For many Indians, moving to the United States is seen as a major life achievement filled with better salaries, global exposure and a brighter future. But an Indian-origin woman living in California’s Bay Area has now gone viral for revealing the difficult side of that dream — one that includes career sacrifices, loneliness and financial stress.
Sanjeevnie Syngal, an engineer-turned-real estate agent, shared a detailed Instagram post about her experience of relocating from India nearly nine years ago as a dependent spouse. She said visa restrictions forced her to leave behind the tech career she had spent years building.
“I moved from India to the Bay Area 9 years ago as a dependent spouse. I had to leave my tech career behind,” she wrote.
Syngal said the cost of living in the US was one of the first realities that hit her after moving. Everyday expenses that seemed manageable in India suddenly became difficult to handle, especially because she could not work initially due to visa limitations.
According to her, grocery bills were almost three times higher than what she was used to in India, while childcare expenses alone touched nearly $2,500 a month. Even going out for a simple meal could cost between $80 and $150 for two people.
“When you can’t work due to visa restrictions, watching your savings drain on basics hits different,” she wrote.
She also pointed out how life abroad meant handling every household responsibility alone. Unlike in India, where domestic help is common for many middle-class families, tasks like cooking, cleaning and managing the house became entirely her responsibility.
From Tech Lead to ‘dependent spouse’
Before moving abroad, Syngal had spent eight years working in the technology industry and had reached the position of Tech Lead. However, after relocating to the US, she said she suddenly lost not just her job, but also a large part of her professional identity.
“I was a Tech Lead for 8 years. Then I became a ‘Dependent spouse’ on paper. Couldn’t work for years,” she said.
She described the experience as emotionally painful, saying very few people talk honestly about how difficult it feels to step away from a successful career after years of hard work.
The emotional challenges became even heavier during the Covid-19 pandemic. Syngal recalled that she was seven months pregnant when her father-in-law was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness in India. While her husband travelled back home, she stayed alone in the US during a deeply stressful period.
“I stayed: alone, pregnant, terrified,” she wrote while describing the situation.
‘Building community takes years’
Apart from family distance and career struggles, Syngal said building a social circle in a new country was another challenge that took years to overcome.
“In India, community is built in. Here? You start from zero,” she wrote.
She explained that not having a workplace also reduced opportunities to meet people and build friendships, making the feeling of isolation even stronger.
Despite the hardships, Syngal said she eventually rebuilt her professional life and created a new career she feels proud of. At the same time, she admitted that the journey came with painful trade-offs, including spending years away from her parents and missing important moments back home.
Disclaimer: This story is based on a post shared by a social media user. The details, opinions, and statements quoted herein belong solely to the original poster and do not reflect the views of Financialexpress.com. We have not independently verified the claims.