For decades, the United States has symbolised opportunity for Indian families willing to sacrifice everything for their children’s future. Parents have stretched finances to breaking point — selling assets, taking on crushing loans, and betting entire livelihoods on the promise of world-class education, high-paying jobs, and eventual permanent residency.
Today, that promise is looking increasingly fragile.
Amid tightened visa rules, a cooling US job market, and policy shifts under President Donald Trump, thousands of Indian students and their families find themselves stuck in limbo — caught between soaring debt at home and shrinking opportunities abroad.
The human cost of this uncertainty surfaced starkly in a post shared on X (formally twitter) by Visakhapatnam-based entrepreneur Aditya, who recounted the ordeal of a close friend who sent both his sons to the United States despite limited financial means.
According to the post, the father accumulated education loans worth ₹1.5 crore to fund his sons’ master’s degrees. As the years passed without stable employment or H-1B visa success, the burden only deepened. Monthly remittances meant to supplement part-time income grew from ₹1 lakh per child to ₹2 lakh each after policy changes under Trump led the students to quit their campus jobs.
By then, the loan had crossed ₹2 crore.
With his business struggling back in India, the father was preparing to sell his flat just to stay afloat. Relief came only partially and belatedly — when the elder son was finally selected in the recent H-1B lottery and secured a full-time job. The salary, Aditya noted, was modest, but enough to help the family breathe again.
“It is a terrible situation to be in,” the post read, adding that tens of thousands of Indian students and parents are currently facing similar circumstances, with more joining the pipeline each year.
Narrowing path from campus to career
For years, the H-1B visa served as a relatively predictable bridge between US education and employment — especially for Indian graduates, who dominate both STEM programmes and visa lotteries. That bridge has narrowed considerably.
Following President Trump’s 2025 inauguration, stricter scrutiny, reduced approvals, and fewer entry-level tech roles have sharply lowered the odds. Even highly qualified graduates now face repeated lottery rejections, forcing families to extend financial support indefinitely or contemplate returning home with massive debt.
The emotional toll is equally severe. Aditya’s post highlights how parents often shield their children from financial stress, insisting they “don’t worry,” even as loans mount and assets hang in the balance. Meanwhile, students internalise the pressure, juggling precarious immigration status with the knowledge that their families’ futures are tied to their success.
Widening pattern of distress
The story echoes across online forums and news reports. On Reddit and other platforms, Indian students have shared accounts of ₹30-40 lakh education loans, deteriorating family health, and the inability to meet repayment schedules due to prolonged unemployment.
What was once framed as an investment in global mobility is increasingly resembling a high-risk gamble — one with consequences that extend far beyond the individual student.
Aditya’s post ends not with blame, but with a plea for empathy.
“It is easy to pass judgment sitting here,” he wrote, urging people to offer help or at least moral support instead of criticism. He also issued a warning to families contemplating unaffordable loans to send their children abroad this year: reconsider, carefully.
