Spent the weekend going through 600+ comments & 200+ DMs on my H-1B post. A recap, my thoughts & steps ahead. 1. “Why did you waste your money instead of starting up in India?” Because not everyone wants to be an entrepreneur. 2. “Moving back to India is not a failure.“ It’s not. It’s the society’s perception, which no matter how strong you are, you are also human at the end of the day. 3. A few laughed, & blamed me for wasting “my father’s entire Provident Fund." My father’s PF is intact, I wish your critical thinking skills were too. 4. “Didn't you know about the lottery?” Anyone literate who moves, does. It still hits you hard when you don't get H-1B. 5. “You were always meant to go back.” Yes, eventually. H-1B lottery is meant for millions of non-immigrants like me. It’s upsetting when it doesn’t play out in our favor. How hard is that to understand? 6. “Why didn’t you go for a cheaper school?” I chose to go to top schools I worked very hard for. 7. “Solve the problem” & “don’t cry about it on social media”! I’m sorry for you that you lack empathy for thousands of people like me. 8. “Consider moving to another country.” Fair, but it comes with the actual & hidden costs of uprooting & establishing oneself again. 9. “Anti-USA rhetoric", "sense of entitlement". Hilarious that you think highlighting the struggles of every single international student here serves that purpose. 10. “What does a wise choice look like?” That'd be to calculate the real cost of investment, keeping in mind visa issues & rampant racism. 11. “Why are you blaming the system?”. If spreading awareness about the visa policies to prospective international students is “blaming system”, so be it. 12. “Brain drain”. “Why look for greener pastures?” You are ill-informed if you didn’t know that people relocate to learn about & from different cultures academically, professionally & personally; for a better life or for money to support families, among other reasons. Why one moves is so personal. The blame game is plain nasty & only shows ignorance. A few constructive suggestions from 800+ folks for people in the same boat as me: 1. Relocate to another country & come back on L1 visa. 2. Move to Canada, attain citizenship & move back to U.S. on TN visa. 3. Avail Day 1 CPT. 4. Look into O1A, O1B, EB1, EB2. 5. Cap exempt H-1B jobs at Cleveland Clinic Foundation etc. 6. Enroll into PhD programs with funding, in U.S. B-schools. 7. UK sponsors 2 year work visas for graduates of U.S. top schools. Lastly, It’s easy to judge with wisecracks, make pseudo-intellectual comments like “you should’ve known better”. It’s another to live through a disappointing experience. Original post I spent ~$100k on a STEM degree in the US, & now only have 1 chance left for H1B. Where does this leave me? It’s been 2 days since I found out that I wasn’t selected in the H1B lottery even on my second chance. This means that if I don’t get H1B in my last chance next year, I have to leave the U.S. That’s all I have thought about since the past 2 days, feeling dejected and lost. While I was planning to move to the States, my sole focus was on getting into a top school, and I did. I was naive enough to think that the hard part was over. Far from it. Life of an immigrant in the U.S. is in a constant state of worry, anxiety, hard work, & luck. Getting into a good school only marks the beginning of the struggles of an international student’s life. As soon as we land, we start worrying about landing a good internship. Post that, we’re stressed about landing a good job within 90 days of graduation or else have to go back to our home countries. Post that, STEM students get 3 chances at the H1B lottery, & only randomness decides whether you get to stay back in the U.S. after 3 years or not. By some stroke of luck, if you get an H1B, you’re worried about getting laid off. If you get laid off, you get 60 days to find another job or else you have to leave the country yet again. I have been feeling a little bogged down since the past 2 days. What does all the struggle amount to at the end of the day, if you don’t get an H1B? One can argue everyone knows about these factors before making the move, and that there are alternatives to stay back. True, but the precariousness of it all takes an emotional & mental toll. Not just on me, but on every single international student I have spoken to so far. A lot of them manage to get an H1B, green card (after decades) and settle down eventually, but no one talks about the ones who have had to go back to their home countries. And what a failure it makes them feel like, despite it not being their fault. The reality is eclipsed by the success stories on & off LinkedIn! To those of you whose H1B didn’t come through on the second or third attempt this year, I know my thoughts are resonating with you. It’s a tough ride, and it never really gets easy. So, to everyone who’s filling out US school applications, this post is your reminder of tough times ahead, a preview of a life of uncertainty & struggles, which may or may not lead to a happy ending. This post isn’t meant to discourage anyone, but to let you know the reality, which is far from ideal. Make your choices wisely! :) And if you’re in the same boat as me, hang in there! It’s not looking great now, but it’s not over yet. TC 250K
What was your original post about?
added
Well said!
Okay, thanks, Bye!
Great post. Agree with most of your points. Fact of the matter remains that the system will not change, whether it's for the H1b lottery numbers or the GC queue. Since you're probably relatively new to the country and might've seen a bit of a hype whenever a GC backlog bill arrives, lemme tell you that it has been coming to the lower/upper houses for more than a decade, in some form or the other. Leftists don't care about legal immigration because it doesn't serve their vote bank. Right wingers prefer legal immigration over illegal immigration, but not in the manner of having unlimited immigrants. They *might* increase the cap a little, but the cap will remain. If you're earning the big bucks, you can try for an EB5 which takes <5 years and is the equivalent of keeping your money in a checking account. Due diligence on the project will most likely keep your money safe.
How soon do you need to leave? Also, if you’re on L1 visa it’s worse isnt it?
I just checked my social security that was out up for last 6 years and it’s > 100k USD, out of which I will Not get anything as H1b will not let me use that. We have decided to move back to our country for good rather than sticking here with all types of dramas.
To the dear SDM at Amazon of this guy - has enough time to go over 600+ comments. Time to assign him twice the work or PiP!
Tbh i have given up on ever moving to the US
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Fr bro acts like he’s the first guy not to get a visa.
Lol, I'd choose to stay as a citizen in my homecountry as compared to being an alien(immigrant) in another. It's just about perspective. I'm happy here with my family 🙂