Laid off? Sorry, your American dream may have a 60-day expiry window
US may scrap H-1B’s 60-day job-loss cushion, putting Indian workers on an immigration clock TOI correspondent from Washington For highly skilled foreign workers in America
US may scrap H-1B’s 60-day job-loss cushion, putting Indian workers on an immigration clock TOI correspondent from Washington For highly skilled foreign workers in America, a majority of whom are from India, the Trump administration has apparently decided that losing a job isn't stressful enough. Why not add an immigration cliff?The department of homeland security is advancing a proposal to eliminate the 60-day grace period that allows H-1B workers and certain other legal nonimmigrants to remain in the US after their employment ends while they find another sponsor, change status, or prepare to leave.The proposed rule, RIN 1615-AD22, went to the White House office of information and regulatory affairs for review Thursday. It is not yet law. Under current regulations, an H-1B worker whose employment ends can generally remain in the US for up to 60 days -- or until the authorized stay expires, whichever comes first. The grace period was created by a DHS regulation that took effect in 2017, recognizing a rather obvious fact about modern employment: companies sometimes fire people.Without it, the immigration consequences of a Friday layoff could begin with remarkable speed. An H-1B worker could fall out of status when qualifying employment ends and would have to quickly find another lawful immigration solution or prepare to leave.
A new employer could file a petition, but the worker could no longer count on a two-month cushion to make that happen.That is an especially formidable deadline for someone who must not merely find a job, but find an employer willing and able to sponsor an H-1B, complete the paperwork and get the immigration process moving.For an American worker, eight weeks can disappear between interviews, negotiations, background checks and the inevitable corporate email saying, “We're moving in a different direction.”For an H-1B professional from India or elsewhere, those same eight weeks are an immigration lifeline. And these workers are not necessarily recent arrivals with a suitcase beside the front door. Many have lived in America for years, bought homes, obtained mortgages, paid taxes, put children through American schools and built careers and communities. A layoff can threaten not merely a paycheck but an entire household's established life.There is another, less obvious consequence: employer leverage. The existing grace period gives an H-1B worker breathing room to negotiate a move to another company. Remove it, and workers may become reluctant to tell their employers they are leaving until a new H-1B filing is safely underway. That could give existing employers less notice and make job transitions less orderly.The proposal is being welcomed by immigration restrictionist allies such as US tech workers, which campaigns against what it considers excessive use of foreign labor by corporate America.
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