Tanush Sharanarthi (image: LinkedIn)A 26-year-old Bengaluru native, Tanush Sharanarthi, who now works at IBM in California, revealed that after being rejected three times for an H-1B visa, he has secured an O-1 visa based on his “extraordinary ability”. He credited the visa approval to his contributions and research in 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. 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,” wrote Sharanarthi in a LinkedIn post.
“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?) To me, it’s more than a visa. It’s proof that hard work stacks up, that setbacks can become fuel, and that perseverance beats probability,” he added.
He expressed his gratitude to his “family, mentors, colleagues, and friends” for cheering him on and thanked IBM for supporting him in his journey.
To this, a user commented, “That’s impressive. It would be great if you share 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!”
The O-1 nonimmigrant visa is for the individual who possesses extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or who has a demonstrated record of extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry and has been recognised nationally or internationally for those achievements.