‘Free To No Longer Be Bound To A Visa’: Why Bharathi Ramesh Gave Up US Green Card And Returned To India

Bharathi Ramesh: While a US Green Card is often seen as a golden ticket that thousands of immigrants sacrifice years to achieve, walking away from it takes real guts. For Bharathi Ramesh, letting go of American permanent residency and returning to India was not a setback but a deliberate move following the sudden loss of a parent and a knee injury.

Explaining her decision, Bharathi Ramesh shared that she felt "free to be no longer bound to a visa" after leaving US. "It felt so freeing to no longer be bound to a visa, free to pursue my goals, free to enter a country whenever I want, that the past 6 years of struggle in the US felt almost pointless. Almost", she wrote in her LinkedIn post after landing at Bengaluru airport with her husband, Ishan Chittoory.

Image Credit: Instagram

"I Finally Crashed"

Bharathi Ramesh moved to the US in 2020 to complete her master's and learn how to apply for research in the field of nutrition. Later, she secured both  EB-2 NIW and EB-1A, offering her flexibility to pursue her entrepreneurial goals. But life had other plans. 

Image Credit: Instagram

Recalling her struggling phase, Bharathi Ramesh said that the thought of leaving the US came after she lost one of her parents. "When I was ready to take the leap and work on my startup, I lost a parent. As a compulsive high performer, after years of relentlessly chasing my goals, I finally crashed. It took me 8 months to find myself again."

The eight months of hiatus made Bharathi rethink what she really wanted with her life. Finally, she decided to move back to India and build her startup without any distractions.

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What Is She Building In India?

After returning to India, Bharathi Ramesh is building a high-quality curated marketplace platform, and named it Imli Health. The platform will help people to find and work with qualified nutrition and mental health professionals. 

With the launch slated for October, Imli Health intends to deliver its promise through "transparent pricing, verified credentials, and simplified cross-border booking across currencies and time zones". To build the future of care, Bharathi is in constant conversation with fellow founders and potential collaborators.

Image Credit: LinkedIn

What Changes In US' EB-1 Visa Rules?

Recently, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Policy Manual has updated the guidelines required for the EB-1 visa. It has included team awards and past organisational memberships as acceptable evidence. For immigrants, these updated norms have made it easier for highly skilled professionals to self-petition to prove their extraordinary ability. 

However, this expanded accessibility has caused an unprecedented surge in demand, pushing country-specific caps to their absolute limits. As a result, in high-demand nations such as India, applicants are facing looming Visa Bulletin pauses and delays in the final action date.