These H1B jobs are “at will’ which means the employer is not obligated to give you a reason for termination and can terminate your employment for lawful reasons at any time. If laid off, you have 60 days to find another employer who can continue the H1B sponsorship or seek to change the visa status to another valid one. This is also dependent upon the expiry of the current visa status. Nevertheless, you will be treated like any other US citizen employee and will be treated with the similar company policies that apply to a them. It’s a different scenario if you already have an employee contract in place, in which case you should ensure you and your employer abide by that.
Once terminated, the employer is obligated to notify USCIS about the termination at which point USCIS too, has to take action and revoke the H1B granted under the employee’s name. At this point, you begin to accrue unlawful status. Staying in the US over 180 days under the unlawful status has serious consequences that can range from not being allowed to enter the US anywhere between three to ten years.
What can you do if you lost your H1B job?
- Talk to Manager/HR: Usually, you will be first given a warning by your employer. This can be as early as three months in advance. Either talk to them and find a midway to improve productivity to continue working or utilize this time to find another H1B sponsoring employer and work on transferring your I-129 petition.
- Relocation Costs: If this is not possible, or if the current visa status expires sooner than the 60-day period and the employee ends up leaving, it is advisable to inquire if the employer has made arrangements to fund the relocation costs back to country of citizenship, or original residence. This is applicable only for the H1B employee and not the dependent family.
- Documents for grace period: Once the 60-day period kicks in, not only should you have been actively looking for another H1B sponsoring employer but also collate substantiating evidence of the same. USCIS expects you to provide evidence in the form of active pay stubs and all forms of recruitment documentation like offer letters, requests for interviews, etc. that reflect your search efforts.
- Change of Status: Seeking a change of status is another alternative. This could be H4, in case they have a H1B beneficiary spouse or to F1, student visa. This of course, has to coincide with college admissions and acceptance to an accredited university in the US.
- H1B Alternatives: Some employers have the option of bringing in foreign talent under a L1A, intra-company transfer. These have criteria like being at a managerial level and in some cases, being an employee in the parent company at the country of origin for at least a year.
- Lastly:The important thing to note is to do all of the above when still in (current) status else USCIS may ask you to leave and come back with one.
- The new employer will have to file a Labor Certification Application for the Department of Labor
- Only then can they file a I-129 petition on your behalf with the new employer’s name in lieu of the sponsor.
- As an employee, you may have to submit supporting documents like the new job offer letter, educational qualifications for the new job, support documents to justify eligibility for specialty occupation, and in some circumstances, pay-stubs for the time you were looking for a job until you find one with the new employer.
- You should expect to receive an I-797C Notice of Action receipt from USCIS before positioning yourself in the new role.
- A H1B transfer approval notice from USCIS secures your right to work with the new employer.
The source of this article: https://www.path2usa.com/blog/getting-laid-off-on-h1b-top-10-best-options-steps-ahead-of-you