This comic shares the experiences of a college student who was interviewed for our recent story, "The growing backlog of green card applications is disrupting the lives of Indian nationals in NC."
UNC-Chapel Hill junior Shristi Sharma, 20, carries a burden that many American college students don't worry about. Since she was a child growing up in a small town in Iowa, Sharma has been in the U.S. on a visa because she is a foreign national from India.
And because there is a massive backlog in green card applications from Indian nationals, her family has waited nine years for a green card, and will likely wait many more before they can receive permanent status in the U.S. For Sharma, who is about to turn 21, that means she has had to separate from her parents' visa.
If you are a long-term H-1B visa holder or a young foreign national also facing the possibility of self-deportation, we’d like to hear your story for our continuing coverage of this issue. Please contact reporter Eli Chen at elichen@wunc.org.
