I run a growing media company with 11 American employees. I’ve invested over $145,000 in the U.S. economy. I pay American corporate taxes. Yet I’ve never set foot in the United States – and government bureaucrats seem determined to keep it that way.

For seven years, I’ve tried to enter America legally. I’ve been rejected, delayed, and ultimately denied from even visiting. My crime? Being too honest about wanting to become an American citizen.

I’m from Macedonia, a small Eastern European country most people can’t find without a good map. It’s a country where corruption runs deep, with a declining population, and a stagnant economy.

For young entrepreneurs here, every day brings new hurdles. We lack basic business infrastructure that Americans take for granted. No Amazon for supplies. Simple bank transactions turn into daylong ordeals. Success attracts the wrong kind of attention — refuse to pay the mafia’s protection money, and you’ll learn how useless calling the police can be.

Yet something in me always pushed toward business. At age 12, I sold CDs at weekend flea markets, and later started a photography business. When I discovered the internet, it opened a whole new world to me. My first online venture was a Lakers fan club — I idolized Kobe Bryant’s work ethic. Through that, I connected with an American news startup, and helped them with their launch. Not long after, I started my own.

I spent more time with American colleagues and culture, so at age 19, I decided to visit America. As it turns out, that’s no easy task for a young man from Macedonia.

In 2018 I applied for a tourist visa, but the U.S. embassy rejected me outright. Not because of any red flags — I’ve never had trouble with the law or anything like that. They explained that many young Macedonians “visit” America and never return. I needed stronger roots at home first.

Over two years, as my business grew, I planted those roots. I bought a car, purchased an apartment, and applied again in 2021. After a seven-month wait to even be interviewed, they approved me.

But there was a catch. The Biden administration started requiring every visitor to show proof of a COVID vaccination. As a healthy young person, I hesitated. Friends here offered an easy solution — fake vaccination cards cost less than $50 in Macedonia. But I refused to begin my American journey with a lie. How long could waiting honestly really take?

Quite a while, as it turns out. A year and a half later, I was still waiting.

While I waited, my business flourished. The Resist the Mainstream network grew to over 8 million followers, and last month they viewed our content over two billion times.

The United States has special visas for entrepreneurs like me – the E-2 business visa seemed perfect.

One catch? They wouldn’t let me use my tourist visa while the local Department of State workers evaluated my E-2 application. I moved our legal headquarters to Florida, hired more U.S. employees, and invested an additional $145,000 to qualify.

Yet as the embassy staff brought me in for multiple interviews, they seemed baffled by basic business operations despite my detailed documentation – contracts, bank statements, business plans, everything they asked for. For over a year, they’d ignore me for months, then resurface demanding more documents, sometimes the same ones they’d already received.

Finally, they rejected me outright. Their excuse was that my business was too small, which was odd because it clearly fit the E-2 requirements. Worse still, they took away my tourist visa as well, because in an interview I’d mention that someday I want to become a legal American citizen.

Some say business visas from Macedonia are virtually impossible. Others point to my conservative politics and news sites. I’m still trying to understand it all.

I began this journey at age 19. I’m now 26, and after all my efforts I’m back to square one. During that time, about 12 million people have walked uninvited across your southern border. They received housing, work permits, and benefits within months.

Is America’s legal immigration system broken? That’s not for me to decide since I’m not American. Not yet, at least. But I do know this – a system that punishes honesty and hard work while incentivizing shortcuts and lies isn’t working for anyone.

America was built by those who believed in both following the law and working hard. I simply want the chance to prove I can be one of them.

* * *

Rumen Naumovski is the CEO of Resist the Mainstream. Follow him on X: @RumenNaumovski

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Daily Wire.

NOTE: This article has been edited for clarity.

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I Am Living Proof The American Immigration System Is Broken