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Immigration Burnout: The Mental Toll of Living in Permanent Uncertainty
A family’s journey through the broken immigration systems of the USA and Germany—and the mental toll of trying to belong in a world that keeps shutting the door.
In 2011, with a three-month-old baby in my arms and stars in our eyes, my husband and I boarded a plane to the United States — our ticket to the so-called American Dream. He had been granted a skilled worker visa, the kind that dangled hope with one hand and held a ticking clock in the other. The contract would expire every three months. But at the time, we didn’t know. We only knew we were leaving for greener pastures.
Our first stop: Dallas, Texas. Within three months, the project collapsed. Whispers of return to India loomed like an early winter. Somehow, by grace or bureaucracy, the visa was extended — again and again — until nine months passed, and with them, my sense of control. Then came Indiana. I was eight months pregnant. We broke our lease, sold what little we had, and moved again.
Indiana was quieter. Gentler. My husband worked for a moving company—fewer hours. No overtime. He helped with the dishes, even changed diapers. Our daughter was born there. For five whole months, we felt like we belonged…
