“The recent H-1B upheaval and cancellation of interview slots has meant that the travel to and from the U.S. is no longer straight forward for visa holders.”—Hemant Shetty
The selection rate for the H-1B or work visa in the U.S, for 2026 was placed at 35.3%. The data shows that USCIS selected 118,660 unique beneficiaries out of a total of a whopping 336,153 eligible registrations.
Every year, thousands of highly educated skilled workers compete for a chance to work in the United States. H-1B lottery selection odds have fallen over time — from nearly 100% in early years to about 35% recently. Numbers over the decades show that H-1B still remains one of the most coveted visas for qualified professionals to live and work in the U.S.
So, when a professional who managed to bag a H-1B lottery selection followed by a high-paying job in reputed Microsoft, decides to give it all up and return to India to embark on a new journey, it begs a question – is the American Dream, as people know it, over?
Hemant Shetty talks to the American Bazaar about living the American life many dream about and then deciding to give it all up and move to India to set up a venture that his H-1B visa restricted him from.
Talking about his early days in the United States, Shetty says, “I came to the United States to do my masters. I lived for nearly 11 years here. But after that my wife and I decided it was time to move back to India.”
READ: ‘Watching my parents through FaceTime’: US citizen considers returning to India with $3M savings (May 26, 2026)
Amongst the primary reasons that prompted the couple to take this decision which many find very tough remains the uncertainty around the H-1B visa. Shetty says, “the recent H-1B upheaval and cancellation of interview slots has meant that the travel to and from the U.S. is no longer straight forward for visa holders.”
He adds, “My dad had had some health issues in the recent past which also made staying away from home hard.”
Another reason that convinced Shetty to take this route was also an entrepreneurial urge. “I wanted to pursue my own business ventures which I could not do due to the constraints the H-1B visa comes with. All these reasons compounded together and it felt like the right time to move,” he tells The American Bazaar.
Elaborating on how the unavailability of H-1B visa slots recently affected him personally, Shetty says, “I was supposed to visit India in January of 2026. I had also booked a slot months’ in advance. But then my appointment was rescheduled to 2027.”
Shetty had a smooth sailing in the U.S. when he first came to the U.S. as a student in the fall of 2015. His H-1B visa got picked in the first attempt. However, he did have his share of struggle as Shetty admits that he had to apply to “hundreds of places” before he finally bagged a job.
While Shetty enjoyed the work culture in the U.S., he had a realistic vision: “Our plan was to go back to India eventually because we had no real pathway to a green card due to the EB-2 backlog.”
After his first job at a healthcare company in Boston, Shetty bagged a job at Microsoft and shifted to Seattle.
READ: ‘I feel free’: Ex-Microsoft professional quits American Dream, moves back to India (April 22, 2026)
Among the top reasons he chose to leave a high-profile job in one of the world’s leading tech hubs, Shetty says the biggest factor was what he described as the growing uncertainty surrounding life on an H-1B visa.
“The number one reason would be travel fragility. After the $100k visa fee and social media vetting rules, the reality of H-1B life has changed and traveling has become a high-risk gamble,” he exclaims. “My own visa appointment dates were pushed by a year, effectively barring me from visiting home and my parents for a year. Keeping my parents’ health in mind, this kind of uncertainty is no longer the price I am willing to pay.”
His second reason was what he called an “entrepreneurial itch.” Elaborating, he says, “As someone with a start-up mindset, the H-1B visa is a significant barrier.”
The third factor, he notes, was the constant pressure associated with visa restrictions. “Visa stress is real. The 60-day clock in the times of industry-wide layoffs is a pain. No professional should have to uproot their entire life in two months.”
Despite the challenges, Shetty says he returned to India a few weeks ago with optimism and plans to build a venture of his own.
He adds that he chose to share his story because many people spend years wrestling with similar decisions. “Maybe my experiences may help someone take that step they have been thinking about,” he said.