This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with 33-year-old Shreya Mishra Reddy, a technical program manager at Visa based in Austin. Business Insider has verified Reddy’s employment, immigration status, and unsuccessful H-1B attempts. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I never dreamed of living in the US. I grew up in India and wanted to stay close to my parents.
In December 2021, I moved to the States for a Master’s program in engineering management at Duke University. After I graduated in 2022, I got a job at Visa as a technical program manager in 2023.
I wanted to keep working and studying in the US, but I tried to get a H-1B visa three times and was unsuccessful.
When I read about the Trump administration’s plans to introduce a $100,000 fee for employers sponsoring new H-1B petitions, it felt like my situation was getting worse and worse.
My student work authorization, which allows me to be employed in the US, is expiring in January. I planned to return to India and reapply for an H-1B, but with the new $100,000 fee, it feels like there’s no hope left.
Not getting an H-1B visa in the lottery hit me hard
Before moving to the US, I worked at Tata Consultancy Services in Bengaluru for five and a half years. I was happy with my career, but I wanted to add to my professional profile by studying abroad. I was inspired by colleagues and schoolmates who moved to Europe and the US, and I was so happy that I was accepted by Duke, an Ivy Plus school.
I went to the US on an F-1 student visa. As a STEM student, I could spend an additional three years in the US through Optional Practical Training, which is a type of work authorization.
When I joined Visa in February 2023, the company filed paperwork for me to get a H-1B visa. Registrants are randomly selected for processing in a lottery system, and I wasn’t picked.
I was unsuccessful the next year, too, and it hit me pretty hard. At the time, I’d recently completed a leadership program at Harvard Business School while working at Visa. It was disappointing that despite my professional and academic achievements, I wasn’t selected because of the lottery.
In April 2025, I found out I wasn’t selected a third time. I thought I was mentally prepared to consider leaving the States, but I broke down in the office when I saw the results.
My three-year student work authorization ends in January 2026, so I’ll most probably have to leave the US before then.
With the new $100,000 H-1B fee, I’m not confident I’ll be employed in the US again
I still need to figure out where I’m going next and what my employment situation will look like after January.
I had been looking into another Master’s program in the US. I thought maybe I could return to India and apply for H-1B jobs there, which would allow me to come back to the US and work while studying.
But it just got $100,000 more expensive to hire someone like me, who’d be applying for an H-1B visa from outside the US. I believe in the profile and skillset I’ve built up. I know I’m good — but am I that good?
I’m planning to look into other countries I could move to, but emigrating elsewhere may not be easy, either.
I’ll definitely look for jobs in India, where opportunities are opening up. The startup scene is growing, and now that I have experience from Harvard, Duke, and Visa, I think I have a much stronger résumé to take to India or elsewhere.
With my experience, I’m sure I’ll be able to figure something out. I’m more worried for international students in the US, because there’s still confusion about whether the latest H-1B changes could apply to them. I’m concerned it will be extremely difficult to get an H-1B visa if the fee gets slapped on them, on top of the unfavourable market, and AI replacing jobs.
It’s bittersweet to think about leaving the US after contributing for 4 years
Despite the immigration hurdles I’ve faced, I wouldn’t call my American dream a failure
I have really loved my time in the US. Whatever the country promised me, it delivered on. I was able to contribute in so many wonderful ways, and for the most part, people have embraced me. I received a good-quality education studying at two of the best universities in the world, and I’ve been able to take my career to another level.
The current administration is doing what it thinks is best for the country with these immigration policies. But it is becoming a bigger gamble to come to the US. I feel it would only make sense to study here if you are be happy to leave after your student work authorization expires, should you not get a H-1B.
I don’t think people should put everything on the line to come to the US, or put all their eggs in this basket.
I’ve made significant financial and skill contributions to the US. It’s bittersweet to have to leave after investing four years here, without seeing a future.
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