CEDAR RAPIDS â Pareen Mhatre has lived in Iowa for nearly 21 years. But as she enters her final year at the University of Iowa, the biomedical engineering major fears she will have to win a lottery to stay in the United States. âEven if I identify myself as an Iowan, I lack the sense of permanence and security,â Mhatre said Thursday. She was just 4 months old when her parents brought her from India to Iowa City so they could attend the UI. For most of her life, Mhatre has been on an H4 visa as a dependent of someone holding a U.S. visa. However, because sheâs 21 and aging out of the immigration system, Mhatre must start the process of applying for an F1 student visa and then an H1B work visa, âwhich is essentially a lottery system.â