Tag: after

How a startup founder was tortured by the US H1-B visa process after graduating from an Ivy League college

Taher Baderkhan

Let’s say you are a super smart kid living overseas and you get accepted into an Ivy League school in the United States. You’re ready to move to the US to go to college and then you want to start your own US company. That’s the American Dream.

That’s also job creation. The stats are clear that this nation of immigrants is still heavily powered by the newcomers, according to the Kauffman Group.

Unfortunately for the immigrants, the process is full of “pain and tears,” one tech startup founder who’s been through it told us.

And it can leave workers vulnerable to an almost indentured-servant situation with their employers.

This is Taher Baderkhan’s story 

Baderkhan is the CTO cofounder of a startup called YouVisit, a New York virtual reality company founded by three immigrants. Today it employees 85 people, Baderkhan tells us, and it’s never taken VC money – meaning it is supporting itself on its own profits, he says. 

But it wouldn’t have happened if Baderkhan didn’t fall in love with a US citizen in college, a girlfriend who then patiently waited almost 10 years for him to hit his head against the green-card wall.

Get laid off, get deported

Baderkhan came to the US in 1999 when he was 18 years old to study at Brandeis University on a full-ride academic scholership. He’s from Jordon, a country known as one of the US’s strongest allies in the Middle East. He came from a well-to-do family: his mom a teacher, his dad an executive for a mining company, and his parents still live in Jordan. 

YouVisit FoundersAfter school, he landed a job at the Boston company where he was an intern. They agreed to sponsor his H-1B visa. 

“I was so excited about being in the US, working, contributing,” he says. “This is a place where you can make dreams happen.”

But on his first day as a full-time employee, they laid off a third of the company. They kept him and told him, with everyone else gone, congrats, he’d been promoted to the head of the department.

“That scared me,” he says, not of the responsibility but of the company’s financial shape. “If I get laid off, there’s no one to sponsor me.”

If a H-1B visa holder loses their job, the person must land another job within a few weeks with a company willing to sponsor the visa. If not, the person is sent home.

“So anyone migrating to the US, studying here and working with an H-1B visa, it’s always at the back of your mind, that you could at any second be deported,” he says.

Fortunately, he landed another job at Accenture in New York, a company also willing to sponsor his visa. He stayed there for seven years.

All work, no life

About four years into his work at Accenture, he and two of his college buddies had an idea for their own company, YouVisit, making and hosting “virtual reality” content for businesses and organizations.

YouVisit Taher BaderkhanYouVisit creates content like virtual college tours, or virtual travel destination tours. It also does real estate and events.

The content can be viewed with a virtual reality headset like an Oculus Rift, or on a regular website, letting you look 360 degrees by moving your mouse around. 

The problem was, he couldn’t leave the day job at Accenture. Not only did the company have to sponsor his visa, but it also had to sponsor his application for permanent residency, “the green card.” That’s a process that takes years, he says.

And he needed the green card before he could apply for citizenship.

All three of YouVisit’s cofounders are immigrants. CEO Abi Mandelbaum is from Columbia and CTO Endri Tolka from Albanai, but the two had already obtained their green cards.

And yet his own company still couldn’t sponsor him, even as it started making money and hiring people. To be a self-employed sponsor requires investing a half a million into a company, Baderkhan says. In its early years, the young company wasn’t making enough profits to quality for that.

So for two years, he did both, maintaining his day job working 10 hours a day at Accenture, and then working until 4 a.m. on his company, plus working weekends, he says.

There was one other way out: Get married. He and his girlfriend had been together nine years by then, he says. 

“I’m a stubborn person. I didn’t want to get my green card through marriage. I wanted to prove to myself I could get it on my own,” he tells us.

And then things got rocky because he was working two jobs.

“During those years where I was working those hours and not sleeping, my relationships almost got ruined,” He says. “Not only with my wife (girlfriend at the time) but with my friends. Basically I had no life,” he says.

She made it clear she wasn’t going to wait forever. “I had no choice,” he said. “We were in love. I got married.” 

YouVisit employees

Couldn’t see his family

There was one other hardship during those H-1B visa years.

He couldn’t go home to visit his aging parents because the visa he had would not have allowed him back in the country. 

“Because I’m an Arab from a Muslim country and I was 28, the prime age, they needed to do a security clearance,” he says.

The clearance is done at an embassay after you leave the country, and, at best, it would take a few weeks. But it’s risky. If anything is flagged, a mistake gets made, if his name was similar to a known terrorist, the security clearance could take six months to a year. He’d be stuck out of the country, lose his job, lose his visa, and not be able to return at all.

Taher Baderkhan“I didn’t go back to Jordan for six years. I didn’t see my relatives. I didn’t see relatives before they passed away. That was difficult,” he says. 

Once he was married, he got his green card quickly. He immediately quit his day job.

And his business took off, he says.

The company went from 11 employees in its first two years to 85 today. It currently has over 500 customers, including the US Army, Harvard, Yale, Carnival cruises, big real estate companies, entertainment brands, concerts and so on, he says.

Within three years of gaining permanent residency, he became a US citizen.

“I love being in the US. When they say the US is the land of the American Dream, I truly believe in it. If you are smart, if you are talented, if you work hard, you can be anyone you want. And no one will judge you. People will applaud. They will cheer you on, help you get there,” he says.

Now he and his cofounders are paying it forward. “We hire talent. If we find the right talent who needs a sponsor, I’m happy to sponsor, not just for an H-1B visa but for a green card, right away. If the person wants to be in the US and contribute, I feel that’s my duty,” he says.

SEE ALSO: How a startup founder was tortured by the US H1-B process after graduating from an Ivy League college

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A dermatologist reveals how she takes care of her own skin

Read More

After 20 years in corporate America, this 47-year-old ditched his suit for painting, building, and sailing around the world

dan givens 2

Two decades in the corporate world was enough for 47-year-old Dan Givens.

In April 2015, he quit his job as the head of financial planning and analysis for OpenTable, rented his house in San Francisco, and set off for the coast of southern Chile.

“I got tired of working so hard for corporate America and longed for work that was more impactful to others and more meaningful to me,” he tells Business Insider. “I decided to take time off from the working world to explore the ‘actual’ world. I didn’t have a formal plan, but I figured this was as good a time as any to do something radical. I was single and I had a few passions that I wanted to explore: sailing, travel, photography, and helping others.”

Since trading in his home and career for a backpack, camera, and life on the road, he has spent time in Chile, Germany, and Thailand, volunteering for “host families” in exchange for room and board.

We spoke to Givens about his new lifestyle: what it looks like, the reality of living and working abroad, and how he’s affording it.

SEE ALSO: One couple quit their jobs to build a new life traveling the US in a 98-square-foot tiny home

“The thought of building a career and lifestyle around travel has been percolating in the back of my mind for as long as I can remember,” he says.

He pulled the trigger in April 2015, when he quit his job and spent the next couple of months preparing for a new life on the road. He packed up his home and made it “rental ready,” set up his website, Dannyboy Travels, finished his sailing certifications, and looked up visa requirements in various countries.

Having worked full-time for the past 20 years while supporting only himself, Givens had a substantial savings built up, despite living in the pricey Bay Area. He was able to save about a year’s worth of after-tax salary to spend on the road. He also built a financial plan before jet-setting, factoring in expenses, income, investment return, and tax rate.

His adventure officially began August 25, 2015, when he set off for Tenglo Island, off the coast of southern Chile, where he would do volunteer work for three families.

He finds his hosts through internet bulletin boards, such as Help-X, World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF), and Find a Crew. In exchange for labor, he gets a roof to sleep under and at least one meal a day.

The work is usually physical — in Chile, he pruned apple trees, painted houses, and cleaned sailboats — but he’s also taught English and done some web and multimedia work. While his schedule varies depending on the type of work, his host, and the weather, he spends about four to five hours a day doing volunteer work, Monday through Friday.

“I like the variety of the work, the physical nature of the work, and the impact of the work,” Givens says. “I like the fresh air, fresh faces, and fresh perspective on life.”

The duration of his stays varies. There is no contract, so he can stay as long or as short as he wants.

After a month in Chile, he returned to San Francisco to regroup for a few days before heading to Germany to spend time with friends. In late October, he bought a one-way ticket to Thailand, where he would spend the next three months helping a family run a resort, which consisted of 15 bungalows and a restaurant.

“I helped install outdoor lighting and walkways, prepared the foundation for a beach bar, and painted the buildings,” he explains. “I also built a spreadsheet for them to manage their bookings online, instead of using pen and paper. Lastly, I implemented a set of procedures for cleaning rooms and public areas.”

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Read More

24 people who became highly successful after age 40

For the more neurotic among us, a birthday can be a reminder of how another year has passed and our loftiest aspirations have faded further into the distance.
There are plenty of examples, however, of successful people across m…

Read More

023: How to Get A Job After College

Grant Cardone, NY Times bestselling author, self made multimillionaire entrepreneur, international sales master and motivator in business and life, along with his Vice President of Sales and protégé Gland offers insights and advice each week on Young Hustlers, a webcast that helps Millennials ages 18-33, to better their careers, businesses and finances so they can create true freedom in their lives. In this episode, Grant and Jarrod offer tips for graduating millennials who will begin their job search. They advise millennials to make a list of people, not companies, but people that they want to work for and then research how to get to them. They then must do whatever it takes to make that connection. Grant and Jarrod also explain that although companies are hiring, traditional salaried positions will not provide the income necessary to pay down college loans and provide enough cash flow allowing for true freedom. Jarrod shares the top 5 majors getting jobs in this economy but stresses the importance of understanding what you’re interested in an good at to earn a living. Grant explains that the traditional method of job searching must be abandoned in favor of a more direct approach that gets you to decision makers truly in the position to hire you. More insights on job hunting, business mistakes, and tips are given in this weeks episode. Important Links & Resources For More Information Grant’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrantCardone Jarrod’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/JarrodGlandt Grant’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cardonesuccess Main Website: http://www.grantcardone.com Sign up for your free weekly strategy from Grant: http://www.grantcardone.com/cardone-success/ Interested in having Grant speak at your organization? Email: [email protected] Links & Info: Forbes Magazine: http://www.forbes.com/search/?q=degrees+that+get+you+hired We want to hear from you!Did this episode give you any insight or some ideas you can apply to your business and life? What is your next step? Comment below. We read them all. If you have a topic you would like for Grant and Jarrod to explore, send an email to [email protected] We welcome your ideas! Young Hustlers airs weekly at 1PM EST on: http://young-hustlers.com/ The Show Hotline direct to Grant Cardone and Jarrod Glandt is: 305-865-8668

Read More
Loading