa had again been refused.

About a week later, the Hyderabad Consulate emailed him seeking details of all his social media accounts.

According to the lawsuit, Sharma has not received a final decision on his visa application and remains in India, separated from his family for more than 18 months.

Why was the lawsuit filed?

Sharma approached the court in September 2025, about nine months after the first visa refusal and two months after the second.

In his petition, he said he could neither return to the US without a valid visa nor continue working for TCS from India because of the nature of his role.

Sharma named multiple US government departments and officials as defendants, including the Secretary of State, the Senior Bureau Official for Consular Affairs, the Charge d'Affaires at the US Embassy in India, the Consul General in Hyderabad, an unnamed consular officer, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary, the US Attorney General and the FBI Director.

Why was the case dismissed by the court?

The court ruled that Sharma had standing to sue only the State Department officials and not the other government departments and agencies named in the lawsuit.

On the allegation of unreasonable delay, the court held that the time taken by the government did not warrant judicial intervention.

The court said it would dismiss the case because the delay could not be considered unreasonable.

The court further observed that government agencies handling visa matters are entitled to manage their own processing priorities. It said it sympathised with Sharma and his prolonged separation from his family, but this factor alone was not sufficient reason to move his application ahead of others.

(With inputs from TOI)