Hundreds of thousands of work visa holders have lost their legal status in the USA: what's next

Back in April, we wrote that hundreds of thousands of foreign workers with H-1B visas could lose their legal status by June. For many of them, this day has come, writes Bloomberg.

Photo: Shutterstock

H-1B visas are temporary work permits given to people with specialized skills, and overwhelmingly to people working in technology. The visas are tied to the specific employer who sponsors them, and H-1B holders are only allowed to stay in the U.S. for 60 days without pay.

These rules raised rates for thousands of H-1B workers who lost their jobs during layoffs due to COVID-19. Unlike Americans, these people are not eligible for unemployment benefits, despite paying taxes. They lack a two-month period to search for a similar job in order to maintain their legal status. This is a difficult situation in a pandemic.

Over the past few weeks, a Bloomberg correspondent has talked to H-1B owners and immigration lawyers to try and determine what options these workers have. Conclusion: only the bad ones.

Some foreign workers chose to return home for permanent residence, which was not easy, since many borders were closed, flights were limited, and farewell parties were prohibited. More optimistic visa holders entered US colleges to try to overcome the recession as part of the student visa master's program. Others switched to tourist visas in the hope that the economy will recover and new offers will appear in the next three months. And some people quickly arranged marriages with American citizens or hired H-1B owners (but even marriage does not guarantee timely legal status, because it can take months to issue certificates, and unions related to changing immigration status are often subject to state control).

On the subject: 'Come along' pay less: 7 unexpected discoveries about moving to the USA on a work visa

Many of these workers hoped that the Trump administration would extend the 60-day grace period to at least September 10th. TechNet, a lobbying group representing most of the largest technology companies, also insisted on expanding. Instead, President Donald Trump's tough stance on immigration seems to be only getting stronger.

In April, the president suspended the issuance of new green cards for potential permanent residents of the United States. He is currently considering another order that could restrict entry to the United States for up to 180 days for visa holders, including H-1B, and is considering suspending the Optional Practical Training Program (OPT), which is usually used as a bridge for foreigners. students to sponsor an H-1B visa.

If Trump advances with this plan, no economy will suffer as much as the technology. Every year, about three quarters of the 85 H-000B visas issued are issued to people working in the technology field. In 1, Amazon.com Inc., Google Alphabet Inc., Intel Corp. and Microsoft Corp. entered the top five employers of students in technical fields using the OPT program.

On the subject: Foreigners applying for high salaries in the USA are denied work visas

If the OPT program is closed, the technological sphere will be left without one of the main sources for attracting new talents. On June 9, FWD.us, an immigration advocacy group co-founded by Mark Zuckerberg, posted a blog post saying that suspending the OPT and restricting other immigration channels would be a “significant mistake.”

Even in a pandemic when technology companies are worried about the safe opening of their offices, the fight against a wave of disinformation related to viruses and global protests against racial injustice that could draw attention to their own mixed data on racial diversity, immigration remains a hot topic for their leaders , says the author of the article.

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