The Other Side

Coming to the U.S. isn't always as great as it may seem. For many students who are here on student visas or even diplomatic visas, the American experience is something much different than the American dream. There are a number of limitations on what international students can do while there are here. For many, immigration is not an option and more importantly, not a desire.

"There are no scholarships for international students," she said. "And with jobs and internships, they tell you that if you're an international student you shouldn't even apply. I guess that's better than letting you believe something different but right now is a really bad time to be in America."

Farva Billgrami is an international student from Pakistan at Boston University. Farva came to America with her mother at the age of 16 with her mother, who works for the United Nations and was posted in New York City. Farva obtained a G4 Diplomatic visa. The G4 visa is granted to "Individual personnel who are proceeding to the United States to take up an appointment at a designated international organization, including the united nations." With her diplomat status, Farva has far less opportunity than immigrants, but also has less opportunity than international students on student visas.

According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website, the Optional Practical Training (OPT) extention allows twelve months either before or after your academic career to gain practical training in relevant work. For international students, these visas can be applied for in relation to their student visas. Other than this particular extention, the F1 and M1 student visas that most international students are on allow 60 and 30 days to leave the country, respectively. However, Farva's status as a Diplomat does not allow her to stay any longer than the time allotted for school.

For Farva and so many international students just like her, staying in America is not something she hopes for. However, she said that given the opportunity to stay and to remain here with the same rights as an immigrant student, her perspecitve might be different.