New Delhi: In a scathing indictment of Sweden’s immigration bureaucracy, high-profile Indian entrepreneur Abhijith Nag Balasubramanya has announced his forced departure from the Nordic nation, labelling its migration system “fundamentally xenophobic” and “dysfunctional.”
Balasubramanya, the founder and CEO of Hydro Space Sweden AB, an innovative sustainable agriculture venture, took to LinkedIn to announce that he has officially stepped down and sold his company. His exit is not a strategic business move but a forced “eviction” by the Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket), sparking a viral conversation about the reality behind Sweden’s “startup-friendly” reputation.
“Today, I am officially stepping down as Founder and CEO of Hydro Space Sweden AB. I have sold the company as I am being forced to leave the country by the end of this month,” Balasubramanya wrote in a LinkedIn post.
A “startup paradise” revealed as a facade
Despite his company’s products, focused on sustainable food security, being widely celebrated by local Swedish consumers, Balasubramanya claims he was never given the freedom to operate. He described his departure as a calculated push-out by a state apparatus that he views as increasingly hostile toward foreign talent.
“This isn’t an exit by choice. It is an eviction by an incompetent and increasingly hostile state apparatus,” he added.
Balasubramanya wrote in his viral post. He further criticised the Migration Agency for its “gross incompetence, procedural cowardice, and systemic hostility,” alleging that the image Sweden projects to the global tech community is a mere facade.
High credentials vs. bureaucratic walls
The exit is particularly notable given Balasubramanya’s extensive academic and professional background. Holding a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and two master’s degrees, one in international marketing and another in sustainable agriculture, he represented the exact type of high-skilled talent European nations typically compete for.
However, Balasubramanya alleged that the case officers handling his residency file lacked a basic understanding of business operations. According to the entrepreneur, Officers repeatedly failed to guide the necessary documentation despite multiple requests.
He added that the grounds for his visa rejection were changed multiple times by the agency.
Choosing mental health over legal battles
Exhausted by the “repressive” nature of the institution, Balasubramanya stated he has no intention of fighting a protracted legal battle. Instead, he is prioritising his well-being and returning to India.
“I do not have the energy or the desire to spend my capital fighting a legal battle against a system that is fundamentally broken,” he wrote. “I have decided to take a break and move back to my home country to work on my mental health that was destroyed by the Swedish migration agency.”
A global resonance
The post has struck a chord with the international expat community, with many entrepreneurs sharing their own “horror stories” of dealing with immigration offices in Europe and beyond. One fellow entrepreneur commented, “The Swedish system can deny you the residence, but it will never be able to kill the entrepreneurial spirit you carry within you.”
Others noted that this “hostility” toward wealth-creators appears to be an alarming global trend. “I went through a similar experience and can validate much of what you’re describing,” one more user commented, while another said, “We have a similar story at our company – a battle with the immigration office (a.k.a. a repressive institution). It seems to be a global trend, not only in Sweden.”