This essay as told is based on a conversation with Vivienne Yang, a 31-year-old Taiwanese citizen who lost her job and had to leave the US due to her visa status, leaving behind her apartment and two cats. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I started falling in love with the American dream when I was in third grade.

It was a mix of realizing that The Taiwanese education system wasn’t really designed for me and I got hooked on American pop culture like Taylor Swift, “Twilight” and “America’s Next Top Model.”

In 2018, at age 23, I moved to New York to pursue a master’s degree in applied analytics at Columbia University and then landed a job in the ad tech industry in Manhattan.

For the next five years, I worked two full-time jobs, one after the other, each paying around $100,000, until I was laid off in 2024.

Getting fired while you’re on vacation

It was October and I was on the second day of a 10-day trip to Japan with my partner when I found out I’d been laid off.

I was watching Japanese TV shows at our Airbnb after a day of sightseeing in Osaka, when my colleague called me on Instagram to tell me she couldn’t find my Slack or email and that my account seemed to have been deactivated.

I didn’t get any calls from HR because my US SIM card wasn’t working.

I tried to have fun during the trip while struggling with immigration issues. I spent mornings talking to employment and immigration attorneys and emailing HR.

And then, in the afternoons, we would go sightseeing. Emotions surged two days after I heard the news and I cried at a shrine in Kyoto. I was praying that I could return to the United States.

The company agreed to extend my employment for a few weeks so I could return to the United States.

Leaving my life in New York behind

He had built a life in the United States. My entire circle of friends and my two cats were there, and I had spent years saving to buy a one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn.

During my grace period, I changed from an H-1B tourist visa to a B-2 so I could stay in the US a little longer, and then renewed my B-2 so I could stay for a full year. My lawyer told me not to mention that I owned a home, because it could give the impression that I intended to immigrate.

The job search was difficult. I spent a few months hunting, with more than 20 fruitless interviews.

Then, in September of last year, the Trump administration implemented the $100,000 fee for new H-1B applicants. Although that wouldn’t have applied to me, I feel like it affected employers’ willingness to hire foreign workers.

After a few months, I stopped focusing on corporate jobs. I couldn’t see myself in corporate America anymore. I always loved acting and I was accepted into an acting program in New York, and it was supposed to start in March of this year.

In December 2025, I traveled back to Taiwan to apply for a student visa. I cried all the way to JFK airport. and on the plane. I felt like I was leaving forever.

My instinct was right. My student visa was rejected because I demonstrated immigration intent. I asked my American partner to move into my apartment to take care of the cats, Dexter and Deborah, while I figured out how to get back.

I told him not to send my things because I was determined to return.

Then I realized that given the current political climate and the state of the economy, it doesn’t make sense to return to the United States anytime soon.

Taiwan has helped me escape survival mode

In Taiwan, I don’t need to worry about my personal safety all the time.

it is also How strange not to have to worry about a visa. Now I can get any job without worrying, “Oh, if I want to do this, what kind of visa do I need to get?”

One of my biggest worries this past year in New York was not having health insurance and not knowing if I could afford to see a doctor.

In Taiwan, especially in the northeastern city of Yilan, where I live, I can simply go to a clinic and spend less than $10.

It’s been a little strange getting used to living with my family again.

Now I live in a three-bedroom apartment with my mom, my dad, my sister and my grandmother, and in this house there are rules, like where things should be placed and how many layers to wear during the colder months.

I sleep on a portable bed in the storage room without air conditioning, because there is not enough space in the house. I felt like my life had been degraded.

There are no plans to return

I don’t want to deal with visa issues anytime soon, so I have no plans to move.

My partner plans to bring the cats in October.

Here I have focused on content creation and at the same time I teach public speaking in English. I am using my savings to pay the mortgage my Brooklyn apartment.

Despite everything I went through, I don’t regret moving to the United States.

If I hadn’t gone through that, I’d still be wondering, “Oh, what if I had?”

Now that I have had that experience, I am clear about what I want and who I am.