This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Charlie Fang, 31, who works for an American tech company in China as a strategic partner manager. Fang left the US in 2024 after three failed attempts to obtain an H-1B visa. His words have been edited for length and clarity. I grew up in China and attended a school in Nanjing, where studying abroad was common. More than half of my classmates planned to leave China for college , so from a young age, overseas education felt normal to me.