The Big Tech Visa

Business Insider

5 days ago

The H-1B visa is a gateway to the American dream for skilled immigrants, but the path for some is paved with anxiety, guilt, and uncertainty.
Big Tech companies like Amazon, Meta, Google and Apple are among those allocated the highest number of these visas annually. And they can pay top dollar — sometimes as much as $500,000 — to secure talent, H-1B data reviewed by Business Insider shows.
The largest demographic of H-1B beneficiaries over the last decade has been Indian nationals working in computer-related roles, according to USCIS records.
Business Insider spoke to seven current or former H-1B recipients who moved from India and found work in Big Tech.
Their experiences reveal a program that grants access to life-changing opportunities and also imposes limitations that shape everything from career moves to family planning.
Tech layoffs, immigration policy shifts, and a booming Indian tech sector add to the daily pressure of living on this temporary visa in the United States.
For some, high salaries and career opportunities make the precarity worth it; for others, doubt is creeping in. These are their stories, as told to Business Insider.
The H-1B has allowed me to have a dream career, but it comes with uncertainty
Pushkar Singh, 31, is a staff engineer at Google, where he's worked in AI ads. He lives in California.
The H-1B visa has allowed me to continue my work in the US, but the biggest issue is the psychological toll.
I've been on an H-1B visa with Google for nearly seven years. My appetite for risk is lower because of my visa. Although you can switch jobs on an H-1B, you want to avoid moving to companies where there are high turnover rates to avoid getting fired.
You've contributed so much in work and taxes, but if you're laid off, you only have 60 days to find a new job. You don't have the luxury of waiting for the economy to improve before getting back into the job market.
I joined Google in Bangalore in 2015. I was interested in AI, but there weren't many opportunities in India. All the cutting-edge work was happening in Silicon Valley.
In 2017, the company relocated me to work on the ads team in California on an L-1 visa, which is for internal company transfers.
I wanted to switch to an H-1B visa to give me a bit more peace of mind because you can't really switch companies on an L-1. Google sponsored my petition, and I was selected in the H-1B lottery on the first attempt in 2018.
I've helped develop cool technologies for Google Ads, like PMax, which helps small businesses use AI for their advertising.
Alongside the psychological impact of being on an H-1B, there's also uncertainty around family.
My wife and I have to be mindful about starting a family or moving our parents here. If I lost my job, I might have to take my entire family back to India within 60 days.
I've seen misconceptions about the H-1B visa that it is replacing US jobs. Companies that hire a lot of H-1B workers have to give Americans fair opportunities for employment. I also get paid similarly to my US colleagues, so I don't think it's fair to say H-1B visa holders are cheap labor.
I support the H-1B program but also think it can be improved. Having part of the application process take the person's achievements into account, like other visas such as the O-1 or EB-1, could mean that good people don't miss out.
The H-1B has given me so many opportunities, but even after 12 years, my life in the US feels unstable and temporary
Surabhi Madan, 30, is a senior software engineer at Google. She lives in New York.
I've been with Google for eight years and am a senior software engineer. Now I'm in a phase of my life where I'm thinking more about long-term stability.
I enjoy my work, but there is an internal expectation to do well because, on an H-1B visa, my performance is the only thing in my hands.
I've thought about teaching full- or part-time, but I can't have a secondary job on an H-1B. A career change also seems challenging: I would have to return to a student visa to get a graduate degree, and salaries for high school teachers may not meet the minimum requirement for work visas.
I came to the US in 2013 to pursue a bachelor's at Brown. I interned at Google's New York office and landed a full-time offer before I graduated. I kicked off the process for my Optional Practical Training and received my H-1B visa in the lottery on my first try.
Once, after returning to the US from traveling abroad, a border officer asked me about the purpose of my visit. I said, "I live here." The officer responded, "You don't live here; you work here." I remember thinking, "It's true."
Even after more than a decade in the US, I have challenges that my friends don't. My life feels temporary in a lot of ways. I'm anxious about making mistakes when I drive or file taxes. I don't volunteer because I'd have to contact my immigration lawyer to check that it wouldn't jeopardize anything.
Friends are buying apartments and thinking about having families. I find it hard to put down roots. Every time I renew my apartment lease, I have the option for one or two years. I always choose one year.
My visa has become a consideration in family planning, too.
I've looked into egg freezing recently. But I had this vision of having to return as a tourist with a suitcase to pick up my eggs if my status changed, and decided it wasn't worth it. I also can't imagine having another person depend on me while on a temporary status tied to my job.
Once a year, I ask myself if this is still worth it. So far, the answer has been, "yes."
Living in the US has granted me so many opportunities; I'm grateful.
On the days I feel more anxious, I focus on the things in my control. I also have a decent financial cushion, another huge benefit of working in tech in the US for eight years.
I was laid off from Twitter on an H-1B visa. It was the worst season of my professional life.
Debpriya Seal, 40, lives in California. He was laid off from Twitter in 2022, leaving him with 60 days to find a new employer to sponsor his visa and remain in the US, per the program's restrictions.
In early November 2022, I got an email saying I'd been laid off. It was the worst season of my professional life.
I came to the US for a master's degree in 2012 and joined Twitter in data engineering four years later. Twitter transferred my H-1B visa from my previous company and sponsored my green card application, which is still pending.
Being laid off was emotional because I'd given six years to Twitter, but I didn't have much time to think about it. I had to find a new job before my visa ran out in 60 days.
The aggressive timeline felt like I was running down the clock. It was a constant dilemma to try to be prepared enough for interviews in a time crunch.
I looked for data and machine learning jobs, trying to get referrals from friends. I probably applied to around 50 companies overall.
Requiring a visa sponsorship probably made things harder for me. The first thing I'd say when speaking with HR departments of potential employers is that I'd require sponsorship. When you apply to Big Tech companies like Facebook, Apple, or Amazon, this generally isn't an issue. During the application process, a few companies told me they couldn't sponsor H-1Bs.
The market was tough. It was the last quarter of the year, when companies tend to slow hiring. I hoped I'd find a job in time, but I had to consider moving back to India. I started looking into selling my possessions on Facebook Marketplace.
After roughly a month, I was offered a staff software engineer position at Intuit. They filed for my H-1B transfer. I was so relieved. I've since moved to a role at LinkedIn.
Overall, my experience with the H-1B visa has mostly been positive. I can renew it and change companies relatively smoothly. There are just a few elements I'd say are unfair, like the fact that the lottery is basically a lucky draw, and the 60-day window if you get laid off.
I left the US to start my company and moved back. People on H-1Bs feel restricted from entrepreneurial ventures, and some are considering moving back to India.
Soundarya Balasubramani, 29, is the founder and CEO of The Curious Maverick LLC. She divides her time between San Francisco and Bengaluru, India.
I moved to the US on an F-1 visa to study at Columbia, then got a job at Salesforce, which sponsored my H-1B visa.
Salesforce, where I was a product manager from 2019 to 2021, had a comprehensive internal process for sponsoring my H-1B. I uploaded my passport and degree certificates to a portal where I was told I'd been selected in the lottery. Big companies also often have in-house legal counsel or partner law firms to handle immigration processes for employees.
In January 2023, I moved back to India to start a company focused on educational content and talent mobility. I felt I needed to move to become a founder. (My US work authorization meant I had to stay employed by the company that hired me.)
Coming back to the US was always part of my plan. I applied for an O-1 visa, which is for "extraordinary individuals," with my own company sponsoring me. It was approved in 2023, and I moved back that October.
Getting an O-1 is much harder than getting an H-1B. The visa is for people at the top of their fields, so the burden of proof is pretty high. I had to submit evidence, such as awards, publications, and recommendations.
Although the American immigration system has problems, I can't imagine making the same kind of money anywhere else. My starting salary at Salesforce was $130,000, plus bonus and stocks. I could save aggressively and send money back home.
Indians on H-1Bs get criticism from two sides. Some people make negative statements about there being too many Indians in the US tech space, but there are also Indians who'll say you're propagating brain drain from India.
I founded a company on an H-1B. I have to be very careful how I approach it
I started a company in the US as an H-1B visa holder. I have to follow the rules very carefully while running my business.
I came to the US in 2013 on a student visa for a master's in computer science. After finishing my studies, I started a full-time software engineer role at Oracle, where I worked until June 2021. They sponsored my H-1B.
While at Oracle, I had an idea for starting a business. My cofounder and I were discussing how immigrants struggle to get good mortgage rates because they lack credit history. We wanted to build a solution.
I relied on my employer for my H-1B visa status and was cautious of not violating my immigration status. Attorneys I consulted told me I could invest in the business but couldn't run its day-to-day operations. My cofounder was the CEO while I continued working for Oracle.
Eventually, I left the US in 2022 while our business, HomeAbroad, petitioned to transfer my H-1B.
To transfer my visa, our company had to show that it could pay me a salary that matched what those in similar occupations in our area made. We're a bootstrapped company, so my cofounder and I invested our own money in the company as working capital. My salary was then paid through operational revenue.
In 2023, I returned as the CTO.
As an H-1 B holder, I have to be careful to only do the type of work outlined in my petition. Even though I'm the cofounder, I can't do things outside my remit as CTO, like marketing.
It's a slippery slope, so it's always good to consult attorneys about whether you can take on a certain responsibility.
I've been following recent immigration debates and have tried to have a fallback plan. I'm looking into the EB-1 green card pathway.
The H-1B visa has helped me build a career in the US, and I feel fortunate to be building my company here. The Indian market is growing, but I think America is still the best place to get an education and enter the workforce.
I moved back to India after nearly 10 years. Visa challenges and the growing tech sector made the decision easier.
Vaashu Sharma is a senior software engineer at Airbnb, who moved from California to Bengaluru in November 2024.
I did my bachelor's in India and moved to the US in 2016 to pursue a master's in computer science at Stony Brook University.
After graduating, I landed a job at IBM. I got an offer from Meta a year later and worked there for four years. I was on a post-study visa called an OTP for three years before I got my H-1B visa in my fourth attempt at the lottery. In 2022, I moved to Google for a new challenge.
Two years later, I moved to Bengaluru. Being closer to my family and the culture I grew up with was my biggest reason to move home. I was tired of missing celebrations and festivals.
I also felt Big Tech companies' presence had increased in India since I left. I saw positive changes in the products being built and salary potential.
Visa challenges also made my husband and me want to move home. We fell into different cycles for our three-year H-1B visa renewals.
While we were allowed to live and work in the US once our extension was approved, international travel became complicated. Once you leave the US on an old visa stamp, re-entry is only permitted with a renewed stamp. Post-pandemic, visa appointments were limited due to a significant backlog. Because it was so difficult to secure a slot in India to get new stamps, we weren't traveling back home.
We missed important events and were scared that if we ever got bad news about our family in India, we couldn't be there.
The H-1B also felt restrictive. We made good money and were growing our careers, but we couldn't pursue side hustles or take a career break.
And the worry that we could be deported was always there.
I landed a senior software engineer role at Airbnb in Bengaluru. Groceries can be delivered within 10 minutes, and we can afford to hire help with cooking and cleaning. The pros of living in India heavily outweigh the cons, like overcrowding or pollution.
H-1B challenges pushed me to move to Canada and become a citizen there, but it wasn't the end of all my problems
Sai Chiligireddy is an engineering manager at Amazon, where he works on Alexa. He lives in Seattle.
I came to the US in 2014 to pursue a master's at Texas A&M University.
I knew I could receive a longer post-study visa as a STEM major. Even if I didn't get an H-1B, I thought I'd have three years of solid work experience and could pay off any loans before moving back to India.
After graduation, I worked for a year and a half at Juniper Networks.
It was there, while trying for the H-1B lottery, that I heard about a Canadian visa program that gave applicants points based on their education, family ties, and work experience.
I moved to Canada after landing a software engineer position at Amazon — and three failed attempts at getting an H-1B in the lottery.
I loved my team in the Vancouver office, and the move boosted my career. But starting from scratch twice in five years was the most emotionally taxing thing I've ever done. I'm not an extrovert, so leaving my friends and family in the US and building new relationships was difficult.
I got citizenship after living in Canada for three years. Shortly after, I moved back to Seattle because my H-1B application was pulled in the lottery on my fourth try.
There are positives to living in the US as a Canadian citizen.
I feel less restricted than my Indian friends, who need to get their visas stamped overseas and spend their vacation time waiting for embassy appointments. Canadians are eligible for the North American Free Trade Agreement professional or "TN" visa, which I can fall back on if there are changes to the H-1B.
I still face challenges. The queue for green cards is based on the country of birth, and is exceptionally long for those born in India.
I'm still on H-1B, and even though I have more leeway than others, I make sure that I am giving 100% or more at work and try to ensure that I'm always providing value to the company so my job is safe.
My job would feel more like a job if I had a green card; now, it's what keeps me in the US.
Are you a current or former Big Tech employee with an immigration story to share? Email the reporters Charissa Cheong and Shubhangi Goel via email at [e-mail] and [e-mail], or on Signal at charissacheong.95.