The Trump administration’s recent move to slap a hefty $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas has not only sent the techies into panic mode but is also weighing heavily on the tech world. Amid the ongoing debate an Indian tech professional recalled the years he spent in the United States feeling “exploited and trapped” under the visa system.
Nishant Modi, who has now returned to India and is a founder of ‘CareerKit Me,’ according to his LinkedIn, said the announcement brought back the difficult memories of his own journey after the 2008 financial crisis, when H-1B applications were so low that there was no lottery.
‘Locals are not trained for high-paying tech jobs ‘
Modi said the long wait for a green card, sometimes up to 50 years, left him with no real stability. “I loved America, its people, its ethos. But I put my life on hold for years. I didn’t want to leave, but I had to.” While acknowledging that the H-1B program helped build Silicon Valley and created millions of American jobs, he said from a consumer perspective, it was never an easy task. “There was never a serious push to train locals to take high-paying tech jobs. Reform is needed, not just higher fees,” he said.
‘I was underpaid, overbilled’
Modi recalled how his first American employer included a clause at the time of joining, stating that he could not change jobs for almost a year, or else he would have to pay a hefty compensation. “I was happy when I got my visa. I delivered work diligently. But the company that sent me added an illegal clause, I couldn’t change my job for one year or else pay $10,000–20,000. They treated me as if they had done me a favour,” he wrote in a X post.
Further, the social media user noted that while the firm charged American clients premium rates, he was paid only the legal minimum, far below market value. “US companies went along with it because they replaced 1,000 workers with 5,000 globally, keeping only a small team in the US. Managers saved money and got promotions, while we were underpaid.”
When he finally switched jobs, his salary doubled. Yet he still faced issues. “Despite being a global consulting firm, they didn’t even know how visas worked. I had to explain the rules, but they preferred bullying me. Managers would say, ‘It can’t be this bad,’ making me feel like a liar.”
Living in fear of renewals
Modi described how the random nature of visa renewals left him feeling trapped. “Sometimes I got nine months, sometimes two years. Each renewal felt like begging for my future. I couldn’t travel freely, couldn’t start my own company. I contributed to society, paid taxes, but lived in constant uncertainty.”
He recalled how a manager once even forced him to buy an expensive flight back to the US on short notice, threatening he’d “never return” otherwise. “The whole system was broken,” he said. After leaving the US, he invested his time building a platform aimed at helping people find fair opportunities.
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