Growing up in New Delhi, we had a little Statue of Liberty souvenir on display in our home. My father saved for years so I could study in America<\/a>.<\/p>\n After completing my bachelor’s degree in India, I moved to Illinois in 2022 to pursue a master’s in biotechnology at Northwestern University.<\/p>\n This is part of our ongoing coverage of how the Trump administration’s H-1B visa changes<\/strong> affect workers. If you’ve been impacted and want to share your story, please fill out this short form<\/a> for the reporter.<\/p>\n I graduated in 2024 and worked in the US until I abruptly lost my job<\/a> and had to leave the country.<\/p>\n Living it up in Chicago<\/p>\n Joshi graduated from Northwestern University and worked as a bioprocess engineer in Chicago for a year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ananya Joshi<\/p>\n In college, I started working for a startup developing lab-grown meat.<\/a> It was part of a six-month research program. The internship led to a full-time job offer, paying about $75,000 a year. I worked on an F-1 OPT visa.<\/p>\n I was working as a bioprocess scientist, helping develop methods to scale up cultivated meat production.<\/p>\n My job was busy; I often worked seven-day weeks, but I got a kick out of doing innovative things and learning every day, so I didn’t mind the hustle.<\/p>\n Living in Chicago<\/a> came with perks, including inexpensive rent. I paid $1,500 a month for an apartment in Evanston, about 20 minutes from downtown Chicago. I was able to keep my expenses below $2,000. I was traveling, going on road trips, and living it up.<\/p>\n Then came the visa problems. My company, which had initially promised to help me apply for an H-1B visa<\/a>, realized it couldn’t keep the <\/strong>promise. The company said it couldn’t complete E-Verify, the federal employment verification system.<\/p>\n My OPT was about to expire in July 2025, and I wasn’t able to devote time to job hunting <\/a>because of my heavy workload.<\/p>\n In May 2025, I told the company I would like to resign or work part-time because I need those last two months to figure things out.<\/p>\n I got let go the next day.<\/p>\n Saying goodbye to the US<\/p>\n Joshi started applying for positions all around the world after she was let go from her job.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ananya Joshi<\/p>\n I started applying for jobs in cities around the world, focusing mostly on the US but also in Europe, Canada, and Australia.<\/p>\n Even after getting about 20 interviews<\/a> and making it to the fourth round multiple times, I was still not getting a job. This took place between May and July 2025, when immigration turbulence was starting to rise in the US.<\/p>\n I got two job offers, one from a company in Germany and the other from Canada. People around me spoke highly about the stability of Germany and all its labor laws, and having gone through so much, I realized I needed that stability.<\/p>\n So, in January this year, I moved to Rostock, a small city about three hours north of Berlin, to work at another lab-grown meat startup.<\/p>\n I’ve had to get used to a new work culture<\/a>. The company has ambitious goals, but the research and development process is more bureaucratic than what I found in the US.<\/p>\n Adjusting to small-town life<\/p>\n Life in Germany has come with several lifestyle changes for Joshi.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ananya Joshi<\/p>\n In both New Delhi and Chicago, life never seemed to slow down. So adjusting to life in a small city has been difficult.<\/p>\n Rostock is much cleaner, feels safer, and has walkable streets. I don’t take that for granted. There’s a beautiful beach and a jungle trail that leads to it.<\/p>\n But it’s a small place, and there’s not that much to do. The language barrier<\/a> is a problem too; English is spoken at work, but it’s all in German outside. I’ve started taking German classes.<\/p>\n It’s also not the best place for connectivity. The nearest airports are Hamburg and Berlin, both more than three hours away. As an immigrant, being able to travel easily matters a lot to me, especially if I need to fly out quickly.<\/p>\n Joshi has been in a long-distance relationship with her boyfriend Ishan.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ananya Joshi<\/p>\n Right before I lost my previous job, I had started dating my now-boyfriend, Ishan.<\/p>\n Now we’re in a long-distance relationship<\/a> between the US and Germany, and I’ve flown back once to visit him. He can’t leave the US right now because, although he was selected for an H-1B visa, he hasn’t been able to secure a visa stamping appointment at a US consulate in India.<\/p>\n Not sure what the future holds<\/p>\n I’m super confused because I’d really like to go back to the US, but I can’t forget what I went through. It doesn’t feel smart to move back until things look more promising.<\/p>\n I miss the environment the US provides, fast-paced, where people tell you that anything is possible. I’ve seen the job opportunities and the investments in my field, and it makes me wish I could return.<\/p>\n When I was in the US, I planned to follow the set path: work on an H-1B visa<\/a>, then apply for my green card. I’m seeing a different way of life. It has made me more open-minded toward other possibilities.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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