H1B Visa: The lives of several thousand Indian tech professionals who went to America after obtaining H1B visa with great difficulty are hanging in balance. After the retrenchment, he does not have a job, and now the risk of leaving America has also increased.
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Tech Layoffs 2023: The rampant layoffs in the tech sector have hurt people in two ways. On one hand where people had to lose their jobs, on the other hand H-1B Tech professionals holding visas will have to leave the US. Time is running out for H-1B professionals facing layoffs as current laws require them to leave the country within 60 days of losing employment. In such a situation, thousands of Indian tech professionals and their family members are losing sleep.
The Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS) has taken up their cases with lawmakers and the federal administration, saying, “This has had a humanitarian impact on them, as their families, including their US-born children, have been suddenly has been ravaged and those who were fired in the earlier months are running out of time.”
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Demand to extend time up to 180 days
However, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services is considering his request to extend the current time window to 180 days. However, this process is likely to take some time, leaving these professionals with no other option but to leave the country.
The foundation said in a media statement, “FIIDS has appealed to USCIS, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to look into the request to expedite the extension of the grace period. FIIDS appeals to elected officials, tech executives and community leaders to emphasize the need and urgency of extending the grace period.”
Since last year, more than 2,50,000 professionals have been laid off in the United States. FIIDS said that number is rising with companies like Meta announcing another set of tens of thousands of layoffs.
“A significant number of these professionals are tax-paying H-1B immigrants (estimated at 1,00,000), especially from India, who need to be hired by any other person who files their H-1B within 60 days,” the statement said. Will have to leave America if the employer is not found.
It is now up to the White House to accept the recommendations. However, it may be too late for existing H-1B visa holders, who have lost their jobs since last October.
Advisory committee recommended
Earlier this week, the US President’s Advisory Committee on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders recommended to the federal government to extend the grace period for H1-B workers who lose their jobs from the current 60 days to 180 days, So that the workers have enough opportunity to find a new job or another option.
Appeal to Pramila Jaipal
FIIDS, in its statement, thanked Senate Majority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer that the issue could be settled through an administrative process in his discussions with Indian American leaders on March 13. It has lauded the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (WHIAANHP).
FIIDS said, “We urged the House Subcommittee on Immigration, chaired by Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, to make a similar recommendation to USCIS.
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