Days after the death of 30-year-old Indian national Sasikanth Reddy Donthireddy in the United States, Indian-origin entrepreneur Vijay Thirumalai has triggered a sharp debate over the emotional and financial toll of the U.S. immigration system on Indian students and families.
Thirumalai, founder and CEO of Goldwater Global, took to X to comment on the circumstances surrounding Donthireddy’s death, calling attention to prolonged visa uncertainty and work-related stress faced by many Indian graduates in the U.S.
According to Thirumalai, Sasikanth Reddy Donthireddy suffered a cardiac arrest on February 16 after years of dealing with visa-related pressure and long working hours.
He said Donthireddy had moved to the U.S. in 2018 on a student visa and went on to complete two master’s degrees.
Despite his qualifications, Donthireddy reportedly failed to secure an H-1B work visa through the lottery system.
Thirumalai described the process as having roughly a one-in-three chance of success, highlighting the growing difficulty for foreign graduates to transition from student status to stable employment in the U.S.
Thirumalai further said that Donthireddy had not seen his family for nearly eight years, fearing that travel could result in him falling “out of status.” Citing this, he issued a strong warning to Indian parents, urging them not to send their children to the U.S. unless they could afford the EB-5 investor visa route, which offers a more direct path to permanent residency.
He argued that temporary visa categories such as F-1 and H-1B leave young migrants trapped in prolonged uncertainty, separated from families and under constant pressure, while green card timelines for many Indians are effectively “100 years away.”
The remarks struck a chord on social media, sparking widespread discussion on the mental health impact of the U.S. immigration system and raising questions about whether long-term settlement and family reunification remain realistic goals for middle-class Indian migrants.