But once we make that decision we all know there is no turning back. Once we make up our minds, we work as hard as we can to learn the language, meet people, learn the customs and culture, try to find a job and, of course, study religiously.
Now, what happens after graduation? International students have a few options that will elongate their time in the United States:
- Work using a OPT permit (only from one to two years).
- Start a masters, a doctorate or another major.
- Get married to an American citizen.
- Apply for a work visa after their OPT period.
Sounds easy right? Well, not so much.
OPT only gives international students a one-to-two years opportunity to stay here. A big problem with this case is that a lot of companies take advantage of the fact they need the job to be able to stay here, so they decide to either have them as a volunteer so they work for free, or they just pay them the minimum wage.
To continue their education is probably the safest option they have, but is also the most expensive. The average cost of a graduate program a year in the United States is around $31,000 a year.
Getting married to an american citizen just to obtain a citizenship not only challenges most people's believes and religions, but is also unfair that they would have to sacrifice such an important moment of their life just to be able to stay here in this country.
Now the good part; the option most international students aim for: WORK VISAS - Not only they are extremely hard to get, unless you're a doctor or an engineer, but the government keeps giving the same amount of work visas and the applications are getting significantly bigger each year. Last year the government received 129,000 H-1B visa applications, when they only gave 65,000 plus 20,000 visas that are awarded for those with a master's degree or higher degrees by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Before sharing my story I want to recognize that my experiences may differ from others’, and that my perspective on this issue is unique and bold – like my personality. Thus, when thinking of ways to protest against the American immigration system, I employed a very distinct method.
I have been taught that education is based on a meritocracy system where effort, talent, and skills are rewarded. Thus, I have spent much of time trying to excel in all realms of my professional and personal life in order to achieve my dream to become a policy maker in education. I did it all. From holding positions in the executive boards of organizations, working multiple jobs to cover my personal expenses, taking upon research projects in fields foreign to me (i.e. engineering), and receiving several recognitions and honors, I can say I have made the best out of my undergraduate experience – or at least I thought I did.
Five weeks my graduation, I realized that I had no plans for my summer, no job lined up and no viable way to attend graduate school. Although I have been admitted to very competitive programs for both masters and doctorates, I am unable to pay the high costs of an American education. Plus, my status as an international student does not allow me to take federal aid, bank loans, and apply to most scholarships in the market. Consequently, I have had to rethink my whole life plan and settle with the uncertainty of not knowing where I will live and what I will do with my future. My sand clock of stability is running out.
One night I was sharing my story with a friend. Through critical questions and analysis we reached the conclusion that the only “secure” option in order for me to get the resources I need is through becoming a US citizen. Becoming a US citizen is not something I aspire to be. However, as a protest to the unfairness of the immigration system and to raise awareness of what I have been going through we decided to stage an engagement through Facebook (just a note: engagement and marriage are not my cup of tea).
In order to increase the tension and attention to the photo I did not address any comments about it until Monday morning, and over the weekend went out sporting a fake promise ring and posing with my “fiancée” at different social events. It is important to note that my parents and family were not also sure of what was happening, and regardless of their attempts I did not pick up their calls nor reply to their messages.
Monday morning I published a post where I explained the reasons why I posted the photo. The following is a summary of some of the most relevant points of the statement:
“Did I get engage? Yes. Will I get married? No.
If you really care, you will read until the end and give me the opportunity to explain myself (…) My case is not foreign to my peers, as for the past four years I have seen how the most successful international students of every graduating class in American colleges reach this point. Regardless of your credentials, awards, recognitions, and skills the immigration institutions and laws (aka the system) have not been put in place for one’s success after college (…) Staying in the US is definitely not the only option for my future, but in order to restart my life anywhere I need a financial stability that I don’t count with at the moment (…) There is no space for mediocrity for international students who aspire to continue their lives as immigrants in the U.S. You find yourself in continuous pressure to perform highly as the system will bail out those who don’t meet the standard. However, with the last reforms it is all seems to be more a chance of luck, so may the odds be in our favor.”
I then proceeded to describe how my friend and I came up with the idea, and that the engagement was façade. As I described in my statement “the point of this post is giving you an example of how messed up the system is, and how it affects the life of individuals who, like me, you care about.”
I know this post did not change immigration laws or the conditions I am going through. However, after the post, I received many messages from peers sharing their stories who are currently in similar conditions, whose families had to go through tough immigration processes, or who the system bailed out of the country due to unspoken unfairness.
Some of you may be thinking that I took it too far to just make a point, but you must admit that it was a very efficient medium to expose my case. I now leave you with the last sentence of my post: “I don’t expect you to agree with me, but I do expect you to try to be in my shoes and understand that my experience can differ from yours.”
Sources:
http://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/temporary-workers/h-1b-specialty-occupations-and-fashion-models/h-1b-fiscal-year-fy-2015-cap-season
http://deafworldsign.com/world-travel/
http://www.chelejewelry.com/engagement-rings-in-black-box/engagement-rings-in-black-box-usbwkwf/