'Consistency better than lottery': How Bengaluru techie landed O-1 visa after failed H-1B attempts
Bengaluru-born techie Tanush Sharanarthi, now at IBM California, secured an O-1 visa after three failed H-1B attempts, calling it recognition of his ‘extraordinary ability’ in AI.
A Bengaluru-born tech professional, now working at IBM in California, has shared how he secured an O-1 visa after being rejected three times for the H-1B lottery. Tanush Sharanarthi, 26, said his visa approval came as recognition of his “extraordinary ability” in artificial intelligence.
What challenges did he face with the H-1B visa?
Sharanarthi described his earlier struggles on LinkedIn: “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.”
What is an O-1 visa?
The O-1 is a nonimmigrant visa granted to individuals with extraordinary ability in “sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics,” as well as those who have demonstrated “extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry.”
How did he finally succeed with the O-1 visa?
He credited his approval to persistence and dedication rather than luck. “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 also thanked his “family, mentors, colleagues, and friends” and IBM for supporting him.
What made him eligible for the O-1 visa?
In an interview with Business Insider, Sharanarthi explained, “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.”
He added, “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.”
What advice does he have for others?
Sharanarthi encouraged others to focus on their work rather than the visa process. “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.”
He added, “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 also highlighted the importance of networking: “Being in Silicon Valley helped, since I was able to learn from others in AI and software engineering.”
His key message for aspiring applicants: “My advice is not to do it just for the visa. Be passionate about your field and contribute to it. The rest follows.”