She Played College Tennis, Earned 2 Degrees, Then Lost Her H-1B Job

This as-told-to essay relies on a dialog with Luciana Pereyra, a 25-year-old Peruvian nationwide who moved to the US at 17 on a tennis scholarship, misplaced her H-1B-sponsored job in 2025, and needed to return to Peru. It has been edited for size and readability.

I used to be born and raised in Lima, Peru, and I have been into tennis since I used to be 7, when my dad first took me to a court docket 5 minutes from our home. My mother and father had all the time wished me to play a sport.

I began competing after I was round 11, and by 14, I used to be watching older women from my membership go to the US on tennis scholarships. I wished that, too. An company linked me with US faculty coaches, and I despatched them a video of myself enjoying in tournaments throughout South and Central America.

I selected a faculty within the US primarily based on what it provided.

I moved to the US at 17 on an F-1 scholar visa

I spent my first yr at Center Georgia State College, then transferred to the College of Findlay in Ohio. I performed varsity tennis there for 4 years whereas incomes a Bachelor of Science diploma in enterprise administration.

I graduated in Could 2022 with a 4.0 GPA. As a result of the pandemic gave college athletes an additional yr of NCAA eligibility, which means I might proceed competing, I stayed for an MBA and completed the next yr. My scholarship lined practically every part.

I might already began job searching in October 2022, however I saved getting rejected after answering “sure” to the query about whether or not I might want sponsorship. Ultimately, I acquired a advertising and marketing and communications specialist position at Ohio State’s School of Nursing.

My future boss agreed to carry the provide till July, when my OPT authorization started. About 9 months later, in April 2024, my H-1B approval notice arrived.

The US began to really feel like house

As soon as I had my very own condo in Columbus and was incomes my very own cash, I felt settled. However I by no means totally relaxed into it. I by no means actually adorned my place as a result of I did not understand how lengthy I might get to maintain it.

That stability solely lasted till late 2025, when the School of Nursing restructured. On December 15, HR instructed me my place would finish on January 15. I might have 60 days to find a new sponsor and file a brand new petition, or depart the nation.

The timing made every part worse. Universities had been shutting down for winter break simply as my clock began, so nothing might transfer till mid-January.

I targeted my job search on different universities, hoping they’d be extra open to hiring international workers. One promising interview in Chicago fell aside the day earlier than it was as a consequence of happen, when the recruiter realized I wanted sponsorship and stated the corporate had paused sponsorship altogether.

In February, I acquired shut to a different job alternative at Ohio State. However about two weeks earlier than my deadline to go away the nation, I acquired an electronic mail saying they could not get a visa authorised in time or sponsor the new H-1B fees required beneath my standing.

I headed again to Peru in March

I handled the job search just like the final match of my profession. However by February, the exhaustion caught up with me. I bear in mind crying on the cellphone with my mother, simply wanting it to be over.

A few weeks earlier than I needed to depart, I felt executed, in a approach. I began wanting on the US and simply wished to get out. I felt like every part I might executed — my levels, my grades, all of it — hadn’t mattered or been valued.

In my final days, I needed to break my lease, quit volunteer work translating for households in my group, and pack eight years of my life into two suitcases and a carry-on.

Being again in Peru comes with reverse tradition shock

Over the previous 5 months, I’ve gained one thing I hadn’t felt in years: freedom from having to construction each determination round a visa.

I now cut up my time between freelance advertising and marketing work for a US shopper, teaching tennis, and constructing Casuma, a small enterprise I launched in July that makes flavored cashew butters that mix the American nut-butter custom with Peruvian flavors like lucuma and cacao. I’ve trademarked the title and bought near 50 jars to this point.

It is also been nice reconnecting with my household since I have been again — together with my two youthful brothers.

I visited the US once more for a marriage in July and liked seeing everybody, however I would not transfer again proper now. If I ever move abroad again, it will not be on a piece visa. I’ve already lived three years in that form of survival mode, the place dropping a job means dropping your own home, too. It might want to return with an actual path to everlasting residency.

Finding out and dealing within the US was price it, particularly for the English-language and cultural expertise. However my recommendation can be to deal with it as a season, not one thing everlasting.

I assumed my US degrees and job experience would open each door, but it surely’s been tougher than anticipated. And with out making an attempt to get political, there is a narrative that immigrants take American jobs. In my expertise, I needed to show myself again and again simply to get a foot within the door. It is not so simple as individuals assume.

Enterprise Insider confirmed she was employed by Ohio State’s School of Nursing. Ohio State declined to reply to a request for remark.