India, Aug. 31 -- An Indian woman who spent years studying and working in the US has decided to look beyond America after failing to secure an H-1B visa. She said uncertainty around US immigration rules made her reconsider her plans to build a future there.

In an as-told-to essay published by Business Insider, Shreya Mishra Reddy, 34, shared that she moved from India to the US in 2021 to pursue a master's in engineering management at Duke University. She graduated in 2022 and got a job at Visa the following year. However, despite trying, she was unable to secure an H-1B visa and eventually had to leave the US in January 2026 when her student work authorisation expired.

Shreya told Business Insider that she initially planned to return to...