'It was crushing and numbing': Kunal Bahl relives 2007 H-1B pain as Indians brace for fallout
“In 2007, sitting at my desk in Microsoft I got an email that my H-1B visa was rejected,” Bahl wrote. “To those impacted today, be positive. There is something much bigger & better in store for you.”
- Sep 20, 2025,
- Updated Sep 20, 2025 1:37 PM IST
As Donald Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee throws Indian tech careers into chaos, Snapdeal CEO Kunal Bahl reminded the world he’s been there before — when Microsoft told him his own H-1B was denied. “It was crushing and numbing,” he wrote. “But life-changing.”
The LinkedIn post from Bahl, who co-founded one of India’s earliest e-commerce giants, lands as thousands of Indian engineers see their U.S. job prospects collapse under Trump’s new policy.
“In 2007, sitting at my desk in Microsoft I got an email that my H-1B visa was rejected,” Bahl wrote. “To those impacted today, be positive. There is something much bigger & better in store for you.”
Under the new proclamation, U.S. companies must pay $100,000 annually per H-1B employee. Trump says the goal is to filter out the “bottom quartile” of visa holders, curb wage suppression, and generate over $100 billion for the U.S. Treasury.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick claims the move will stop companies from importing “cheap labor” to displace Americans. But for India—home to 71% of all H-1B visa holders—it’s a direct hit to both individual careers and the $250 billion IT export economy.
Major firms like Infosys, Wipro, Cognizant, and TCS have long used the visa program to place Indian engineers in U.S. roles. Now, that pipeline could be cost-prohibitive.
The shockwaves have already reached Wall Street. U.S.-listed Indian IT stocks fell by up to 5% after the policy’s announcement. Critics argue it’s a political move that punishes skilled workers and disrupts innovation flows across borders.
As Donald Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee throws Indian tech careers into chaos, Snapdeal CEO Kunal Bahl reminded the world he’s been there before — when Microsoft told him his own H-1B was denied. “It was crushing and numbing,” he wrote. “But life-changing.”
The LinkedIn post from Bahl, who co-founded one of India’s earliest e-commerce giants, lands as thousands of Indian engineers see their U.S. job prospects collapse under Trump’s new policy.
“In 2007, sitting at my desk in Microsoft I got an email that my H-1B visa was rejected,” Bahl wrote. “To those impacted today, be positive. There is something much bigger & better in store for you.”
Under the new proclamation, U.S. companies must pay $100,000 annually per H-1B employee. Trump says the goal is to filter out the “bottom quartile” of visa holders, curb wage suppression, and generate over $100 billion for the U.S. Treasury.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick claims the move will stop companies from importing “cheap labor” to displace Americans. But for India—home to 71% of all H-1B visa holders—it’s a direct hit to both individual careers and the $250 billion IT export economy.
Major firms like Infosys, Wipro, Cognizant, and TCS have long used the visa program to place Indian engineers in U.S. roles. Now, that pipeline could be cost-prohibitive.
The shockwaves have already reached Wall Street. U.S.-listed Indian IT stocks fell by up to 5% after the policy’s announcement. Critics argue it’s a political move that punishes skilled workers and disrupts innovation flows across borders.