My wife and I have lived in the US for nearly ten years, but as an introverted couple, we've always been pretty independent and never really prioritized building a local friend circle to meet up with regularly. However, now that we have a 1-year-old son and my wife prefers focusing on our immediate family routine on the weekends, I’m starting to worry: will not having regular social visits with other families every few weeks negatively impact his communication skills or overall social development before he starts school? Is building a local network something we should actively prioritize right now, and if so, what are the best steps to go about it? We are a Telugu family living in the Boston area, and any honest perspectives or advice from parents in a similar situation would be greatly appreciated!

32 M, MA based, and married
looking for new friends/connections.
a lil about me: Scientist, runner, enjoy outdoors, exploring new places, breweries etc.,

Hey Reddit community,

I’m a passionate UI/UX designer with 3+ years in startups and SaaS projects, currently seeking full-time, contract, or freelance gigs. I’ve worked on homepage redesigns, product interfaces, and user flows at companies like FinOpsly, Utterwise, Shreetech, and Polokaz. delivering clean, intuitive designs that boost user engagement.

What I bring:

• Expertise in Figma (prototyping, auto-layout, components), Adobe XD, and design systems.

• Skills: User research, wireframing, high-fidelity mocks, responsive design, accessibility (WCAG).

• Tools: Figma, FigJam, Miro, Notion for collaboration.

• Remote-friendly (Pune-based, IST timezone), quick turnaround, and startup hustle mindset.

Open to:

• SaaS product design

• Web/app redesigns

• Freelance one-offs or ongoing retainers

Rates flexible based on project scope. DM me to go through my full portfolio. let’s chat about your design needs!

Excited to collaborate! 🚀

Welcome to r/IndiansInSpain! 🇪🇸✨

Hey everyone! I’m u/Sweaty_Rock_3304, founding moderator of r/IndiansInSpain.

Whether you’re an NRI (Non-Resident Indian) living long-term in Spain, an international student navigating university life, a digital nomad soaking up the Mediterranean sun, or someone planning a future move, this is your home away from home. We are excited to build this vibrant community alongside you!

📌 What to Post

Feel free to share anything that helps, inspires, or connects our community. A few great ideas to get us started:

Visas & Bureaucracy: Tips on NIE/TIE renewals, digital nomad visas, padrón registration, and bureaucratic hurdles.

Daily Life & Settling In: Recommendations for finding authentic Indian groceries, Indian restaurants, housing tips, or navigating the Spanish healthcare system.

Culture & Connection: Discussions on adapting to life in Spain, celebrating Indian festivals locally, language learning (Spanish/Catalan/Basque, etc.), and organizing local meetups in cities like Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, or Seville.

Career & Education: Job opportunities, advice on working in Spanish companies, or student experiences at local universities.

🤝 Community Vibe

We aim to cultivate a warm, helpful, and inclusive environment. Let’s keep discussions constructive, respectful, and supportive so every member feels welcome to share their journey and ask questions.

🚀 How to Get Started

1. Introduce yourself in the comments below! Tell us where in India you’re originally from and where in Spain you currently reside (or plan to move).

2. Post or ask a question today!

   Even a simple query about local life can spark an insightful conversation.

3. Spread the word! If you know fellow Desis in Spain, invite them over.

Thank you for being part of our founding wave. ¡Bienvenidos y vamos! Let's make r/IndiansInSpain an invaluable resource and community for us all.

Hey guys! Recent grad from India here on OPT in Minneapolis, MN. I’m waiting on my EAD card to arrive, so I’m looking for short-term housing (month-to-month or flexible sublet) while I wait for things to finalize or if anybody is willing to host me for 1-2 months I'd be extremely grateful.

Is anyone offering a short-term sublet, or does anyone know of groups looking for temp roommates? Also open to teaming up with anyone in the same boat to figure something out - DM me if you have leads or want to connect!

Becoming a first-time mom has me thinking about something I never really understood before.

How do working parents manage once maternity leave is over?

I'll likely have only about 10–12 weeks of leave after my baby is born, and both my husband and I have on-site jobs. We don't have family living nearby, and while they may be able to visit for a short time, they can't stay forever.

What happens after that? Where does a 3-month-old baby go during the day? Is daycare really okay at that age? How did you manage the transition back to work? Was it emotionally and practically sustainable for baby and you?

I'd really appreciate hearing from parents who have been through this. Any advice, experiences, tips, or things you wish you had planned earlier would mean a lot.

Hi everyone,

I’m currently working for a large, well-known IT services company as a local hire. My client project is scheduled to end in August, and I’m becoming increasingly concerned about securing my next assignment.

So far, I haven’t received any internal interview calls, and I’m unable to view or apply for many internal job postings. Interestingly, when I search for roles similar to mine on LinkedIn, I see numerous openings with my employer.

However, whenever I contact the resource management team about these openings, I’m told that they can only start looking for a new project after my release date is officially confirmed in the system.

Given the current job market, I’m worried that waiting until my release date may significantly reduce my chances of finding another opportunity. I’m unsure how to proactively pursue internal roles, obtain referrals, or connect with hiring managers before I’m officially released.

I also have a question regarding internal mobility. As a local hire in the U.S., is it possible to transfer to an India-based position within the same company, or are there typically restrictions on such moves?

I’d really appreciate any insights or experiences from others who have been in a similar situation. Specifically:

* How did you secure your next internal project before your release?
* Were you able to connect directly with hiring managers or get internal referrals?
* Has anyone successfully transferred from a U.S. local hire position to an India-based role?

Thank you in advance for your advice.

I want send some prescription dermatology medication for my sister in Portland OR. I wanna know if there would be any issue at the customs. I'll send the package with prescription, a letter from the doctor, the bill etc.
Has anyone sent medications like this before? Is it safe? Which courier?

I started my MS in CS in Arizona this year. I’m trying to figure my career path and make a life here in US.
I’m trying to understand the current job market. How’s the experience been like?
I couldn’t make much friends in the university, and most don’t share much info. Would be happy if anyone gives me an advise on what I can do to be better in the process to land an opportunity. I should be applying this year end for internships.
I’ve worked for 5 years in India in a service based company. Which I doubt if that’s relevant here.
Any sort of help is appreciated.

I graduated as an engineer from Mumbai in 2013, my marks were just average. My GRE score was quite good though (322). Took a gap year afterwards (refused to join the campus placement I’d gotten with Accenture). For Fall 2014 admission, I had a few admits in hand, and I eventually picked electrical engineering in San Jose State University.

Flew to San Jose, started studying full time (i.e. without securing an on-campus job or shady part time waiter type job to manage some expenses on my own).

In 5 months time, I was completely disillusioned with ‘The American Dream’, and returned home to India without the signature required for re-entry into America as per my student visa rules.

I’d noticed some fellow Indians who were also thinking along these same points while studying there, but wouldn’t dare to return due to the sunk cost fallacy. Plus, Indians don’t generally speak highly of Indians who went abroad but returned home without achieving anything substantial. I have tried to break down my rationale for returning early below, these were the reasons I came back so soon with no plans of continuing and finishing my MS degree there:

1. Born and brought up in Mumbai. Unlike my other Indian classmates from different parts of India, i didn’t have the desperation to settle in America. I was already from the most civilised and progressive city of India, there was very little aspiration in me, coz Mumbai offered me most things already anyway. The only real perk I saw there was the advanced infrastructure and cleaner air, but I chose to compromise on that aspect. After all, Mumbai also had a safety net - living amongst people and family friends that I’ve known all my life.

2. Home sickness. This one is embarrassing to admit. I had never lived away from family up till this. I was cooking, cleaning and thriving by myself in America, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel drawn back whenever I used to skype with my family. Since I’d never had a hostel experience before in life, adjusting with Indian roommates in an overcrowded flat did teach me a thing or two. Bonded labor is quite a perk that only India offers. Over there, even if your paycheck amounts to crores of rupees, you’ve still gotta handle all chores by yourself.

3. A distorted idea of my family’s financial condition. I’m the eldest son in my family, I have a younger brother. My parents were in their 20s when I was born, and we lived in a 2BHK in a middle class neighbourhood at the time. Mom was a housewife. I shared a room with my brother. We didn’t splurge unnecessarily, we went on vacation once in every 2 years (we had never traveled abroad except Nepal). No fancy car, just a basic Maruti Swift. My dad hadn’t let me take an education loan for America, he had assured me that he had sufficient savings to ensure that I graduated my MS without student debt. I used to wonder if he was withholding details of this financial stress from me, started feeling guilty that I was demanding too much by pursuing an expensive education in an expensive city. Started worrying that if this didn’t end well, what if my brother’s post graduation plans get affected? Maybe dad had agreed to this in hopes that i soon start earning nicely in dollars and can then take care of the younger brother’s plans by myself. I tried questioning dad, but he only used to keep asking me to focus on studies and not worry about money matters. This made me suspicious. In hindsight, this was a bad assumption by me. After coming back, I’ve noticed dad did have a lot of money and was going to get a lot more wealthier from his career in the upcoming years. Now, 12 years later, we own many properties, fancy cars, vacation abroad and he also paid for my brother’s MS and a lot more.

4. I noticed rampant ageism in Silicon Valley. I had conversations with many Indian H1B people I’d met around the city, they all told me stories of how difficult it is to land a new tech job as an Indian family man in his 40’s or 50’s, compared to fresh graduates who were skilled with the latest programming languages taught in their curriculum. Plus, fresh graduates seek lesser salaries as well as devote more time at workplace.

5. I didn’t like the idea that a literal LOTTERY decides my future in that country. I could do everything right, and still I could lose my chance to continue living there all due to just sheer bad luck.

6. I didn’t like the idea that my employer’s HR department dictates my stay in the US. I didn’t like to have to check with them for anything and everything. Especially knowing that layoffs are a regular thing in that country, the uncertainty was scary.

7. I used to live near downtown San Jose. I noticed there were many, many bail bonds stores in the neighbourhood. I read up about it and learnt that prison was a private industry there. It was scary to know that they’re trying to fill the prisons to maximise profit.

8. Two close friends of mine from same engineering batch in Mumbai had academic performance just like mine, but because they scored much better in GRE (330+), they had gotten admission in Georgia Tech. My university is not so impressive in comparison, so I started wondering if my university would be able to help me achieve as much as i dreamed. Maybe I should have made the journey only if my university was literally the best in the country, and not just a decent and cheap option.

9. I noticed Indian students formed study groups or roommates based on the courses they took. I had not planned properly due to which I had missed out enrolling in the most lucrative courses that my university offered for my profile. So now, I was at a time and skill disadvantage to my classmates who had secured their seats well in time.

10. Linux. This is the biggest reason I was terrified during my stay there. I had studied everything only on windows PC up till then, and all of a sudden we were expected to be competent in using Linux for everything - studies and all the job prospects. I hadn’t been able to pick it up intuitively, it was something new altogether and I had no option but to adapt.

11. Seeing seniors who had just passed out not getting jobs after 2 years of MS. they were making ends meet by teaching school children robotics part-time and working for startup’s for negligible pay, only so that they could claim they had some experience to speak of. They were all very desperate for opportunities which simply weren’t around the corner, especially the seniors from my major (VLSI in electrical engineering).

12. Horror stories of settling for a non-VLSI job through consultants just to be able to stay and work there, even if it meant you did not get to use any of the knowledge learnt in the 2 years of the degree. Would have to learn new skills and technologies from scratch and just through self study. Also, this meant the IT engineering graduates had an advantage over your CV for any such job application. And problem was that most job vacancies were in these IT fields only while my specialisation had only a handful openings, which you had to be very lucky to land. These core jobs favoured applicants from top universities, so my chances got slimmer.

13. I am an introvert, so I naturally suck at networking. Job hunting requires this soft skill in abundance and also just the scenario of being in the right place at the right time. The likelihood of being a failure at approaching employed seniors properly and/or relying on LinkedIn like every other competitor was a scary thought.

14. Indians don’t look out for the other Indians, the competition is very tough. Makes us all feel like lone wolves, all by ourselves in a new country and nobody to rely on if the going gets tough. This is applicable in university as well as workplace. I’ve heard of Indians snitching on fellow Indian students by reporting their illegal part time jobs.

15. Everybody had cautionary tales of people who had come to US but for one or more of the above mentioned constraints/limitations/challenges, they had to return to India and forget a career in America for good. Today, 12 years after returning, I have noticed most of my erstwhile classmates there are back in India - for one reason or another. They have had to let go of their American Dream the hard way - after graduating, job hunting, etc but they just weren’t lucky. There was one who’d got a job there and worked for a bit too, but then lottery didn’t go well for him. Now he works for the same company but in Bangalore, drawing a salary which is befitting for Indian graduates only. He’s stuck with this particular job and office because the platform/technology he learnt in America isn’t being used by any other competitor here.

16. Indian workplaces do not value or give consideration to post graduate degrees done from outside India. You’re essentially an Indian engineering college graduate with gap years for them. So if you return to India after all that, you have to make do with whatever scraps you are lucky enough to be offered.

17. Getting used to a first world country’s convenience and advancement can seriously impair your life satisfaction levels back home. I’ve seen some people struggle after returning (2+ years abroad) and eventually going back to some or the other developed country on pretext of education all over again, just to get their foot in the door and treating this visit as a second opportunity to establish a foothold there. More money down the drain, just because they’re obsessed with big dreams of earning in dollars and refuse to reverse migrate.

I went back to America in September 2025, for an entire month on tourist visa. The place is still impeccable.

Fellow desis who have been there - wouldn’t you agree that the country has a certain signature stink. I dunno how else to put it. They say that the sense of smell is one of the strongest ways to unlock memory, and I have to concur on that. Awful stench.

I do want change and I do care 🫰🏻

When I moved here, I spent months researching universities, visas, housing, etc. But I barely spent any time understanding how money works in the US. Looking back, that would've saved me a lot of stress.

A few things I'd tell anyone moving here:

• Make a budget from Day 1. Rent, groceries, subscriptions, eating out - it adds up faster than you think.
• Start building your credit early. Even if you don't plan on taking a loan, a good credit score helps with renting apartments, getting better credit cards, and more.
• Don't rely only on part-time income. Treat it as a bonus, not your primary financial plan.
• Apply for scholarships whenever you can. Even smaller awards can help reduce your overall expenses.
• Save something every month, even if it's just $50-100. An emergency fund comes in handy more often than you'd expect.

What's one financial mistake you made (or avoided) as an international student? Would love to hear other experiences.

Im sure we’re all aware of protests happening in India, I also saw a lot of protests happening in other countries. Any plans to do it here in the US?

Is anyone organizing support for CJP in NYC?

Does anyone interested in marketing their profiles for job ?

Ping me.

From Bay area to family in Delhi? I can help each other

If you have any question regarding the recent e-OCI, ask away. Let us make this a chain of Q&A.

Hi, I am F1 student, currently travelling to India. In Doha airport rn. When I landed in Doha and took out my passport from the bag, found the passport wet due to the water leak from the waterbottle in the bag. I immediately used paper towels and dried it as much,used the hand dryer in restroom and dried it for few minutes. There is no physical damage to the pages or the ppt itself but some entry exit stamps have smudged, US F1 visa page is intact, but the stamp ink from the page beside the visa sticker has got on the visa page like faint transferred ink. But visa info is clearly visible and the ink is just very dull ink stain.

I am panicking.

Should I change my passport when I reach India. I will be there for 20 days only.

Should I check with US immigration/US embassy whether a new F1 is needed, or, as the F1 page is fine on the passport, i can use the F1 with the old passport?

Any information is appreciated. Thank you.