For millions of Indians, the road to the ultimate career aspiration had a familiar script - an engineering degree to get a tech services job, then a posting in the US, repeated visa renewals and then the green card that gave them permanent residency in the country.

Earlier this month, the US announced it would suspend eight technology firms, including Microsoft, India's Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and HCL Technologies, from hiring skilled international workers on a permanent basis through a widely used visa pathway.

New and pending applications under the Permanent Labor Certification Program, or PERM, have been frozen. This is a big blow to Indians who hold a majority of H-1B visas - a temporary visa for specialists - which they used to work in the US while relying on PERM to get a green card and, ultimately, citizenship.

The latest announcement is in line with Trump's push for stricter skilled-worker immigration rules, which tech firms have been adapting to and, therefore, the impact on businesses may be minimal, experts say.

Nasscom, the trade association of India's $300bn (£226bn) technology industry, says that Indian companies have reduced the dependence on H-1B visas and are hiring more locally.

"Consequently, the number of employees transitioning from H-1B visas to permanent residency through the PERM process is also relatively limited," the association adds.

Wipro said in a statement that more than 80% of its workforce in the US is locally hired. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), said its PERM applications were in single digits in the last two years.

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