Suspended Midair: Meta AI Residency and the Visa Rollercoaster

Summary – TL;DR

Like the vast majority of people worldwide who were not born in a privileged country, I got used to facing many obstacles whenever I needed to obtain a visa to travel abroad. In this post, I will talk about my most recent struggle, which led me to live close to a year without any source of income despite having ample opportunities within my reach. The story starts in April 2021 when I got accepted to pursue the Facebook AI Residency program. I will first talk about the visa delays I faced in the beginning, and then delve into the struggle I had to deal with when attempting to extend my tenure at Facebook for another year. In the end, depsite the USCIS approving my O-1 Visa application (the process of which hindered my work and mental health significantly), I wasn’t able to secure an appointment at the US Embassy in Cairo in time to get the visa printed on my passport despite having all the necessary documents ready. I conclude by recognizing that despite all the problems I faced, I am more fortunate than most people in the world, and that I am grateful of the support I had all the way. The reason I am writing this post is (1) for myself, (2) to show people just one example of many how citizens of countries like Egypt struggle for basic rights of mobility and work, and (3) to have something to show people who ask me what happened during that year.

The Unexpected Offer: PhD or Facebook AI Residency?

It all started on the 13th of April 2021 when I received an unexpected email from Facebook AI (now Meta) that I got selected to partipate in the Facebook AI Residency program. This came two days before I had to respond to a PhD program that accepted me a month earlier. Now, with this email, I had less than two days to decide: should I continue with my plan and accept the PhD offer, or should I switch gears and postpone starting my PhD to a later unknown date? I frantically started emailing my previous mentors for advice. I received mixed opinions, which only added to the stress. In the end, I followed my instincts and accepted the Facebook offer. I wasn’t fully aware at the time of the impact this decision would have on my life and my future career. It was a momentous step to say the least.

Delayed Beginnings: Navigating Early Visa Challenges

The residency was set to begin at the end of August 2021. I signed the contract, which was for only one year, with the possibility of extending for another if I could prove myself during that time. I was excited about the prospect of working at FAIR, a place I had always dreamed of joining. I actually applied to this residency program twice before but hadn’t received a response either time. I started the process of my visa application as soon as I could to make sure I will be able to start the program on time. However, due to the COVID situation at the time, the US embassy in Cairo had a huge backlog which made appoinments immensly difficult to get.

An Unconventional Vaccination Quest

Since the US government also did not recognize the COVID vaccinations administered in Egypt (which mostly came from Russia, China and India) I had to search for ones that will allow me to travel to the US. I was finally able to get my hands on a Johnson & Johnson vaccine shot after travelling to Marsa Matrouh, a city on the Egypt-Libya border. I had to leave at 3:00 AM because the doctor in charge informed me the previous night that I needed to be there by 8:30 AM at the latest due to a shortage of vaccines.

Starting 2.5 Months Late

The vaccine trip happened mid-August, and the next step was to apply for an emergency appointment for my visa interview. However, the delay in receiving the necessary documents from Facebook’s immigration partner pushed back my starting date to November 15th, 2021. I was lucky that I was able to extend my internship at Sony AI, which I was doing remotely at the time from Cairo, till the end of October, so I was not left idle.

Arriving in Seattle

I arrived in Seattle on the 4th of November, more than 2 months after I was supposed to arrive. The residents in my cohort all started on time except for one person who came from India. He started at the same date as me due to similar visa problems. I’ll save the discussion of my year-long experience at Facebook/Meta AI for a separate blog post. For now, I’d like to focus on sharing the challenges I faced with my visa that started on July 2022.

Extending the Residency: O-1 Visa Journey

I spent the first couple of months working on more than one project in parallel, trying to make the best use of my time there. Then, sometime in March 2022, I was told that I can extend for another year if I wish to. That was great news for me, and I planned my life accordingly. But, in mid-July 2022 I received an email saying that my current J-1 visa does not allow for an extension, and there was no way for me to extend. This news flipped my plans upside down, but after doing my own research I realized that the only way for me to extend was to apply for the O-1 Visa, also known as the visa for Individuals with Extraordinary Ability or Achievement.

This is what the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) expects from O-1 Visa candidates:

To establish O-1A extraordinary ability, you must prove “sustained national or international acclaim” in the arts, sciences, education, business, or athletics and that you are “one of the small percentage who have arisen to the very top of the field of endeavor.

I knew that it was a very long shot, but after sending the immigration company my resumé and list of publications, I was informed that I might have a chance.

A Daunting Checklist: O-1 Visa Requirements

The requirements for this visa was daunting. I had to provide 4 recommendation letters, each of which were supposed to be 3-5 pages long. Each letter should talk about my achievments and why am I good candidate for this special visa. Two of those recommendation letters were supposed to come from known people in the field whom have never worked with me or taught me in anyway. The idea is that they were supposed to have heard about me through my work. This of course was very intimidating for someone like me who was still starting to pave his way as a researcher in the field.

I was also supposed to provide a very long list of supporting documents that shows the following:

Honors: Documentation (certificates, issuance letters, press release, etc.) evidencing your receipt or nomination of prizes, awards, honors, grants/funding, etc., related to your field of expertise.
Membership: Documentation (membership certificates, cards, etc.) evidencing your membership in professional associations or organizations related to your area of expertise requiring achievement or recognition for membership on the member’s part. Provide documentation of qualifications of membership.
Participation: Documentation (certificates, press, announcements, acknowledgement letters, program notes, etc.) evidencing significant participation/contribution to professional associations or organizations related to your field of expertise regardless of membership requirement or status. For example, selection as a member of a committee, board, department, project, etc.
Authorship: Copies of any articles and/or books you authored (this can include speeches, lectures, or inclusion of sections/chapters in books/collections.).
Publications About You: Copies of any publications about you, or about your accomplishments. If applicable, for scholarly/research papers citing your research, please list 5 papers that cite your scholarly/research work/papers in esteemed venues and/or have a high citation.
Judge: With regard to documentation relating to your role as a “judge” of others (may include a position/role you held where you reviewed your colleagues’ work), copies of duties/responsibilities, hierarchy chart, work product, etc. In the research/science field, this can include peer review of scholarly articles, serving on the dissertation committee of a Ph.D. candidate, etc., with documentation including: Copies of review request letters from journals and evidence that review was actually completed, copies of journal pages or pages of a conference program or proceedings that list you as a reviewer and/or invited editor, etc.
Media: Copies of any publications (articles, interviews in media) about you, or about your accomplishments (in this case, you do not have to be mentioned, but we will need supporting evidence to prove that the accomplishments are about you, i.e., explained in an expert opinion letter).
Critical Capacity: With regard to your critical or essential capacity for organizations/establishments/companies with a distinguished reputation, copies of: organization/hierarchy chart, press release, announcement, offer/assignment detailing duties/responsibilities, etc.
High Remuneration: If you have commanded a high salary or received other notable remuneration in your field of expertise, copies of income, tax returns, contracts, licensing agreements, or other types of financial documents.
Additional: Any other documentation of scientific, scholastic, or business-related contributions not included in the above categories (i.e., patents/patent applications, licensing, policy implementation, etc.). *Patent/patent application documentation should include date, title, abstract, inventors, assignees, etc.

In addition to providing paragraphs of my “significant accomplishments and/or major contributions” I have made in my area of expertise, as well as justifying why the job should be given to me (a Non-resident Alien as they call it) and not to a US citizen. Those requirements weighed very heavily on me at the time. I was supposed to work on them next to the project I was supposed to be finalizing, and the PhD applications I was preparing to submit for starting the following year (Fall 2023). The O-1 visa process sadly negatively affected both the project and my PhD applications signficantly, and caused my mental state to deteriorate considerably at the time.

Unpaid Leave and Departure from Seattle

The immigration people told me that I will have to leave the country in Novemeber 2022, and when my O-1 visa gets hopefully approved by the USCIS I can return to continue my residency at Meta, which they estimated will be around February 2023. I was lucky to have a very supporting manager at Meta throughout the whole process. She was able to get approval for me to work at the Paris and London Meta AI offices for those 3 months after I talked with potential managers there. I also had another co-mentor who helped me since “the start of the crisis” in July, and put me in touch with amazing people in the industry who I interviewed with just in case the Meta plan didn’t work out. Even though all those opportunities were within my reach, they were a bit optimisitic as I feared for someone with an Egyptian passport like myself. The visa problem still stood as a looming monster, preventing me from pursuing any opportunity I dreamt of at the time.

Saying Goodbyes

Before leaving Meta at the end of October 2022, I signed the extension contract for another year, but I was then put on unpaid leave when my work authorization at the US ended on the 31st of October 2022. I returned my equipment, said my goodbyes to Seattle and to everyone in the office with the hope of coming back soon again.

Back in Egypt: Waiting for Godot

I returned to Egypt, feeling defeated but welcoming the break. I worked hard the past year, and it was important for me to focus on my PhD applications during the time I had left before the deadlines. I submitted what I could on time and started thinking about next steps.

In my mind, I was going to return to Seattle sometime in Februrary or March until the start my PhD. So I thought to take it easy, and work on side-projects until I hear back from USCIS with the approval of my O-1 visa. February arrived and I still had no clue if I will get the visa.

I decided to apply to other research positions as a backup plan so I can at least have any source of income till the start of the semester. I was grateful to get an offer. I attended the online orientation, and as I was about to sign the contract, I received an email telling me that my O-1 visa had been approved. That was on the 17th of March 2023. So I apologized to my potential employer after explaining to them my situation, contacted my managers at Meta with the news, applied for an emergency appointment at the US embassy in Cairo so I can get my O-1 visa printed on my passport after the immigration company mailed to me the necessary documents, and finally I was planning to book my flight to Seattle.

So Close Yet So Far

But then, lo and behold, I could not get an appointment at the US embassy in Cairo, the closest appointment they could give me was on August 23rd 2023!!! I contacted everyone I can to help me with my situation, I sent multiple emails and called the embassy multiple times, even the immigration company tried contacting the embassy more than once, but received no cooperation from the embassy’s side, the only thing they told me that I have to wait, with the most annoying and belittling way possible.

Coming to Terms: Acceptance and Resilience

I eventually gave up in May 2023, and made peace with the fact that there is nothing more I could do. I was just mad and sad about the whole situation for a long time, that if only I had a more powerful passport, like the colleagues I compare myself to, none of this would have happened.

I grieved the opportunties I missed, the projects I could’ve been a part of, the people I could have met and collaborated with, and the money I could have saved for my PhD years. However, I recognize that I am luckier than most to have been able to live without any source of income for almost a year. I am lucky that I had the support of my family and friends during all that time. I am lucky that I can even entertain all those opportunties in the first place.

In the end, I decided to focus on the projects I was working for the time that I had remaining till end of August, many of which were collaborations with friends and people I met online during that year. I was able to keep myself busy, and now I am looking forward to the next step of my journey, starting my PhD at EPFL.