For Indian professionals chasing a US green card, even the fast lane is getting harder. Approval rates for EB-1A — the category reserved for people with extraordinary ability — have fallen sharply, from 49% to 35% in a year. That compounds an already punishing green-card backlog for Indians on H-1B visas, many of whom face waits stretching decades. So what is driving the tougher scrutiny? Can legal challenges change the trajectory? And are Canada, the UK or the investment-linked EB-5 route credible alternatives? On The Morning Brief Swathi Moorthy joins Anirban Chowdhury to unpack America’s tightening immigration maze.