Indian airlines' charge to repatriate bodies from UAE painful
Abu Dhabi: An expat's death isn't just a painful experience for family back home but it turns out to be a harrowing one for friends, beloved ones or colleagues here in the UAE.
It takes a while to get the formalities of paperwork done and for an Indian expat, there is an additional cost for transporting the body back to India. Airlines charge between Dh16 to Dh25 per kg, which includes weight of the body and coffin.
MM Nasar Kanhangad, a social worker who has been helping with repatriation process for years now, said the practice is agonising and is a big challenge.
"In most cases where a blue collar worker is involved we will come to know of their death a day or two later. I will run for the paperwork and then we also need to raise money for the air tickets," Kanhangad said while narrating cases of the deaths of poor workers like Beeraka Pushpavati, a house maid, and Vipan Singh, a mould maker, where he had to seek help from the Indian Embassy and social welfare associations to meet the requirements.
"The charges vary from airline to airline. The overall costs range between Dh2,500 to Dh3,000. Friends of the deceased can barely manage the amount, which is equivalent to one to two months' of their salary. Indian government must look into this issue," Kanhangad said while highlighting the role played by the Indian Embassy to help the expats.
Indian Ambassador Navdeep Singh Suri noted that the embassy through its Indian Community Welfare Fund has been providing assistance to the needy.
"The embassy has been doing this on a regular basis for all those who can't afford. Be it embalming of the body, expense of coffin or air ticket, the embassy has always stepped in," the ambassador said.
Suri clarified that with the population of Indian expats in the UAE totaling to 3.5 million that it hadn't been possible for the mission to provide financial help in every case.
In this regard, Abu Dhabi-based social worker N Harikumar has been raising the issue at various forums for a while. "This is a painful thing. Majority of people cannot afford the costs. So, the Indian government must act," said Harikumar, who is India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's NRI Cell Kerala convener.
Meanwhile, BJP's Kerala president Kummanam Rajasekharan, on a short visit to the UAE, said that the issue has been raised with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On March 30, Rajasekharan met Modi and tabled the grievances of the expats. He is hopeful about the issue getting addressed soon.
"On Tuesday, I spoke to VK Singh, India's Minister of State for External Affairs. I have requested him that, just like how Pakistan bears the expenses for the bodies of the expatriates to be repatriated back, India too should take a similar step," Rajasekharan added.
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Texas halts H-1B visas at state universities, agencies; to affect Indians
Houston (US) (PTI): Texas Governor Greg Abbott has ordered state agencies and public universities to immediately halt new H-1B visa petitions, tightening hiring rules at taxpayer-funded institutions, a step likely to impact Indian professionals.
The freeze will remain in effect through May 2027.
The directive issued on Tuesday said that the state agencies and public universities must stop filing new petitions unless they receive written approval from the Texas Workforce Commission.
The governor's order, in a red state that is home to thousands of H-1B visa holders, comes as the Trump administration has initiated steps to reshape the visa programme.
“In light of recent reports of abuse in the federal H-1B visa programme, and amid the federal government’s ongoing review of that programme to ensure American jobs are going to American workers, I am directing all state agencies to immediately freeze new H-1B visa petitions as outlined in this letter,” Abbot said.
Institutions must also report on H-1B usage, including numbers, job roles, countries of origin, and visa expiry dates, the letter said.
US President Donald Trump on September 19 last year signed a proclamation ‘Restriction on entry of certain non-immigrant workers’ that restricted the entry into the US of those workers whose H-1B petitions are not accompanied or supplemented by a payment of USD 1,00,000.
The H1-B visa fee of USD 1,00,000 would be applicable only to new applicants, i.e. all new H-1B visa petitions submitted after September 21, including those for the FY2026 lottery.
Indians make up an estimated 71 per cent of all approved H-1B applications in recent years, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), with China in the second spot. The major fields include technology, engineering, medicine, and research.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is the second-highest beneficiary with 5,505 approved H-1B visas in 2025, after Amazon (10,044 workers on H-1B visas), according to the USCIS. Other top beneficiaries include Microsoft (5,189), Meta (5,123), Apple (4,202), Google (4,181), Deloitte (2,353), Infosys (2,004), Wipro (1,523) and Tech Mahindra Americas (951).
Texas public universities employ hundreds of foreign faculty and researchers, many from India, across engineering, healthcare, and technology fields.
Date from Open Doors -- a comprehensive information resource on international students and scholars studying or teaching at higher education institutions in the US -- for 2022-2023 showed 2,70,000 students from India embarked on graduate and undergraduate degrees in US universities, accounting for 25 per cent of the international student population in the US and 1.5 per cent of the total student population.
Indian students infuse roughly USD 10 billion annually into universities and related businesses across the country through tuition and other expenses – while also creating around 93,000 jobs, according to the Open Doors data.
Analysts warn the freeze could slow recruitment of highly skilled professionals, affecting academic research and innovation.
Supporters say the directive protects local jobs, while critics caution it could weaken Texas’ competitiveness in higher education and research.
The order comes amid broader debate in the US over skilled immigration and state-level interventions in federal programmes.
H-1B visas allow US companies to hire technically-skilled professionals that are not easily available in America. Initially granted for three years, these can be extended for another three years.
In September 2025, Trump had also signed an executive order ‘The Gold Card’, aimed at setting up a new visa pathway for those committed to supporting the United States; with individuals who can pay USD 1 million to the US Treasury, or USD 2 million if a corporation is sponsoring them, to get access to expedited visa treatment and a path to a Green Card.
