H-1B fee fears push a tech worker to weigh Canada or India as next base

An Indian national in Toronto on a tourist visa recounts how the proposed but not enforced $100,000 H-1B employer fee, plus visa uncertainty, derailed her US job search after leaving Duke, and now she’s deciding whether to base herself in Canada or return to India while continuing to seek opportunities in fintech and exploring other visa routes like the O-1, all against the backdrop of the hard realities international students face and her optimism for a future outside the US.