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Twitter’s mass layoffs have put significant pressure on fired employees who were foreign nationals working in the United States. Former employees, on H-1B visas, have flocked to social media to look for jobs because strict immigration policies allow these foreign nationals limited time to remain in the states without working.
According to the rules in force in the United States, employees have 60 days with immigration status under threat. Therefore, dismissed employees, who already hold an H-1B visa, must find a new job to maintain their immigration status or face deportation.
The H1B visa is a nonimmigrant visa that allows US companies to hire foreign workers in specialized occupations that require theoretical or technical experience.
Technology companies rely on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.
“It’s not easy to write, but here we go. I was among the 50% of employees affected by Twitter layoffs… I am actively looking for new opportunities in the ‘data and analytics space’… Postponement comes with a deadline for employees like me. On an H-1B visa, you and I have about 60 days to find a new role in the United States,” a data software engineer, based in San Francisco, wrote on the job site LinkedIn.
According to reports, about 625 to 670 Twitter employees are in H-1B status (about 8 percent) of the company’s 7,500 employees. However, it is not yet known how many foreign nationals have been expelled.
According to experts, one option with employees is to obtain a B-2 visa to purchase additional time to stay in the United States.
“If you do not have an H-1B transfer job offer, after about 45 days, you can begin preparing to file an I-539 application to change status from H-1B to B-2 to “buy time” to move outside the United States. You will not have a permit To work on this visa, so this option is based on the assumption that you can support yourself during this period on your savings,” Robert Webber, a US immigration attorney, told The Times of India.
The B-2 visa is a visitor visa and anyone can stay using the visa for a maximum of six months. However, a few months can be extended.
A laid-off employee, who was considering attending a university for further studies, found that the fall semester began in August and that admission to the next semester would be after the 60-day grace period.
Stripe, another major company laying off more than 1,100 of its employees, has shown some sympathy for its immigrant workers.
CEO Patrick Collison said, in a note to employees, “We know this is a particularly difficult situation, if you are a visa holder. We have extensive, dedicated support associated with those of you here on visas… We will support the transition to non-working visas wherever we can.”
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