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Марія БровінськаWork
25 September 2025, 08:20
2025-09-25
"It was like playing slots in Vegas: sometimes someone wins, but most don't." Indian engineer in US denied H-1B visa three times, but gets 'Einstein visa' thanks to AI work
Tanush Sharanarthi, 26, from Bangalore, India, tried for three years to win an H-1B visa, which allows foreign professionals to work in the United States. But the lottery system was against him every time. Instead, his six years of experience in artificial intelligence helped him get a completely different visa — the O-1, also known as the «Einstein visa,» or talent visa.
Tanush Sharanarthi, 26, from Bangalore, India, tried for three years to win an H-1B visa, which allows foreign professionals to work in the United States. But the lottery system was against him every time. Instead, his six years of experience in artificial intelligence helped him get a completely different visa — the O-1, also known as the «Einstein visa,» or talent visa.
Context
Trump has imposed a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa applications for skilled workers. The move disproportionately affects Indians, who make up two-thirds of the recipients of such visas. The new policy threatens India’s $280 billion annual technology services industry and thousands of jobs.
H-1B is like slots in Vegas
Tanush works at IBM as a software engineer. The company has been applying for H-1B for him for three years in a row, but to no avail. «This system is not about merit, it’s about chance. Every year there are tens of thousands of applications in the pool, and about 85,000 are selected. There are another 20,000 places for masters, but the chances are still small. It’s like playing slots in Vegas: sometimes someone wins, but most don’t,» he was quoted as saying by Business Insider.
After his first «flight,» he learned from colleagues about an alternative — the O-1 visa for people with «extraordinary abilities.»
How to get an O-1
To qualify for an O-1, you must meet at least three of the eight criteria. Tanush realized that he already had:
published scientific papers on AI;
experience in judging hackathons;
reviewing conference papers;
«I was doing this anyway, without thinking about the visa. But it turned out that my work fits perfectly into the O-1 requirements,» he noted.
The path to the «Einstein visa»
Tanush is originally from Bangalore. He came to the US to study at Johns Hopkins University, where he earned a master’s degree in information systems and AI. After that, he worked on an F-1 student visa and then on OPT, which gave him three years of legal work in the US. He spent this time at IBM and simultaneously applied for H-1B three times.
When it came time to apply for the O-1, he took advantage of «premium processing.» «Every night I would log in to check my status. On the twelfth business day, I would see ‘Approved.’ It felt like I was playing in Vegas again, but this time I won.»
«Don’t do it just for the visa»
The O-1 visa is sometimes called the «Einstein visa» — it requires real achievements. For Tanush, it was six years of work: from Kimberly-Clark to IBM, from scientific publications to open-source.
«If you are focused on your field and are truly passionate about it, you will gradually accumulate the necessary criteria. Networking is also important. I learned about O-1 thanks to people in Silicon Valley. My advice is don’t work just for the visa. Work for the cause. And the visa will come by itself,» advises the IT expert.
