- Indian tech professional in US shares grief of losing mother amid visa delays
- Mother diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer; he sought urgent visa to travel home
- He faced 26 days of unsuccessful efforts to secure emergency visa appointment
An Indian-origin technology professional working in the United States has shared a deeply emotional account of losing his mother while being unable to travel back to India due to visa-related delays. His experience has sparked a wider discussion about the personal and emotional challenges faced by people living abroad on work visas.
Gautam Dey, who works in the United States on an H-1B visa, shared his story on LinkedIn. He explained that he was writing not as an engineer or visa holder, but as a son dealing with grief, and stated that he was expressing his feelings as a son.
He said his mother had been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and remained hospitalised for 17 days. During that period, he was trying urgently to secure a visa stamping appointment so he could travel to India and be with her.
Dey said he moved to the United States in 2007 after being hired by a multinational company for specialised software work. He explained that he had not gone there to reduce anyone's salary, but was brought in for his expertise to solve a serious software problem and address vulnerabilities.
Check Out The Post Here:
As his mother's condition worsened, he described being stuck due to immigration procedures. He explained that travelling without a valid visa stamp could have left him stranded outside the United States for months, risking his job, legal status, and his family's status.
He said he made continuous efforts for 26 days to secure an emergency visa appointment. He sent hospital documents to the consulate and kept trying repeatedly, waiting and hoping for a response, but time passed without success.
Despite his efforts, Dey could not reach India before his mother passed away. He said he could only see her through a phone screen and hear her voice over calls, and described this as the biggest regret of his life.
Dey described the situation as an impossible decision between being with his dying mother and protecting the future of his children. He said he was forced to choose between the two and stated that no person should ever face such a situation.
He clarified that his post was not intended to criticise any government or immigration system, but to highlight the emotional cost that many immigrants experience silently. He said the issue was about a human cost that is rarely discussed.
Reflecting on his experience, Dey said that while building a life abroad is often seen as a dream, it should not become a situation that prevents people from being with their families in critical moments.
He advised young professionals who wish to move abroad for work to think carefully before making such decisions, adding that success should not be measured only by leaving one's home country.
Dey concluded by stating that no career ambition should force someone to choose between being present during a parent's final moments and securing their children's future. He said he lost that choice and would carry the pain for the rest of his life.
