H-1B engineer Gautam Dey’s heartbreaking story of missing his mother’s final moments in India went viral this past week for underscoring the emotional cost of visa delays. The increasingly relevant and attention-grabbing personal account shared online has triggered a massive influx of similar, overwhelmingly distressing confessions from other US work visa holders, especially those of Indian origin.

Kansas City native and Labour and Mobility Policy Manager Sam Peak added to the growing thread of gut-wrenching accounts, sharing the story of “another H-1B holder.” Currently employed at the Economic Innovation Group (EIG), a “bipartisan public policy organisation dedicated to forging a more dynamic and inclusive American economy,” Peak relayed the story of an H-1B-holding engineer and his cardiologist wife, who haven’t been to India in years.

How H-1B engineer failed to visit his Indian parents over immigration snags

According to Sam Peak’s tweet on Sunday (US time), the person in question bared his heart in a message, detailing how he and his wife have been forced to endure the pains of an excruciatingly long wait in the green card backlog. These “egregious consular delays,” in turn, have rendered them unable to visit their parents in India for quite a while, as detailed in the X post. Although unidentified, this Indian engineer’s case shared stark similarities with Dey’s account of visa limbo.

ALSO READ

Peak goes on to attach a screenshot of the ChatGPT-modified version of the message shared by the H-1B engineer in question “to remove potentially identifying details of himself.” The post highlights how the Indian-origin man spent more than a decade “deep in the guts of high-end tech, building out massive data infrastructure and high-performance systems way before the current hype cycle started.”

He also claims to have been granted a “national interest” waiver by the US government, suggesting that his work is “important for the country.” Despite having the immigration benefit in hand, the H-1B holder said that he was still “stuck in a green card line that feels like it’s a million miles long.”

According to the US government, an applicant may apply for an exemption, known as a National Interest Waiver, from the job offer and labour certification as long as they can demonstrate that their work has value to the country. Providing certain applicants with a green card pathway without being sponsored by a US employer, it has emerged as a popular pathway for H-1B workers to self-petition for permanent residency in the country.

The engineer acknowledged that he wasn’t the only one facing the brunt of the current immigration scene in the country, as his own wife, an “elite Cardiologist at a top-tier hospital on the East Coast,” hasn’t visited her family overseas for more than three years.

“Every time she thinks about leaving, the nightmare of trying to get a visa appointment to get back in stops us cold,” he clarified why both he and his wife hadn’t simply packed their bags and left for India.

H-1B engineer plans Dubai switch despite ‘American Dream’

Despite the growing anti-immigration sentiment, especially the vitriol-filled rhetoric against H-1B work visa holders of Indian descent, under the Donald Trump administration, the engineer-doctor couple’s unwavering belief in the “American Dream” remained intact. Nevertheless, there’s no denying that the pair feel exhausted in this state of entrapment, even as they’ve wholeheartedly committed themselves to the US.

ALSO READ

“Being told you’re ‘essential’ but being treated like you’re temporary wears you down,” the H-1B engineer said in his heartbreaking note, as relayed by Sam Peak. “We’re at the point where we’re seriously looking at moving to Dubai. It sucks to leave when you love the value here, but we can’t put our lives–and our ability to see family–on hold for another decade.”

Not an isolated incident

Responding to Peak’s post, an X user stressed that Indian immigrants in the US always have options open to travel outside the country and visit their families elsewhere. “Well, Indian immigrants do have the option to travel home, visit family, and then apply for a new US visa at a consulate before returning,” he wrote. “It’s not like they’re subject to a travel ban.”

Giving the user a reality check, the labour and mobility policy manager dismissed his claims as unreasonable. “You can’t expect people to just go to India and wait months for renewal and just put all of their obligations in the US on pause.”

Peak’s remarks weren’t far-fetched either, as H-1B visa holders have, in fact, witnessed such ordeals in recent times. US President Donald Trump’s consistent overhaul of multiple policies pertaining to the work visa category has subjected many Indian visa holders to appointment cancellations. Thousands have, in turn, been “stranded” in India as well.

Such cases started surging noticeably from late November 2025 onwards, as the Trump admin expanded the screening and vetting process for H-1B and Dependent H-4 visa applicants. The new changes, effective December 15, left these applicants with no choice but to switch their privacy settings on all of their social media profiles to “public.”

The stretched-out process took a severe toll on visa appointments and stamping, leaving many H-1B holders stuck in India and endangering their work status in the US. The situation slipped so far out of control that immigration attorneys started sounding the alarm against immigrants travelling outside the US altogether.

Peak shared the H-1B visa holder’s confession online merely days after Gautam Dey’s LinkedIn post went viral. Although the tech professional admitted he couldn’t meet his dying mother in India, others focused more on how he first arrived in the US about two decades ago.

ALSO READ

X users instantly pointed fingers at Dey, questioning the credibility of his legal status in the US, pointing out that H-1B visas are only “valid for three years, with a possible three-year extension.”

Like the aforementioned Economic Innovation Group’s labour and mobility policy manager, non-profit Project for Immigration Reform also tried its best to illustrate the actual reality and harsh truths faced by many work visa holders seeking to make the most of the American Dream.

Like Peak, the organisation offered a glimpse into how several nuances only further complicate protocols associated with immigration benefits in the US.

“Congress passed a bill in 2000 called AC21, which Bill Clinton signed into law. It allows H-1B visas to be extended beyond six years if the visa holder has an approved green card application, but no green card is available due to numerical limits and per-country caps,” tweeted the Project for Immigration Reform.

“It worsened the backlog situation even further because employers knew they could keep extending their H-1B workers’ visas beyond the six-year limit, so there was no urgency to return them home once their six years were up.”

Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, immigration, or tax advice. Immigration laws and government policies are subject to frequent change without notice. While we strive to provide accurate updates, readers are strongly advised to verify the latest requirements with the official embassy, consulate, or government portal of the respective country. Financial Express is not responsible for any decisions made based on this information. For personalised guidance, please consult a qualified immigration attorney or a certified professional advisor.