Wrong To Assume Sacked H-1B Workers Have To Leave US, They Have Multiple Options: USCIS Director

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise

The recent wave of layoffs at firms like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon have resulted in the layoffs of thousands of employment in the US, including Indians.

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US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) says that it is wrong to assume that laid-off workers holding H-1B visas have to leave the country within 60 days, they have multiple options to stay in the US, reported news agency PTI. The explanation by the US federal agency for immigration services comes as thousands of workers in the tech sector are being laid-off. 

In a letter to the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies, USCIS Director Ur M Jaddou said, “When non-immigrant workers are laid off, they may not be aware of their options and may, in some instances, wrongly assume that they have no option but to leave the country within 60 days.”

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Tech firms depend on tens of thousands of skilled workers migrating each year from countries like India and China.

According to the report, the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS) has been working for laid-off H-1B visa holders. They wrote to USCIS about the impacts of recent technology sector layoffs and sought an increase to up to a 60-day grace period. 

In the reply, the USCIS said it acknowledges the financial and emotional impact that job loss can have on employment-based non-immigrant workers and their families in the US.

The recent wave of layoffs at firms like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon have resulted in the layoffs of thousands of employment in the US, including Indians. 

The USCIS said, when a non-immigrant worker's employment is terminated, either voluntarily or involuntarily, they typically may take one of the four actions, if eligible, to remain in a period of authorised stay in the United States. Prominent among these include filing an application for a change of non-immigrant status and filing an application for adjustment of status. They can also file an application for a compelling circumstances employment authorisation document or be the beneficiary of a non-frivolous petition to change employer. 

The USCIS also added, “If one of these actions occurs within the up to 60-day grace period, the nonimmigrant's period of authorised stay in the US can exceed 60 days, even if they lose their previous non-immigrant status. If the worker takes no action within the grace period, they and their dependents may then need to depart the United States within 60 days, or when their authorised validity period ends, whichever is shorter.”

The agency further said that because the up to 60-day grace period is codified in the Department of Homeland Security regulations, extending it would require a regulatory change in compliance with the Administrative Procedure Act and could not be extended by USCIS through policy guidance.

Fortunately, most individuals facing job loss already have several options to remain in the US, while continuing their job search past 60 days, the USCIS noted. "We will continue to monitor the technology sector layoffs and explore appropriate measures," Jaddou wrote.

According to the report, FIIDS launched a media campaign in January to raise awareness about the issue. It launched a petition which received support from various prominent organisations like the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, US-India Business Council, American Jewish Committee, and The Indus Entrepreneurs seeking an extension of the grace period.

Members of the House of Representatives Zoe Lofgren and Anna Eshoo referred to the departure of STEM workers from the US as a national security issue in the letter to USCIS. Raja Krishnamoorthi, a congressman, stated that if retained, these laid-off specialists may invent novel products, possibly launch new firms, and add new jobs while promoting research in important fields, the report added.