As discussions surrounding H-1B visas and immigration regulations heat up, a fresh round of reports and policy changes is drawing attention to the difficulties encountered by professionals who previously lived in the United States.
The H-1B visa was a means for qualified foreigners to work in Silicon Valley and other places for many years. Many professionals now have to deal with growing uncertainty about their prospects due to stricter scrutiny and changing immigration regulations. The changing environment highlights the extent to which immigration policy still influences the goals and lives of young people from around the world who work in the United States.
Speaking to Business Insider, the story of Hemant Pandey and Vaashu Sharma highlights the shifting calculus many H-1B holders now face. The couple, who once worked in California’s tech corridors, returned to Bengaluru in 2024 after deciding the visa’s restrictions on travel, job mobility, and entrepreneurial pursuits no longer fit their aspirations. In India, they say, life has offered a renewed sense of balance, more time with family, greater convenience, and the freedom to pursue work with purpose beyond the confines of a single employer.
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Currently, Sharma has taken up a senior software engineering role with Airbnb, while Pandey, after his stint at Meta, is currently exploring his next career move.
Sharma initially moved to the United States in 2016 to pursue a master’s degree in computer science at Stony Brook University in New York, after a brief stint working in India. Drawn by the career opportunities she saw seniors from her program securing in the American tech industry, she found the move a natural step.
It was during this time that she met Pandey, who had also chosen the U.S. for graduate studies with a similar motivation, though he always envisioned returning to India eventually. After completing their degrees in 2017, Sharma went on to build her career with IBM, Meta, and later Google, while Pandey gained experience at Tesla, SAP, Salesforce, and Meta. The two married in 2020, having charted parallel paths through the heart of Silicon Valley.
However, eventually their live at Silicon Valley felt like a cage. Sharma recalls speaking to BI, that initially framing the move around financial goals, made her wonder if they should wait until they had saved a specific amount. Pandey, however, pushed back, pointing out that the target figure would always keep rising and delay the decision indefinitely. Instead, the couple agreed to fix a timeline and chose 2024 as the year to move home.
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For Pandey, the pull of India was both practical and personal. He says he felt a deeper sense of happiness during trips back, and the rapid pace of India’s growth only reinforced his conviction. Friends in India, he noticed, were doing well professionally and living lifestyles that mirrored much of what the couple enjoyed in the U.S., removing one of the biggest barriers to returning.
Even reflecting on this call, for Sharma, the decision was primarily tied in family and belonging. She missed being part of milestones back home during her mother’s retirement, cousins’ weddings, and festive gatherings that felt incomplete from afar. While the Bay Area offered vibrant celebrations, she says they never matched the authenticity of India.
Another factor was the India’s transformed tech ecosystem. In the eight years since she had left, global companies had expanded teams, developed products locally, and raised compensation, making the country a far more attractive place to build a career.
Visa hurdles added to the couple’s decision to leave. With their H-1B renewals falling in different cycles, there were long stretches when they couldn’t travel outside the U.S., often forcing them to miss family milestones and leaving them anxious about emergencies back home. Beyond the travel restrictions, the visa also felt limiting as tied to full-time employment, with no scope for side projects, entrepreneurial ventures, or even short career breaks despite their professional success.
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Reflecting on this, Sharma even highlighted anxiety they had as they were staying on the visa. In the past year, the immigration climate has become even more uncertain, leaving many of their peers unsure about their future plans. Some friends, they note, have avoided visiting India altogether, fearing they might not be granted re-entry. At the same time, the growing number of Indians in their 30s choosing to return home offered reassurance. Dedicated communities have emerged in Indian cities like Bengaluru and Delhi to support returnees, making the move feel both practical and timely.
She even highlighted India’s current scenario, saying country’s tech landscape feels dramatically different from when she first left. A decade ago, conversations around startups and entrepreneurship were rare, she recalls. Now, it’s common to see college students experimenting with their own ventures even before entering the workforce, a shift that she says makes the country an especially exciting place to build a career.
While Pandey adds a lighter note, highlighting their love for cricket. In the U.S., time differences and limited local enthusiasm made it hard to catch matches, but back in India, they’ve already enjoyed two live games in the stadium. Beyond sports, he says the vibrant fan culture and unmatched local food are perks they had missed while living in California.