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Loneliness and H-1B restrictions drove her to quit 6-figure US job, return to India
Disha Lamba, a former data scientist in the US, returned to India, citing loneliness and H-1B visa restrictions as key factors in her decision.
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As a data scientist in the United States, Disha Lamba enjoyed a six-figure salary, a comfortable lifestyle, access to clean public spaces, and a career that many envied. Earlier this year, she decided to give up all of that to move back to India.
In an essay for Business Insider, Lamba opened up about her decision to return to Gurugram — claiming that the driving factors were loneliness and dissatisfaction with H-1B restrictions.
Moving to the US
Lamba opened her essay by writing: “I was born and raised in India. As an introvert, I liked being in my comfort zone, but my dad dreamed of sending me to the US for my master's.”
She moved to New York in 2021 to study computer engineering at NYU. At 23, she fell in love with the Big Apple. Lamba said that five years in the US shaped a lot of her personality — “Managing things on my own in a new environment made me really ambitious. I became more confident and had a high sense of individuality. In India, I never thought about traveling to another part of the country, and I didn't realize I loved hiking before coming to the US,” she said.
Working on H-1B visa
In 2024, Disha Lamba landed a job at CVS. The company sponsored her H-1B visa.
Lamba is well aware of the privilege, acknowledging that many of her peers had to return to India because they could not bag H-1B sponsorships.
However, two years later, she decided to give up her H-1B visa and return to India. This, she says, had always been her plan.
“CVS sponsored my H-1B visa, and I was informed that I was selected in the lottery in March 2026. However, my plan had always been to eventually return to India, and by that point, I'd already decided,” she said.
Loneliness of life in the US
“I had a great life in the US — I was happy with my job and social life, and I had a six-figure salary, but I felt lonely,” Lamba admitted.
She opened up about the loneliness of not having family around and having to schedule video calls with her mother. The time difference between India and the US made it all the more difficult.
“I missed my family and realized I was much happier and content around them. I wanted to be there for big celebrations and support my parents during good and bad times. I feared being far away if something bad happened,” she said.
Unease with H-1B restrictions
The Indian woman also explained that besides loneliness, it was her unease with H-1B visa restrictions that drove her return to Gurgaon.
“My second reason for wanting to move back was the visa restrictions. Once you're on an H-1B, you need a new visa stamp to travel and return to the US, and getting a stamping appointment in India can be a pain.
“Since the H-1B is generally granted in three-year increments, I felt there'd be a lot of ongoing visa management,” she said.
Working on an H-1B meant that she could not take a career break or switch jobs easily.
“The H-1B visa has its pros, but I wasn't OK with the cons,” Lamba said.
Return to India
In May 2026, Lamba quit her job and returned to India. “I resigned from CVS and flew home to Gurugram, a satellite city southwest of New Delhi, to live with my parents and brother,” she said.
She moved back to India without another job offer in hand, and admits that she sometimes still gets anxious about her decision.
“I haven't got a job offer in hand yet, but I think India offers similar career opportunities to the US. Big companies like EY, Mastercard, and American Express have offices near me,” Lamba said.
“I still get anxious about whether I made the right decision, but getting to hug my parents every morning reminds me it was worth it,” she said.
And while she loves living in India, there are also certain aspects of life in New York that she misses.
“I miss certain things about the US. I used to love walking around after work and staring at the New York skyline, but where I am now, the sidewalks aren't as walkable, and the public parks aren't as clean,” Lamba said.
