"Not Many Know The Struggles": Entrepreneur On How He Got US Green Card After 15 Years

An X user who dreamt of becoming a permanent resident of the United States recently shared how he turned it into a reality. In a series of posts on X, Nahuel Candia, the founder of Rebill.com - a payments and subscriptions platform, shared how he managed to get a US Green Card after 15 years. "I promised myself that if I moved to the USA, it would be through the grand entrance, not just as an employee," Mr Candia wrote in one of the tweets. 

"Today, after over 15 years of dreaming about this moment, I am a permanent resident of the United States. I achieved this through the EB1A visa (Green Card) for noncitizens of extraordinary ability, also known as the visa for the top 1% of experts worldwide," Mr Candia wrote on X. 

🧵 Today, after over 15 years of dreaming about this moment, I am a permanent resident of the United States 🇺🇸

I achieved this through the EB1A visa (Green Card) for noncitizens of extraordinary ability, also known as the visa for the top 1% of experts worldwide.

This was my… pic.twitter.com/Tsm2LvWk5Y

— Nahuel Candia (@dncandia) June 23, 2024

In the following post, the startup founder shared that he started preparing for his dream 15 years ago. "I started programming 15 years ago while in high school. I met Sonia Oster over LinkedIn, the director of the Fulbright Alumni Association and an SV entrepreneur who mentored me early on and introduced me to Silicon Valley's entrepreneurial mindset and customs. She also motivated me to study and pursue a career in the US," he wrote. He also expressed gratitude towards Miguel Angel Saez, another startup founder, who helped him get into Microsoft.

Mr Candia further shared that his application was accepted by three US universities, however, he couldn't attend due to financial constraints. "At 19, I started my first company, Shovel Apps, "The WordPress for mobile apps", and took my first solo trip abroad to San Francisco. I stayed in a rough part of SF (Tenderloin), ate pizza at events, and negotiated Uber rides off-app to save a few bucks," Mr Candia tweeted.

In 2015, he was selected for an exclusive program by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). "Out of 4k+ applicants, 70 entrepreneurs from 50+ countries would meet in Seoul, South Korea, for one week as part of a three-month program. The program was one of the most intense experiences of my life, and I made some of the best friends I have ever made," he wrote. 

"In 2016, we had to close my first company - basically, we crashed and burned since we couldn't find PMF," Mr Candia posted. He then went on a "round-the-world trip to Asia" and applied for jobs at Google, AWS and Facebook. He preferred AWS but couldn't make the cut. However, he got the UK Entrepreneurship residency time afterwards.

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"I moved back to the UK in 2021 with Rebill, and entered Y Combinator four months later. I realized running Rebill from the UK was killing me because of the 5-hour time difference, so I returned to Argentina to build up the team," Mr Candia added. 

He shared that his company now has 12 members and his move to the States is "part of a bigger vision to connect the US Market with Latin America and vice versa". 

Mr Candia shared the post just a day back. Since then it has accumulated more than 1.6 million views. In the comments section users congratulated the startup founder. "Incredibly happy for you and for having been and continue to be part of great moments in this journey. May this be another step towards all that is yet to come. Keep pushing as always and more, but above all, keep enjoying life!" wrote one user. 

"Amazing journey Nahuel. Excited to be building something together. I do not doubt that disruptive times are coming," commented another.