The immigration struggles of a former FC Tucson Women's midfielder and Cochise College coach who was recruited as an international student-athlete to play soccer in the United States highlight an ongoing problem and a process that fails some of the most skilled job candidates, one expert says.
Anita Maryskova, a native of the Czech Republic, earned two degrees during her time as a student-athlete, but struggled to find work after graduating in 2018, saying that most employers don't want to deal with the burden of sponsoring a visa.
A process called "optional practical training" allowed MaryskovaΒ to stay in the U.S. while applying for coaching jobs and trying to gain citizenship. By 2020, however, Maryskova's extensions were exhausted, and she was forced to find a more permanent solution.
At her lawyer's suggestion, Maryskova applied for an EB1 green card, reserved for people with extraordinary abilities. The process has cost her more than $20,000 on legal and filing fees.
Her application was denied, leaving the 27-year-old Maryskova with one final option: Take her case to federal court, with no guarantee that will be successful.
'I just wanted to play'
Maryskova grew up on the soccer fields of the Czech Republic. She played in her country's boys' league, earning a captain's spot, years before she ever competed against women.
At age 16, Maryskova was already coaching and had earned a prestigious international certification. She then played for the Czech women's national team, winning the first-leg group of qualifications for the 2013 European Championship, and later won the German's Cup with another team. Maryskova was soon recruited to play soccer as a college athlete in the United States.
She chose Cal State Bakersfield, where she spent one season before transferring to Brevard College in North Carolina. She graduated from the school in 2016 with a bachelor's degree in business and organizational leadership.
Maryskova said her undergraduate years were not easy. She said she experienced bullying and sexual harassment and was even stalked by a coach.
Maryskova had one more year of eligibility left after graduation thanks to her redshirt year and was recruited to play at Idaho's Northwest Nazarene University, where she earned her MBA in October 2018.
Still, "I didn't want to go the master's route; I just wanted to play," Maryskova said. "But then I saw how much more impact I could make as a coach. There are not many women coaching, and men typically don't know what they're doing when it comes to coaching women. I wanted to ensure the players got what they came there for."
Maryskova remained in Idaho while she looked for permanent coaching jobs. She coached part-time at the Idaho Juniors Elite Academy and played for indoor soccer leagues and the Women's Premier Soccer League's Boise Cutthroats in her free time.
Maryskova sent out hundreds of rΓ©sumΓ©s, but every time she made the final cut, she was told by the prospective employer that they couldn't take the risk by sponsoring her visa.
"I'm high-performing, I'm educated, but I can't find a job," Maryskova said. "So I walked into Walmart and I started there."
She worked overnights and coached during the day while also helping her former coach at Northwest Nazarene recruit international athletes.
"It was mind-blowing, but I took it as it was supposed to happen this way, and I just kept going," Maryskova said.
Two days before her visa ran out in March 2020, a coworker of Maryskova's connected her with an immigration lawyer and she began the process of applying for her permanent citizenship.
'It kind of all crashed down on me'
Idaho was placed under lockdown as soon as the coronavirus pandemic hit in March 2020. As the pandemic progressed, the already slow immigration process ground nearly to a halt.
Four months after Maryskova sent in her application for the EB1 green card, she received a request for more evidence that was riddled with grammatical errors, calling the response "mind-blowing and frustrating."
"The officer clearly didn't look through any of the evidence I sent with the application, and the letter talked about how soccer coaching and playing are not related fields," Maryskova said.
Since her 250 pages of evidence were not enough, Maryskova sought β and received β letters from Division I coaches, players, athletic directors and professional coaches and players from around the world.
With her work visa expired, Maryskova got creative to earn money to pay filing fees and for her attorney. She started her own business in the summer of 2020, buying limited-edition shoes from stores like Ross and Marshall's and selling them online.
In October, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services denied her request, saying it was 80% identical to the letter asking for more evidence.
"It kind of all crashed down on me, and I thought, 'What am I doing wrong?'" Maryskova said. "It felt like a betrayal. I was doing everything I was supposed to do, and I still got denied."
She appealed the decision; within two weeks, USCIS sent a request for more information.
Maryskova soon received a work permit and began driving for Doordash. In December, she was hired by Cochise College and made plans to move to Arizona.
'It would have been easier to get married'
Maryskova drove nearly 18 hours from Idaho for her new job as assistant women's soccer coach at Cochise. All of her recent struggles were worth it once she stepped into her new role, Maryskova said.
"It's a great group of girls, and I saw how much they looked up to me and how I can be their role model," she said.
Two weeks after she started work, she got another denial letter, saying she wasn't qualified. By that time, her lawyer was no longer charging for his services, saying it was ridiculous that her situation hadn't been resolved.
Maryskova has since filed an appeal with the Administrative Appeals Office but says she doesn't know if it will even get reviewed.
While things have stalled in her quest for citizenship, the opposite has happened to Cochise College's women's soccer program.
"We made history and won the region," Maryskova said.
A short time later, she saw an Instagram post from FC Tucson about open tryouts for the women's team. She made the drive to Tucson and met president Amanda Powers, head coach Kelly Pierce andΒ team administrator Charlie MacCabe.
Maryskova made the team as a midfielder.
She demonstrated "an exemplary level of commitment," MacCabe said. "As one of the older players on the team, she added maturity and professionalism to our young squad."
At the end of July, Maryskova published a book through Amazon about her struggles as an international student-athlete. She's now back working at Cochise College, with few options left in terms of gaining citizenship.
"I'm here legally, I have two degrees from here and so many years of experience. My lawyer said it would have been easier to get married," Maryskova said.
"The Trump administration said it wanted to keep well-educated foreigners and said they would get an automatic two-year visa after they graduate. I never got that."
'Why are we making it so hard?'
Maryskova said she has heard of cases similar to hers, and longtime Tucson immigration attorney Mo Goldman said her situation is common.
"One of the biggest disconnects I've seen as an immigration lawyer has been the process that occurs after we bring foreign talent to the U.S. for their studies," Goldman said. "Once they finish their studies, their options are so limited that it leaves many individuals without much option as far as how to remain in the U.S. and utilize the skills they develop here."
While navigating the student visa process can be a challenge, it becomes even more complicated when newly graduated students seek longer-term or permanent residence β especially in a field like coaching, Goldman said.
"It's a maze. You have to dance around to figure out which visa category might be best," Goldman said.
The H1B visa for specialty occupations is good for three years but requires that an applicant demonstrate that the job they want requires a bachelors degree. My coaching jobs don't, Goldman said.
The other issue with the H1B green card is that applicants are entered into a registration lottery, due to a limited number of visas.
This past fiscal year, more than 500,000 people applied for roughly 80,000 available H1B visas, Goldman said.
The EB1 green card that Maryskova applied for can be very hard to get for people in fields related to coaching and athletics, due to the discretionary nature of the process. An applicant must meet a certain number of requirements. Even if someone qualifies on that basis, the final decision is up to the government,Β Goldman said.
"Which is crazy," he said. "When they evaluate applicants, it's all done on paper. It's not like defending your thesis. You're sending this to Nebraska and an unnamed officer is reviewing it, and if they don't think it's good enough, they'll send a request for evidence."
Goldman said he has been complaining about the process for years, saying that while Maryskova's story is unfortunate, it's not new.
"Why are we making it so hard? Why are we preventing someone who is going to be coaching or teaching in an underserved area?" Goldman asked. "There's a significant disconnect between what reality serves and what the government does with these applications."
Goldman said he hopes that Maryskova's story shines some light on the process for recruiting foreign students.
"We bring them here, allow them to spend thousands and thousands on academic costs, and once they're done with training, we tell them to figure out another way or leave," Goldman said. "This is a really big problem. We say we can't fill jobs in rural areas, but if we can't get the visas to get foreign nationals to fill the jobs, then no one is going to fill those jobs."
