An Indian-origin software engineer at Microsoft has captured widespread attention online after sharing her long and emotionally taxing journey to securing a U.S. Green Card, following seven consecutive rejections under the H-1B visa lottery system.
The engineer, Aishani B., revealed that from 2019 to 2025 she applied every year for the H-1B visa but was never selected. What began as a single disappointment slowly turned into what she described as a “quiet erosion of certainty,” as repeated setbacks raised questions about her future and self-worth.
A Green Card — formally known as the U.S. Permanent Resident Card — allows individuals to live and work in the United States indefinitely, unlike temporary work visas that are subject to lotteries, renewals and uncertainty.
Faced with ongoing rejections, Aishani adapted her path. In 2022, she moved to Canada to continue working while her employer kept applying on her behalf. A year later, she returned to the U.S. on an L-1 visa, keeping her career trajectory intact despite immigration challenges.
Her breakthrough came in 2025 when she secured permanent residency through the EB-1 visa category — often informally referred to as the “Einstein Visa” — which is reserved for individuals demonstrating exceptional professional achievements.
Reflecting on her journey, Aishani said the process was less about single moments of failure and more about enduring uncertainty over time. She emphasized that resilience, rather than immediate success, defined her experience.
Her message resonated strongly across social media, with many professionals — particularly immigrants — relating to the emotional strain of visa rejections and career instability. Her story has since become a powerful reminder that setbacks do not necessarily signal the end of a path, but sometimes a redirection.
In her closing remarks, she encouraged others not to measure their journeys by the number of rejections, but by the growth and progress made along the way — a message that has struck a chord with thousands navigating similar challenges worldwide.