American Dream- The Reality (Part 3)

So as stated earlier, it had been three consecutive years (2014- 2016)  and I never got lucky in the lottery. Meanwhile I saw, people getting the Visa in their first attempt(sigh). All the friends I had started my journey with got the visa during those  three years. But you see the problem was that the number of applications kept increasing exponentially during that time. From 180 K applications in 2014  to 236 K in 2016 and the quota remained same at 85 K, this basically means the odds kept lowering. During this time ,some of my friends working in Indian outsourcing companies got the visa , some never even got a chance to come to USA in spite of getting H1B for reasons like cancelled projects, no budget and some came and left within a year. Some people were benched indefinitely after being picked in H1B lottery, while I was still waiting to win the coveted lottery prize. I also know of people who have just done masters for the sake of getting in the Masters quota of H1B lottery (from tier 3 colleges) and they have been picked up in the lottery. To make things worst, I kept hearing about some 'Desi Consultancies' helping students prepare 'fake' resumes, with fake experiences and them getting visa based on those 'fake credentials' . 
On the other hand,I was reading about some MIT grad who worked for a big tech company and did not get picked thrice just like me. All this made it certain to me that this system is COMPLETELY flawed and my hopes dwindled. 
 The one year following that was stressful indeed since I was approaching my last H1B attempt. Its funny how in spite of having a high paying job , working hard, being a law abiding , tax paying and absolutely harmless resident of this country, everything you have worked so hard for all your life could be taken away on the basis of luck. So here I stand today in the summer of 2017 playing my last H1B work visa 'Lottery' which is purely random yet again. The only difference is that usually lotteries have money at stake, here all my future dreams , aspirations , career and my very job/livelihood are at stake. 

Lets say the selection was on the basis of merit, I would readily give up my spot for someone more deserving who has earned it; I certainly do not have a superiority complex and would accept defeat gracefully and move on to other options in life in that case. But being defeated by someone who is just plain luckier than me ? Now that's one hard pill to swallow. Would a firm decide to fire an employee based on performance or just pick a chit of name from a tub? You tell me!  I am not sure if lawmakers will change this system soon,  if possible, I hope to draw some light onto the situation for the benefit of many who could be in the same boat as me. I am not sure what my next steps are, but just for the sake of future aspirants, please make the system fair. Make it more honorable and legit, so people’s American dream is not crushed just because they are UNLUCKY. Hard work is and should be the driving force towards success. 

I can lose my job in about two months if I am 4th time unlucky in the lottery; which with each passing day is becoming more and more certain. I am not a politician to come up with a solution to this problem but here’s an idea: H1Bs should be awarded based on multiple factors like Experience, degree, job roles /responsibilities, skills etc. So, no single person feels its’ unfair for them. A person with 10 years’ experience gets points, a person with masters from a top college gets points and we can get points for each of our skills too. People with max points get visa. I will sportingly take defeat if I don’t get visa then, but this, right now, is just hard to digest. Lottery is a form of gamble, PLEASE stop gambling with our futures.

As for me, I honestly went through denial/anger/grief about my situation but have now finally reached acceptance and peace. This is not the end of the world, I know people suffer through worst and this is just one of the smaller things. My skills stay with me where ever I go. It was important for me to share this because this is something that has deeply affected my career and life and I am sure this is something that is affecting or will, in the future, affect the millions of people that are yet to commence upon their journey to fulfill the american dream.  

I will keep you posted on what the future holds for me, the lottery verdict and how I proceed from this point on. One thing is for sure, I wont lose hope or determination because of this and will try to find a path which truly values merit and hard work, like I have always believed and never again will I choose a path in life which is LUCK based, because luck is just a four letter word after all.  

Please feel free to share your stories or experiences in comments below :)
Also feel free to share this article with anyone who has had similar experiences.  
Thank you for taking the time to read this ! 

P.S. -> There could be questions about my Husband's legal status, he finally got his H1B picked this year in his 3rd and final attempt(Yes we both are unlucky when it comes to lottery). His H1B will kick in from October this year. By the time I get H4 EAD after his green card filing and approval of I-140, it will be two years as per his company policy. So I lose my job and stay out of job for two years irrespective :(