After 14 years of navigating the complexities of the American visa system, Indian researcher Rajavasanth Rajasegar has finally secured permanent residency in the United States.

In a reflective LinkedIn post, Rajasegar detailed the hurdles, milestones, and support that shaped his path from arriving in August 2011 on an F-1 visa for a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to becoming a tenure-track faculty member at the Colorado School of Mines in 2024.

His journey included F-1 renewals, OPT with STEM extension, a cap-gap exempt H-1B during the pandemic, and eventually an EB1A green card application. Despite significant institutional backing — including fully funded graduate education at UIUC and postdoctoral training at Sandia National Laborat

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