This as-told-to essay relies on a dialog with Mohamed Zeeshan, 32, an Indian nationwide and inexperienced card holder, who lives in Arlington, Virginia. The next has been edited for size and readability.
My mother and father are each Indian. I used to be born in Indonesia as a result of my father’s job took him there, however we moved back to India after I was 7. In Indonesia, everybody knew me because the Indian child, and in India, everybody knew me as the child from Indonesia.
Since I would spent my adolescence as a foreigner, I developed an curiosity in worldwide affairs. That led me to the US, the place I pursued a grasp’s within the discipline at Columbia in 2016.
The US drew me as a result of I used to be enamored by Ivy League universities. I used to be additionally an enormous fan of President Barack Obama, who I associated to as a result of he grew up in Indonesia and has spoken publicly about his identification throughout completely different cultures.
Courtesy of Mohamed Zeeshan
My household was apprehensive about my determination. I come from a household of engineers, docs, bankers, and legal professionals, and an schooling in worldwide affairs was seen as international and unconventional, however we struck a cut price; I might do it if I secured some tuition help.
I graduated from Columbia in 2018 and secured a green card in 2023. I am patriotic about American values and wish to develop into a US citizen. Just lately, I’ve grown involved that it is turning into more and more unsure and unpredictable for immigrants to construct a life right here.
My path to a inexperienced card wasn’t linear
I needed to remain within the US after graduating and discover a job utilizing my Non-compulsory Sensible Coaching (OPT), a piece authorization for worldwide college students.
After the 2016 election, adjustments to rhetoric round immigration insurance policies created uncertainty. I felt that employers had been unwilling to take a threat on a global scholar like me. As an alternative of counting on the OPT-to-H-1B pathway, as many college students do, I left the US and went to the Center East to work for a administration consulting agency.
A number of years later, in 2021, I pursued another pathway to the US: self-petitioning for a inexperienced card from overseas.
I needed to submit intensive proof exhibiting that my work was within the nationwide curiosity. My background in analysis and my work in public-interest points helped me construct a powerful portfolio.
I acquired it in 2023, and not wanted a visa or employer sponsorship to work within the US. As we speak, my spouse and I lease an residence in Arlington, Virginia. Our household life is unconventional by Indian requirements, since {couples} are anticipated to have youngsters instantly after marriage, and we’ve not but.
We’re holding off as a result of my spouse remains to be ready for her inexperienced card, and we need to reduce uncertainty about her state of affairs earlier than having youngsters.
I used to be drawn to America for its values, however as we speak’s uncertainty is regarding
Financial upliftment wasn’t the rationale I moved to the US. Once I lived in Dubai, I paid no revenue tax, and earned extra there than I did after I acquired my inexperienced card and first job within the US.
Courtesy of Mohamed Zeeshan
As an alternative, I used to be drawn to American beliefs of free speech — the flexibility to put in writing and communicate freely about points, even when they’re controversial. India is a democracy, but it surely has a Hindu majority, and I am Muslim.
I’ve written a e book about India as an rising energy, and I care about enhancing policymaking there, however I’ve felt individuals have hated me for critiquing India’s policymaking in my writing.
In 2025, I began my very own consulting agency. Within the US, I really feel like I can pursue my entrepreneurial ambitions with much less bureaucratic regulation.
I believe social and cultural causes are a giant a part of why individuals nonetheless need to transfer to the US. My feminine associates from India have informed me the US affords extra freedom to construct the careers and lives they need.
That stated, I am now additionally seeing family and associates have a look at different choices like Germany and Australia as a result of it is develop into troublesome to land a job and a visa within the US after graduating.
The H-1B temporary work visa was already an unsure and inefficient route after I was graduating. Your visa is tied to an employer who can hearth you at any time, and dropping your job makes you susceptible to having to depart the nation. You are at all times on edge.
Current immigration adjustments, just like the introduction of a $100,000 H-1B fee that was later struck down by a federal choose however stays tied up in courtroom, have added to the uncertainty.
I attempt to inform different folks that they do have choices exterior of the H-1B pathway, just like the EB-1A visa for “extraordinary” people. That stated, even these petitions appear tougher to get, with data showing that EB-1A denial charges are rising.
I would not come to the US on an H-1B as we speak
Courtesy of Mohamed Zeeshan
I intend to naturalize and develop into a US citizen, until one thing makes that troublesome. We will not say what rule adjustments would possibly occur.
I got here to the US as a everlasting resident, but when I needed to depend on an H-1B visa to return right here as we speak, I do not suppose I would do it.
