An Amazon employee has voiced his decision to leave the United States and abandon the H-1B visa process, citing the immense and persistent anxiety he has experienced due to the immigration system. The employee, identified by his Instagram handle @scotthuang2k, shared that despite having a year and a half of OPT work permit remaining and one H-1B lottery attempt left, he has opted to forgo applying for the visa. Instead, he plans to relocate overseas to focus on building his own company.
He explained that the constant fear and uncertainty surrounding his immigration status in the U.S. have taken a significant toll on his well-being. “For three years, I woke up every morning with a knot in my stomach. Not because of work, but because my entire life depended on one policy I couldn’t control,” he stated. He questioned whether he had ever truly relaxed in America, concluding that he lived in “constant fear” with “never a moment I could just breathe.” He described the sequence of student visas, OPT, H-1B, and green cards as an “endless cycle of anxiety.”
The employee, who reportedly earns $180,000 annually at a major tech company, is now embracing what he calls the “new American dream”: earning a U.S. salary while living anywhere. His plan involves establishing a U.S. company remotely, allowing him to enjoy benefits such as better healthcare abroad, lower living costs, and what he perceives as “actual freedom.” He considers this career move to be potentially the best decision he will ever make.
This decision comes in the wake of a proposed $100,000 fee for new H-1B visa applications, announced by former U.S. President Donald Trump, which is set to take effect on September 21. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has clarified that this fee applies only to new applicants, not to those submitting petitions before the specified date, and it is a one-time fee, not an annual one.