The following oral account is compiled based on the conversation between Business Insider and 37-year-old Abhradeep Chatterjee. Chatterjee is an Indian citizen residing in Minnesota. The content has been edited to be concise and clear.

In 2015, when I came to the United States from India, I was quite young and had just gotten married not long before. At that time, I never imagined that 11 years later I would still be here.

I came to the United States in search of growth opportunities. The Indian multinational company I was working for at the time, Tata Consultancy Services ( Tata Consultancy Services, TCS ), assigned me to work in New Jersey. Since then, I have continued to develop my career in the United States with a H-1B visa, and the professional challenges faced in this country were beyond my imagination when I first arrived.

But all of this is based on temporary visas. This kind of uncertainty has always been difficult to bear.

The wife made sacrifices; the daughter gained an opportunity.

Both my wife and I wanted to come to the United States at that time.

She came to the United States with a H-4 family visa, which does not automatically come with a work permit. She has to wait until my employer submits the application materials for my green card before she is eligible to apply for a job, so she will not be able to work for nearly four years. Money is not our biggest problem; what makes me feel guilty is that she has a master's degree and wants to work as well, but she has sacrificed her own life plans in order to come to the United States with me.

At the same time, my career continued to progress: from being dispatched with TCS, to joining another company as a technical supervisor. In 2023, I joined IT in Japan as NTT Data and am currently serving as the deputy director.

Although I am able to transfer the H-1B visa between different companies, this process is not always easy and stress-free. Since the approval results are not within my control, there is always a certain degree of uncertainty, which makes it difficult to truly relax.

Exposing myself to different ways of thinking in the United States has made me more adaptable and better at empathizing with others.

Our two-year-old daughter was born in the United States, and I am very glad that this has opened up some opportunities for her. In the future, if she wants to attend a good university in the U.S., the cost will be lower than if she were to enroll as an international student.

My wife and I have always envisioned staying in the United States in the future. We have built friendships and community ties here. We bought a house with a backyard where our daughter can play, and we also have two dogs. When I see my daughter playing outside with her friends, that kind of environment is exactly what I have always hoped to provide for her.

At the same time, there is also a sense of irony in this: we have established what seems to be a permanent way of life, but the immigration process we are involved in is often far from it.

The cost of being separated from family in India is high.

The most difficult part of my experience was the distance from my family. I grew up in India, surrounded by many friends and relatives, but since moving to the United States, I have never returned there, so I missed out on a lot of things.

Due to my visa status, travel decisions are always accompanied by considerations regarding planning and immigration, including issues such as visa stamping.

My parents are getting older, and sometimes I really wish I could go home more conveniently. I wasn’t able to be there for some important moments, including my uncle’s funeral and a cousin’s wedding. After my daughter was born, I began to realize that my parents might have missed many other things as well. Video calls can help to some extent, but they can’t replace the feeling of being physically by your parents’ side.

I don't know how much longer I'll have to wait, but I estimate it will be several more years. I've already developed a lot of white hair, so maybe by the time I get my green card, my hair will be completely white. Every time my wife and I need to renew our residency, we get nervous, not knowing what might happen.

Uncertainty has not erased our hopes.

My grandmother used to say that everything comes at a cost. There is indeed struggle involved, but compared to when we were in India, the opportunities in America are much greater.

My wife is now an accountant. Theoretically, I could also hold the same position title in my company in India, but since many companies—including my own—have a significant business presence in the United States, I have more opportunities here to work directly with clients and decision-makers.

Over the years, I occasionally search for my name online, not out of vanity, but to see if my work has had a positive impact. There are many people named Abhradeep Chatterjee; I hope that I have made enough contributions in my career to leave a clear and visible trace in the search results. The opportunities I have in the United States are helping me to make an even bigger impact.

If anything goes wrong and I have to leave, I will return to India. My parents are there, as is my childhood.

I don't want these years to be just about waiting. I've built a career, made friends, and learned a lot of things. Uncertainty has been a part of my life for a long time, but I've always strived not to let it define my life.

When I was young, I dreamed of coming to the United States and taking a photo in front of the Statue of Liberty. Now, my dream is for my family.

My wife and I have been working hard to build a life here, and one of my greatest hopes is that our daughter will have the freedom and opportunities in the future to pursue her own dreams. This goal has motivated many sacrifices we have made along the way.

Business Insider confirmed that Chatterjee was employed by Tata Consulting Services and NTT Data. Both companies declined to comment on this matter.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services ( USCIS ) told Business Insider that employment-based immigration "must benefit the country, American businesses, and American citizens." The agency is working to ensure that visa programs "complement rather than replace the American workforce." The U.S. Department of Labor declined to comment.