Our Story
Green card- a dream that many Immigrants talk and think about constantly. Living away from home and trying to build our lives in the US, we often lack the basic element needed - stability.
Unfortunately, it is a distant dream for many of us due to very long wait times. We were in the same boat of agony and discussing this pain with our friends in almost all social gatherings over the last 10 years of being in this country. The constant fear of having to suddenly leave this country, to not having the visa approved, to not change jobs due to a threat of an RFE are stresses we dealt with every day. COVID exaggerated the situation further by not being able to travel outside the country and not getting visa appointments.
Unfortunate, but what options did we have? These were all the options we explored, each more unattractive than the other:
Stick with the status quo for the next 15-20 ish years, keep renewing H1B, hope that we'll always stay employed, and be ready to pack up and leave if we lose our jobs.
Move abroad for a couple of years and try to come back on an L1.
Put in at least $850,000 for EB5
Leave the country altogether and start afresh somewhere else in the world.
Aim for an EB1.
Everything in the above list asks for a serious, life changing compromise - you either lose multiple years of career progression and relationships, or most of your life savings. The only exception is the last one in this list, for which chances are very low yet non-zero.
Being working professionals with no research papers or national/ international awards, we had little hope that this process would work for us. After multiple failed calls with lawyers and having spent thousands of dollars over months and months of exploring options, we were lucky to have stumbled upon someone who could help us. The process was intense, nerve-wracking and full of uncertainty. We had to stay resilient and had to dig deep to provide all the evidence needed to push ourselves over the line.
We finally got our application approved! Our sense of relief was so profound that it's hard to put into words how we felt at the moment. After living in the USA for a significant time of our adult life (10 years now), we can finally call it our home.