“Are you unmarried?”

“Yes sir.”

“OK.”

..Few more questions.

“You said you are unmarried, yes?”

“Yes sir, I am not married yet.”

“I am sorry I cannot give you a visa today. Please understand that this is not a personal decision and is based on the rules and regulations of the US immigration system.”

I reapplied a second time — this time with a lot more preparation.

My boss wrote the US consulate a letter with the details of my role in Nepal and the company’s future plans to expand the team in Nepal under my leadership.

So did the administration of the Stanford Design School, where I was supposed to help Stanford researchers use our product and to see for myself what was good and what needed improvement. The launch of the product to Stanford University’s researchers would be followed by training at my US employer’s headquarters in San Francisco.

It was an opportunity of a lifetime.

“Are you unmarried?”

“Yes sir.”

“OK.”

..Few more questions.

“You said you are unmarried, yes?”

“Yes sir, I am not married yet.”

….

The scene from Shawshank Redemption where Red (Morgan Freeman) is asked “Are you rehabilitated?” started playing on repeat in my head. I wished I had mustered up the courage to shout at the top of my voice just like he did towards the end of the movie.

“Yes sir, I am unmarried, and don’t intend to get married anytime soon. How does that make me an intending illegal immigrant?” I wanted to shout.

Scenes like this one justify The Shawshank Redemption’s position as the best film ever made

I felt angry and helpless, not angry at the US consulate, but angry at my country and my countrymen. Decades of fake papers, lies and illegal immigration to the US and other countries have tarnished the image of Nepalese to a point where even legitimate travelers are looked at with suspicion.

Indonesia

The first time I became the victim of a Nepalese green passport was when I was travelling to Jakarta, Indonesia for MVP Connect, an annual event where Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) from the SEA region are invited to share their knowledge and experience regarding Microsoft technologies and community building.

We had all the documentation in place, signed invitation letters from Microsoft included.

Almost all my friends were let go but two of us were taken to a separate room and questioned. They even asked me to call back my friends who had already gone out the door after being let through!

Even after having all the documentation, they looked at me as if I had come to harm their country. They eventually let me go but I felt broken inside.

Microsoft gave me the MVP award as a acknowledgement for my contributions to the local developer communities in Nepal. I sacrificed my weekends for 2 straight years to strengthen the bond between developers here — organizing meetups, workshops, panel discussions and events for software developers. And yet, I was treated like a criminal.

Many Microsoft MVPs haven’t been able to attend the annual MVP global summit organized every year in Redmond because their visas get rejected. While the whole world rejoices in the power of the independent developer communities to promote technology, we are getting left behind because of our green passports.

Cambodia

I have always been inspired by Mark Zuckerberg’s annual goals. Every year he sets a goal for himself and reports on how he achieved it at the end of the year. In 2017, I decided to follow suit.

My goal for 2017 was to visit 6 countries. I managed to visit only 5, but I was happy because I got to experience South East Asia. One bitter experience stands out.

We were going by a cross-border bus from Vietnam to Cambodia. The bus stopped at the border and we filled out the immigration forms. To make the immigration process quicker, the bus conductor collected all our passports and gave them to the immigration officer all at once.

One by one, the names of people from our bus were called out. When we didn’t hear our name even after everyone else had left, we got worried. We asked the guy at the immigration counter what went wrong.

He took out our passports and gave us a look of disgust that I will never forget in my life. He shook his head and gave us back our passport and forms.

The bus conductor enquired in the local language about what had happened and informed us that some senior security officer would interview us before we’d be let go. He couldn’t wait for us so the bus would leave us behind.

Naturally, we started panicking. Already half an hour had passed. We took our passports to the other immigration counter and pleaded them to stamp them. We were told to wait at the back of the line. It would be hours before our turn came. Human empathy came to the rescue. We requested the people waiting in line to allow us to go at first. We didn’t understand their language, and they didn’t understand English. But I think our body language communicated better than words could ever do. The person on the counter wasn’t sure what to do but there was a lady at the back who nodded her head in approval and let us through.

Later that evening, as we roamed through the Night Market in Phnom Penh, we bumped into a Nepalese guy. He had been staying in Cambodia illegally and married a local girl. The guy ranted at length about how tough it was for him to even survive. He was one of thousands of Nepalese people who have escaped Nepal in search for better prospects abroad, by hook or by crook.

“I should let you know that you have every right to reapply but your chances of getting a visa are slim”. The interviewer told me at the end of the second interview. He had a friendly face and wished me good luck. “I hope you don’t get too wet.”, he said, since it was raining cats and dogs outside.

The reject list

I’m not alone. Hundreds of legitimate software developers are denied visas every year even though they have every intention to come back to Nepal.

Ravi Mandal, a young 20 year old software prodigy has applied for a visa and been rejected multiple times. He’s the smartest 20 year old I know, someone who has a bright career ahead of him and would never imagine taking the risk of overstaying his visa and jeopardizing his career.

A team that had won the regional Microsoft Imagine Cup finals and selected for the global finals were denied a visa too. I had helped them prepare for their final presentation so I shared in their pain. They eventually reapplied and got the visa. That team ended up winning the global finals in the AI category. Imagine the opportunities they would have missed if they were denied access the second time too!

The irony of it all

The biggest irony here is that the US government spends millions of dollars on projects to promote tech entrepreneurship in Nepal.

And yet, when software developers from Nepal want to compete on a global level or network with software developers in Silicon Valley by going to conferences, we are not allowed to do so.

The way ahead

Frankly, I don’t see any. I empathize with the consulate office. They receive hundreds of applications every day and probably have a limited quota of people they can let in. We have created a bad name for ourselves and the consulate would rather reject a 50–50 case than accept it.

The US visa is a hot topic of discussion whenever I meet with CXOs of tech companies in Kathmandu. It would have been wonderful if the Computer Association of Nepal (CAN) had recognized IT companies in Nepal and vouched for software developers who want to work and stay in Nepal but visit developed nations to keep themselves up to date with the latest in technology.

Places like Kathmandu and Pokhara have the potential to become tech hubs. We are not competitive right now, since we cannot deliver quality. The software industry in Nepal has a long way to go.

We cannot afford to waste time making all the mistakes more mature industries in developed countries made, and for that we need the freedom to travel and learn from those who know better.

Is this a sign?

My goal in 2018 was to stay away from social media. I deactivated all my social media accounts — facebook, twitter, instagram and even LinkedIn. The extra time I have saved has given me the freedom to read tons of books and pursue other more fulfilling hobbies.

As 2019 approaches, I guess my goal next year should be to get married so that I can increase my chances. But I have absolutely no intentions of getting married until I can earn a six digit dollar income per year. All I want is to become a global citizen. A NEPALESE GLOBAL CITIZEN.