Kamal Ghorui
An H-1B Redditor in India presented a mind-boggling calculation and claimed that the savings from the US job could give 9 years of runway in India without earning anything. The Redditor acknowledged that the numbers are not fool-proof and if the cost of living in India goes up, the calculation would go haywire, but at a time when thousands of H-1B visa holders are stranded in India with no visa stamping date opening for them, such figures can make the situation feel less catastrophic, the social media user said. According to the calculation, the Redditor has $120,000 (Rs 1.1 crore) in savings. The US rent is $1950 per month and it has three months of lease. The car could be sold for $2.5K which will also be added to the savings. Considering that living in Bengaluru takes Rs 1 lakh per month, after 3 months of “dual burn” as the H-1B visa holder is paying ghe US rent as well, the remaining savings can translate to “9 years of runway in India” without earning anything.
“I’m currently in India and honestly a bit nervous about the stamping situation.To calm myself down I ran some worst-case numbers. This is my scenario. I’m not from a DUAL FAANG family so my numbers may not be that impressive, however I still think it’s enough to give some peace….Seeing the math actually made the situation feel a lot less catastrophic. Sometimes the panic around visas and layoffs makes things feel worse than the actual numbers,” the Redditor wrote. The post went viral as many Indian H-1B visa holders are staring at uncertain times, as they don’t know when they can go back to the US. Some companies allowed them to work from India, though several unprecedented visa situations are arising out of this situation. “When you’re refreshing the visa appointment pages and reading all the worst-case stories online, it’s easy to spiral a bit. Actually putting numbers down made it feel a lot more manageable. Everyone’s numbers will obviously be different, but just running the scenarios helped me think more clearly about the situation,” the Redditor explained. The reactions to the viral post were mixed. Many commented that Rs 1 lakh in Bengaluru is not enough and the Redditor did not consider inflation in India in this calculation. Some pointed out that it won’t be 9 years of freedom. “It’s 9 years of sitting in Bangalore watching the life you built in the US slowly become something you used to have. Savings evaporate. Your career in the US dies. Everyone you knew moves on. The money doesn’t save the dream. It just lets you slowly watch it die,” one commented.
