Nutritionist Bharathi Ramesh gave up her US Green Card to return to India and build her startup. She moved to the US in 2020 for a master’s degree. After a personal loss, she felt she needed to focus on her business. She said, "I was a compulsive high performer."

For many Indians who move to the US, securing a Green Card represents years of education, professional work and navigating a complicated immigration process. For nutritionist and entrepreneur Bharathi Ramesh, however, obtaining permanent residency eventually became part of a very different journey.

Why did Bharathi Ramesh give up her US Green Card?

Ramesh has returned to India after giving up her US Green Card to build her startup, a decision she recently explained in a series of social media posts. Her story has drawn attention because she walked away from a status that many immigrants spend years trying to secure.

Ramesh moved to the US in 2020 to pursue a master’s degree, with the aim of understanding how research could be applied to nutrition practice. She later secured an EB-2 National Interest Waiver and an EB-1A Green Card, which she said gave her greater immigration flexibility as she worked towards becoming an entrepreneur.

The EB-1A category is intended for people who can demonstrate extraordinary ability in areas including the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics. Ramesh said her Green Card was approved under that category in nutrition.

Yet the achievement did not resolve the conflict between the life she had built in the US and what she actually wanted to do.

In her account, Ramesh said she was working full-time largely to cover basic expenses such as rent and health insurance while wanting to devote her time to her startup. She was also dealing with health problems and the pressure that came with maintaining a demanding career.

The personal loss that triggered it all

Ramesh said she lost a parent just as she was preparing to take the entrepreneurial leap. She described herself as a “compulsive high performer” and said that, after years of relentlessly pursuing her goals, she eventually “crashed”. It took her eight months, she said, to find herself again.

That period changed the calculation. Rather than continuing to maintain her life in the US while trying to build a company on the side, Ramesh decided to move back to India. She discussed the decision with her husband, who supported her and eventually moved back with her.

Her return is also tied directly to the company she is now building. On LinkedIn, Ramesh describes her venture as an Indian platform focused on connecting users with qualified nutrition and mental-health professionals.

She has said the business is being built around giving users more choice while allowing professionals to retain a larger share of their earnings.

The decision was not entirely sudden. Ramesh previously said that more than 1,200 Indian immigrants had signed up for a podcast conversation about how she obtained her Green Card in less than two years. Her immigration journey itself had become something she shared with other Indians navigating life in the US.

Now, that journey has taken her in the opposite direction. Ramesh said she is finally able to identify herself as a founder. Her decision does not suggest that leaving the US is the right choice for others; it reflects how personal circumstances, professional ambitions and the demands of building a company shaped her own decision to start again in India.