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Tejas Vijh navigated visa challenges to secure a venture capital role in the US.
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Visa sponsorship is rare in venture capital, and many international students stick to Big Tech.
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He feels more secure about his job at a small firm than his peers at Big Tech companies.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Tejas Vijh, an employee at a venture capital firm based in Indianapolis, Indiana. It has been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider has verified his employment and visa history.
After I completed my bachelor’s in computer science in India, a series of internships and connections led me to a role at a very early-stage venture capital firm. I loved the job and the research it involved.
Seven months into working at the firm, I wanted the exposure of living and working abroad. I got into a business analytics master’s program at Columbia University and moved to New York City in 2022.
Right off the bat, I figured out that venture was not a typical career path for international students, including MBA and business majors, for one main reason: visa sponsorship issues. I interned at two places in the summer, and both said they wouldn’t be able to sponsor my long-term visa, even though they liked my performance.
When I started researching the job market after graduation, I could not find a single person in the industry who was an immigrant, which was really demotivating. But I was convinced that I wanted to work in healthcare or climate tech and decided to keep going.
As a Science-Technology-Engineering-Math graduate, I am allowed a three-year work permit called the Optional Practical Training visa. It’s seen as a pathway to securing an H-1B — a visa for highly skilled foreign workers.
Using software called PitchBook, a venture capital database, I downloaded a list of 2,000 firms. I started emailing them personalized notes. I pitched myself but did not mention my visa situation.
Many firms replied to me even though they weren’t hiring, and I met people for coffee and built connections.
I started getting some interviews by my 200th email.
By my 500th email, I had two offers — one from a larger firm that told me they could not sponsor my H-1B but that I could join them for my three years of OPT, and another from my current firm, where our managing partner took time to understand my visa requirements and the support I would need from them. I told him how I’m loyal and I will stay where I go. My firm has three partners, and I’m the only employee.
I did not get my H-1B visa last year, but my visa was selected as part of this year’s lottery last week. My firm has also been supportive and has helped me explore alternative routes like the O-1 visa or the EV-1, which are visas for extraordinary talents in the event my H-1B did not come through.
