Living On a Borrowed Time. What People Never Know With a Non-Immigrant US Visa.

Are you planning to go to the US as a trainee, intern or as a student? Some of you might even already be here! (Congrats for making it!). Whether you are a future, present, past US Non-Immigrant visa holder or just curious to learn more about how it feels like to live on a borrowed time in the US, this article will resonate with you.

Many of us go through an emotional rollercoaster to obtain a US visa. I mean… How can we not remember that instant relief when we see the “visa issued” status on the US immigration office website?

Yet, a flip side comes a few times after that first excitement: how to handle the end of this US journey? What if you want to stay and you can’t?

Whether you are here for a couple of months up to a few years, you have to accept that you are borrowing a life with an expiry date. You have to be ready to give up your habits, friends, environment… almost everything you are building in the US at the end of your visa period.

And yes, we fight to find a solution to stay and convert a temporary visa into a more “permanent” one, but the truth is only a few of us make it happen. This thought tends to consume us as we go through this US journey, to the point of creating anxiety as we are reaching the end.

But it shouldn’t!

I have personally started a 1,5 year US journey two months ago. As a respectful fore-thinker, I have been wondering how to make the most of this journey without focusing too much on the end.

Bear with me as I’m about to share 4 tips to help you see the glass half full and enjoy your time without being (too) disheartened.

1. Focus on making some new memories

To be clear, I’m not teaching you anything here but it is good to remind ourselves of that first excitement we get when we start a new adventure: New people to meet, food to taste, places to discover and memories to create.

You must never forget that this is an incredible opportunity. A lot of people would kill to get the same experience! Consider this opportunity as a break in your life in a foreign country where you can explore a lot of places you haven’t been to before and create relationships that will be life-lasting!

2. Focus on your personal development

The thought of returning home when the visa expires can be tough to live with. But if you twist it around, borrowing a life for 1,5 years in a completely different environment is a great chance to start over and challenge/Explore some aspects of your personality you have never explored before!

For instance, if you are known as a rather introvert person in your home country among your friends and network, try to be more open in the US with people and see what happens. It is a great chance to work on yourself, grasp it!

3. Focus on the professional skills you want to acquire

Instead of setting up a goal such as “finding a host company to sponsor your long term visa” or “getting a green card by getting married in Las Vegas”, focus on the skills you want to acquire. You will be able to reuse it anywhere.

You might not pay attention, but when you are working abroad, you learn new skills faster. You get excited and curious to discover a new environment, culture, country, and people. All these positives vibes enable your mind to take on new learnings easily.

E.g: “I want to know how to adapt a product pitch to fit the US market”. I can then reuse that knowhow in some other experiences.

4. Have faith

This is the hardest part. No matter how much you work on yourself, you can never shut your inner voice down, and you shouldn’t.

Let’s be realistic, if you really want to stay in the US, you will try everything to be able to stay. Now, for the sake of your own wellbeing, you should try to keep that desire somewhere within yourself and control it so it doesn’t control you (Easier said than done…).

Sometimes, I like to believe that if it is meant to happen, it will happen. There are several ways to increase your odds: networking, anticipation with your company, interviews… but in that new visa quest, make sure to give yourself time to enjoy the present and not let stress overwhelming you.

The good news is: some people manage to come back to the US with another type of visa, so it is possible!

Overall, let’s remind ourselves that this journey is a fantastic opportunity! No matter what happens in the end, you’ll have gained something that can never be taken away from you: memories and experience.

That’s it for my first article guys, hope it can help some of you to see the adventure differently. Please do not hesitate to leave comments, happy to get your thoughts on this point.

Stay tuned for the next one.

Best,

Tiph