A Bengaluru techie who now works at IBM in California shared how, after being rejected thrice for an H-1B visa, he landed an O-1 visa with his “extraordinary ability.” 26-year-old Tanush Sharanarthi shared that he got the visa because of his work and research in artificial intelligence.
“From three years of striking out in the H-1B lottery… to finally being approved for the O-1 ‘Einstein’ visa in the field of Artificial Intelligence. For three years straight, I played the H-1B game of chance. Three tickets, three misses. At this point, I was starting to feel like the unluckiest person in Vegas,” Sharanarthi wrote on LinkedIn.
He continued, “But instead of waiting on luck, I went all in on what I could control: late nights, building products, publishing research, and contributing to the field I love. Turns out, consistency pays better than the lottery. This week, I was approved for the O-1 visa, a special category reserved for individuals at the top of their field. ‘An alien of extraordinary ability.’ (So no pressure, right?).”
He expressed his gratitude to his “family, mentors, colleagues, and friends” for cheering on him and thanked IBM for supporting him in his journey.
How did the techie work towards getting the visa?
“There are eight categories for eligibility, and you need to satisfy at least three of them. When I went through it, I realized I already satisfied at least two of the criteria: I had published work on artificial intelligence, I used to judge hackathons, and I used to review papers for other conference journals. I had about six years of contributions to my field in AI under my belt,” Sharanarthi said in an interview with Business Insider.
“I wasn’t doing work solely for a visa. My focus has always been on my field, AI and software engineering. Along the way, I’ve worked on research papers, contributed to open-source projects, reviewed papers, and judged hackathons. These were things I was already doing, but they lined up well with the O-1 requirements,” he continued.
What did social media say?
An individual remarked, “That’s impressive. It would be great if you shared your path towards the O1 visa.” Sharanarthi replied, “Yes, definitely!! I would love to share my journey. Do let me know if you have any specific questions, and I will try to answer them. Mainly, I focused on building my profile early and trying to meet multiple criteria. Collaborating with others and definitely trying to work on exciting projects in my domain helped me a lot!”
Another expressed, “Congrats! Many will resonate with this — turning setbacks into fuel is what extraordinary ability really means.” A third posted, “Congratulations on achieving a big milestone!”
A fourth wrote, “Congrats, Tanush. Would love to know more about your approach.” The techie responded, “Thank you so much!! The main thing would be to focus on your domain and working on projects that can help tick off multiple criteria. For example, working on a good project can help you write a paper and share with the community while at the same time showcase that your work is original. Let me know if you have any specific questions and I will try my best to answer them.”
What advice did the techie have for others?
“For me, it took six years of work — from my time at Kimberly-Clark, to my master’s degree, and then my job at IBM. If you’re focused on your field and passionate about it, you’ll naturally start to meet the criteria”, Sharanarthi told the outlet. According to his LinkedIn profile, he started his career in tech with an internship at Kimberly-Clark and later joined the company as a software engineer. Currently, he works at IBM.
He suggested that networking is also essential, adding, “Being in Silicon Valley helped, since I was able to learn from others in AI and software engineering.”
“My advice is not to do it just for the visa. Be passionate about your field and contribute to it. The rest follows.”
What is an O-1 visa?
This is a nonimmigrant visa issued to individuals with extraordinary ability in the fields of “sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics ” and those who have demonstrated “extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry.”