The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) stated that it is incorrect to count on that fired employees who keep H1B visa ought to go away the us of a inside 60 days. The remarks got here amid mass layoffs withinside the US withinside the tech sector. The USCIS additionally stated that H1B staffers who’ve been fired have more than one alternatives to live.
USCIS Director Ur M Jaddou in a letter to the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS) stated, “When non-immigrant employees are laid off, they’ll now no longer be privy to their alternatives and can also additionally, in a few instances, wrongly count on that they have got no choice however to go away the us of a inside 60 days.”
The FIIDS had written to USCIS concerning the effect of tech layoffs looking for an growth withinside the grace length for H1B visa holders. In response, USCIS recounted the effect of layoffs on non-immigrant employees, saying, “We are privy to the difficulty of involuntary terminations, mainly withinside the era sector.”
However the USCIS stated that once a non-immigrant employee is laid off, they’ll take one of the 4 moves which encompass encompass submitting an utility for a alternate of non-immigrant status, submitting an utility for adjustment of status, document an utility for a “compelling circumstances” employment authorization file or be the beneficiary of a non-frivolous petition to alternate employer.
“If this type of moves takes place withinside the as much as 60-day grace length, the nonimmigrant`s length of legal live withinside the United States can exceed 60 days, even supposing they lose their preceding non-immigrant status,” the USCIS stated.
“If the employee takes no movement withinside the grace length, they and their dependents can also additionally then want to go away america inside 60 days, or whilst their legal validity length ends, whichever is shorter,” the USCIS added.