H-1b hopeful shares how her career as a journalist was derailed by US, but found something in King's Landing

After graduating from UCLA, Iris Goldsztajn's H-1B visa application was denied, forcing her to leave her dream job.

Iris Goldsztajn had everything going for her. As a student at UCLA, she landed four editorial internships in her chosen field. After graduating, she secured a position at her dream magazine, one she’d envisioned working for since she was 12 years old, per Business Insider.

Iris Goldsztajn faced visa challenges after graduating from UCLA, losing her dream job in the U.S. (shutter stock)

But there was one catch: she was working on a student visa. As a French-born, UK-raised citizen, Goldsztajn needed an H-1b visa to stay in the United States long-term. 

“My company applied for an H-1b visa for me (a type of work visa that works on a lottery system for many organizations, often including those in the media), and I just didn't win,” she wrote in the Business Insider column.

How one journalist’s career was derailed by US immigration policies

Following the H-1b denial, she had to give up her job, her apartment in Los Angeles. “I gave up my Los Angeles apartment, left the job I loved, and moved an ocean away from the many friends I’d made.”

Goldsztajn initially stayed with family in France before landing a temp assistant role in London. Over the next eight years, she built a steady freelance career, but the transition was far from easy.

“I was essentially starting from square one,” she said. Though she reached out to contacts in London, she found the networking culture starkly different. “British people just don’t network the same way Americans do, and the market here is just smaller and more insular.”

While some U.S.-based connections helped her find freelance full-time editorial roles remained elusive. “It’s much easier to move up once you already have your foot in the door at a company, which is something I gave up.”

Goldsztajn now believes, “Even though I have years of experience in the field, I feel as though I’ve been stagnant.”

“I still wonder where my career would be if I’d gotten my work visa all those years ago.” Yet through it all, “Still, in true British fashion, I’m keeping calm and carrying on.”