Welcome to the bullshit – part 2
For any international student who is not planning on returning to their host nation, nor or they planning on continuing into grad school, barriers to the future begin to start popping up in the brain. Me, very comfortable here in Charlotte, with my friends, my girlfriend, and a nice lifestyle, have no real desire to leave just yet. As early as my junior year, I would have struggles sleeping some nights thinking about what was going to happen and what the future may hold.
So let me quickly try and explain the post graduate rules to staying in the country.
Apply for post-graduation visa 90 days prior to graduation.
Begin to look for job. Job MUST be in a field related to your major/degree.
The length of that visa is a maximum of 1 year.
After which the company must then sponsor you to obtain your H1-B visa.
So, if you can’t already begin to see the issues, let me enlighten you.
Most students are concentrated on graduating prior to graduation rather than looking for a job.
How many people do you know are working in a job not related to their major in any way straight after college?
The visa is only 1 year. ONE YEAR. Employers don’t want to hire some foreign kid who they have to waste time, money, and training, who then potentially is going to leave after a year.
IT COSTS CASH TO SPONSOR. Employers don’t want to spend a ton of cash on some fresh-out-of-college foreigner, when they can just pick up an American for no additional fees.
So how did I do it. Well, firstly, with me being pushed on credits, I opted to take my final class over the summer, still allowing me to walk, but also giving me that three months solely to focus on getting a job. I started off by not being picky; I was applying for all kinds of jobs that had any kind of relation to business doing tons and tons of interviews, always coming across the same issue of being international and that they don’t hire us. Which quite frankly makes sense in a lot of cases. As a business owner, why spend the extra cash? However, don’t be discouraged, once you’ve accepted 'NO' as a formality, keep it moving. Then, mid-summer I started to focus more on sales jobs, as it was already something I wanted to do but now I thought I would throw myself all the way in getting a job in that industry. One of the big reasons being that there really isn’t any other industry where straight out of college you can move into a job and show your worth immediately; numbers don’t lie! So, I figured if I'm able to build enough value to a company in that year, maybe they will find it worth their while to sponsor me. And, like finding a needle in a hay stack toward the end of the summer, one interview that a recruiter sent me to, and I didn’t get due to my situation, was then explained to another company of the recruiter's clients who said they would be interested, and after a quite strung-out interview process, I got the job!
You haven’t made it yet
So sick I’ve got a job. Now, I need a car for work, but there is no way I can get reasonable finance or insurance for a car without a co-signer and credit. Praise the lord for my girlfriend's mum, she was able to help me get the car and work out a personal arrangement in paying it off. Oh, and by the way, I live in a house with four girls. Don’t get me wrong, it’s worked out really really well. But, I wasn’t able to sign a lease because with the uncertainty of my future and funds, I wasn’t able to commit to 12 months lease, so I live with my girlfriend, her cousin, and two other girls from school.
So we’ve pretty much got to where I am at now. I’m still in America. I’m going into my fifth month with that job, and it’s going really well so far I’d say. The sponsorship issue is not being tackled yet, I'm putting it off till after Christmas time, wish me luck...here are some quick facts. There are 65,000 visas available with 20,000 additional going to students with masters degree. the application process starts April 1st and usually has over a 100,000 applicants in the first week... So, even if I do get sponsored it's not a guarentee I will get a visa -.-
Everything being said, this is my story condensed down to the most simplistic form I could achieve. I think it’s important to understand what your neighbours are going through, and just to be more culturally aware of the issues that others face. I find it sad that so many internationals are forced to go home, or prematurely get married...yes I said get married all for the sake of just wanting to stay in the country in which they have began to build a life around.
I wouldn’t change anything that has happened to me. I believe everything happens for a reason, and that I am blessed beyond my lifetime to be in the position that I am in. I don’t know what the future holds for me, but whatever it is, I’m sure I’ll be ok. As you know I’ve always considered myself to be living eazy so I hope you do the same!
To read the full story, search for Coming to America - Part 1 in the life section.
Thanks for reading!
- Ryan Ejezie