An Indian couple living in the United States has a message for young Indians dreaming of moving abroad: think carefully before making the decision to leave India.
Suhas and Priyanka shared their views during a street-style interview with content creator Darshana, also known as @darshanaconnects. According to The Times of India, their comments have sparked a wider debate online, with some people agreeing with their perspective while others argue that moving abroad can still offer valuable career and life opportunities.
When Suhas was asked what he would tell young Indians hoping to move to the US, his response was direct.
“Don’t come.”
He went on to explain that the circumstances were very different when he and Priyanka decided to leave India. According to The Times of India, Suhas said that finding good employment and achieving what they considered a comfortable quality of life was considerably more difficult at the time, while moving to the US appeared to offer a clearer path to professional success.
“We came here because, at that time, India was very tough for us to crack into,” he said.
He described what the overseas journey once looked like for many Indian students and professionals: study in the US, secure employment and establish a comfortable life.
“You come here, you get your master’s, you get your job, and you are set,” he said.
However, Suhas believes that the equation has changed significantly. According to The Times of India, he argued that many of the professional and lifestyle opportunities that once encouraged Indians to move overseas are now increasingly available in India.
“But it’s the same now in India. You can do everything that you do here, you can do it in India,” he said.
Priyanka also pointed towards India's changing economic landscape. She noted that the country has been attracting significant investment, making India a very different place compared with the country they left years ago.
‘I still don’t feel like I’m accepted here’
For Suhas, however, the cost of migration cannot be measured only through salaries, career opportunities or financial benefits.
According to The Times of India, he spoke about the personal sacrifices involved in leaving behind family and friends, creating a new social circle and trying to establish a sense of belonging in another country.
“There’s a huge cost of leaving your family, leaving your friends, coming to a foreign land, making new friends, feeling accepted,” he said.
He then shared a particularly personal reflection about his experience of living in the US.
“I still don’t feel like I’m accepted here. I would rather just live in India. If I could, I would.”
The couple also discussed differences in how Indian and Chinese students and professionals approach overseas education and career opportunities.
Suhas argued that many Chinese students travel to the US to gain education and professional experience before returning to China and using that knowledge to contribute to their home country.
“They come here, they get an education, they extract the knowledge, and they go back, and they produce value in the country,” he said.
Priyanka added that even people who spend several years studying abroad, including those pursuing lengthy PhD programmes, often return to China.
“Indians are not very good at that,” she said.
But why not just move back?
The question naturally emerged after the couple's comments gained attention online. If living in the US has become so challenging, some users asked, why doesn't the couple simply return to India?
Suhas addressed the issue in the comments, explaining that returning after spending years in the US is not as straightforward as simply deciding to move home. According to The Times of India, he pointed to the career, financial and personal investments that people make after establishing their lives overseas.
“India being difficult does not automatically make America worth it,” he wrote.
He explained that returning to India at this stage would involve another major personal and financial adjustment. However, that does not mean he would make the same decision if he were beginning his journey today.
“The real question is: If I were in India today, would I move to America? My answer is no,” he wrote.
Immigration uncertainty is another major factor behind his position.
For Indian professionals, Suhas highlighted issues including lengthy waits for green cards, dependence on employers for maintaining legal status, and uncertainty surrounding spouses and children who may be living in the US on dependent visas.
“Immigration is the biggest reason. For Indians, it is not a simple path from a good job to a green card,” he said.
According to The Times of India, his broader advice is that prospective migrants should consider far more than the salary attached to a job overseas.
That includes visa uncertainty, dependence on an employer, the impact on a spouse's career, uncertainty surrounding children's immigration status, being separated from ageing parents and potentially spending many years waiting for permanent residency and long-term stability.
“So don’t count only the salary,” he wrote. “Count the visa anxiety, employer dependence, your spouse’s stalled career, uncertainty for your children, distance from your parents, and the years spent waiting for stability.”
Knowing what he knows today, Suhas said he would not make the same decision if he were starting from scratch.
The internet is divided
The couple's comments have, unsurprisingly, divided social media users.
Some people agreed strongly with their assessment of life abroad. “Agree 100%,” one user wrote.
Others took the opposite view, arguing that opportunities to study or work in the US should not automatically be rejected. According to The Times of India, some commenters maintained that moving abroad can provide valuable experiences and opportunities that are difficult to replicate elsewhere.
One commenter argued that moving overseas is an experience people should not automatically turn down.
Another user highlighted the difficulties involved in returning to India after spending years abroad. Moving back can mean rebuilding professional networks, social circles and financial arrangements, making the decision more complicated than simply choosing where to live.
The larger debate, according to The Times of India, is ultimately about how people define a successful life and what they consider when comparing India with life abroad.
A higher salary may appear attractive on paper, but for some immigrants, the trade-offs can include years of immigration uncertainty, distance from family, career compromises and the feeling that they never completely belong.
For Suhas and Priyanka, the central message is therefore not necessarily that everyone should avoid moving abroad. Instead, they are urging young Indians to consider the complete picture before making such a life-changing decision.
The salary, they suggest, is only one part of the equation. Visa uncertainty, family separation, career sacrifices, children's future and the long wait for permanent stability can also become part of the price of building a life overseas.
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