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Indian man's decision to return home after layoff sparks buzz amid H-1B crackdown, ‘I am done living like…’
An Indian man, after 11 years in the US, shares his decision to return home due to visa challenges and job loss.
Amid the H-1B visa crackdown, a 33-year-old Indian man residing in the United States opened up about his decision to move back to his nation after spending 11 years in America.
In a Reddit post, he shared his experience of living in the US, saying that he arrived in the US in 2015 on a student visa. However, HT.com cannot independently verify the authenticity of his post.
According to the Indian-origin man, he worked very hard and even won the H-1B lottery on his last attempt, but his company unfortunately laid him off. “Last year, my company started my PERM process. Fourteen months later, they laid me off. When I asked if they would keep the PERM going, they said no. Just like that, the future I tried to build here vanished.”
‘The immigration system breaks you down’
Opening up about the immigration crackdown, he emphasised that due to the PERM process, the I-140 application, and existing backlogs, people may find themselves waiting three years merely to enter a queue. He further mentioned that the EB-2 and EB-3 categories for India have essentially been stagnant since 2013. “With the current backlogs, my priority date would never become current in this lifetime unless I married a U.S. citizen, which is something I never planned for. I wanted to find a likeminded partner who shared my background and understood this struggle, but I never found her.”
He went on to detail how people with active priority dates receive unexpected Requests for Evidence (RFEs) and denials regarding their I-485 applications.
“If that gets denied, your extensions stop and you leave anyway. Plus, visa stamping appointments in India are backed up until mid-2027. If you leave the US without a stamp, you get locked out. If you stay, you are stuck in a golden cage.”
This situation led him to ponder the similarities between his circumstances and those of laborers in the Middle East, whose employers retain possession of their passports. “We cannot travel freely either.”
In his Reddit post titled “33M moving back to India for good after layoff. I am done”, he stated that he earned a substantial income here, yet the anxiety and stress overshadowed it.
While he had aspirations to explore the world, he remained in place due to his fear of being trapped outside his home country. “I refuse to switch to an F1 or B2 visa just to buy time. I am done living like this.”
Here's how his parents reacted to his decision of shifting back to India
According to him, his parents claimed to comprehend his choice, but the comparisons began when his distant acquaintance lost his position at Amazon and relocated his family back to India.
“Now, my mom uses them as an example every time she talks about my return with friends and family.”
His parents blame Trump for H-1B crackdown
The parents of the Indian man started telling him how that distant acquaintance came back to India with his parents as it has become very difficult to survive in the US due to “Mr. T”.
Expressing his frustration over the comparison by his parents, he said: “It feels like she is trying to fool her own mind. She needs this other family to justify my choices to our relatives and friends. Comparison kills joy. Why can't she just say her son is coming home? Period. It makes me feel like she would be ashamed of my return if she didn't have this Amazon guy to use as a shield.”
“I already overthink everything, and this behavior triggers my anxiety. I am trying to process losing my job and leaving my home of eleven years, and instead of support, I get guilt.”
While concluding his post, he asked, “is this normal for Indian parents?”
“Do they all compare like this and make their kids feel like failures for choosing peace of mind over a visa?” he wondered.
Internet reacts
Meanwhile, his post garnered attention of several people, with one saying. “You are over analysing what your parents are saying. My reading is that your mum is trying to support you.”
“Exactly. She is saying this to make you not double guess your decision. No country is worth the degradation of your mental health. I personally know someone who did their MBA at Wharton, followed by 7 years in BCG and lost her mind in the US. Now she’s back to Mumbai with her family and living well. And as for others, nobody gives it a second thought,” another commented.
“You hit the nail on the head. They really do not understand how much the system has changed or the sheer amount of mental distress it causes daily. Hearing you call the US a cage makes me feel much better about my choice to step out of it. Thanks for the encouragement,” a third Redditor said.
