This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Shreya Mishra Reddy, 34, an Indian national currently staying in Toronto on a tourist visa. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I moved to the US from India to do my master’s in engineering management at Duke University in 2021.
I graduated in 2022 and got a job at Visa the following year. But despite trying, I didn’t get an H-1B visa, so I had to leave the country in January 2026, when my student work authorization expired.
My plan was to move back to India and keep applying for US-based jobs. But, in September 2025, news hit that companies could face an extra $100,000 fee…
