For years, the story has been the same: Indian engineers leave home, chase big jobs in the US, and build careers in Silicon Valley. Ujjwal Chadha did that too. Then he did something many are now quietly considering — he came back.

Chadha, an Indian-origin AI Engineering Lead, quit his developer role at Microsoft in the United States and moved to India, choosing a remote job instead. Sharing his experience in a now viral X post, he said the decision didn’t slow his career down. It changed his life — personally, financially, and professionally.

Microsoft engineer quits US job, moves back to India

Chadha said the biggest change he felt was in how far his salary now goes. He explained that while earning $250,000 a year in Seattle is “comfortable,” the same money in Delhi feels very different. “In Seattle, $250k is ‘comfortable.’ In Delhi, it is ‘dynasty wealth,’” he wrote.

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He said his rent dropped by nearly 80 per cent after moving to India. At the same time, his savings jumped dramatically. “My savings rate hit 90%. I stopped looking at menu prices,” he added.

‘Remote work strips away the visa anxiety’

Money was not the only reason behind the move. Chadha said his daily life became calmer and more meaningful after returning home. “No more lonely winters. No more frozen dinners. No more two-hour commutes,” he wrote.

In India, his evenings now look very different. “Now, I have chai with my parents every evening. I have a cook. I have a driver. I have time,” he said, adding that he pays them well.

On the career front, Chadha made it clear that his move was not a setback. “I didn’t ‘step down.’ I stepped up,” he wrote. He said remote work has removed the constant stress that comes with visa dependence in the US. “Remote work strips away the visa anxiety,” he said, explaining that he can now focus fully on building good products and working on his own ideas.

Chadha strongly pushed back against the idea that moving back to India meant slowing down. “I didn’t leave the US to retire. I left to actually live,” he wrote.

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Chadha’s move comes at a time when Indian professionals make up the largest share of H-1B visa holders in the US. These visas allow skilled workers to take up jobs in the technology, IT and engineering sectors. Between October 2022 and September 2023, Indians accounted for about 72.3 per cent of all H-1B visas issued. Many of them work at major US tech firms and play a key role in software innovation.

However, life for foreign workers in the US has become more uncertain in recent years. Since President Donald Trump returned to office for a second term, visa processing has become more difficult for immigrants and skilled workers. The US has paused immigrant visa issuance for applicants from several countries, affecting those seeking permanent residency.

Visa backlogs have also hit record levels, with millions of applications pending due to slower processing and stricter fraud checks.

Changes to the H-1B system now include higher fees for new applications. Stricter social media checks have led to appointment cancellations and long delays for H-1B holders travelling abroad. For many, wait times have stretched as far as 2027.