She arrived in America to work as a model
Melania Trump left Sevnica in 1985, according to the New York Times. To study at the Secondary School of Design and Photography, she traveled to Ljubljana. She was seen by photographer Stane Jerko in January 1987, who inquired about her interest in modeling. She was accepted to a fashion modeling course after he sent images of her to a Slovenian cultural center.
She placed second in 1992's Slovenian Face of the Year competition for Jana Magazine since she was more interested in modeling. She started as a model, mostly for print, and had a good career. She soon changed her name to Melania Knauss in German and began her modeling career on a global scale.
Melania traveled to New York via Milan, Paris, and Slovenia thanks to her modeling career. For ID Models, she initially relocated to New York. In 2001, she received her green card, and five years later, she was granted U.S. citizenship. But there is a lot of debate about that tale.
According to the Associated Press, Melania Trump made $20,056 from ten modeling gigs in the United States that she took on "seven weeks before she obtained legal authorization to work in the nation." On August 27, 1996, she entered the country on a B1/B2 guest visa for the first time. On October 18, 1996, she subsequently acquired an H-1B work visa. Despite being prohibited from performing paid work between September 10 and October 15, she got compensated for 10 jobs during that time. It's also unclear how she obtained her green card, according to Vox.
