The launch of an online petition seeking extension of the 60-day grace period for laid-off H1B workers suffices to prove that the H1B visa community in the United States is not immune to the global economic impact of the COVID19 pandemic. The standard H1B visa rules require furloughed foreign nationals to seek employment within the grace period of legal stay or exit the country. Many H1B professionals are from India, and most of their children are US citizens. Though the visa terms is nearing expiration for some of them, they cannot take flights to India from USA due to the entry ban and lockdown in India.
Divyanshu Pandey who joined a Dallas-based tech startup in the rental industry as a business analyst has recently been laid off as the US economy has begun to tumble over the Coronavirus pandemic. His company was awaiting a Series A funding round, but the COVID19 health crisis in the US put a stop to it. Consequently, a few others and he lost their jobs. Three fourths of H1B visa workers in the US are Indians, and they are at the risk of losing employment as well as health insurance. 6.6 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits till date.
Adding to the misery of H1B visa holders over the COVID19 crisis is the US Tech Workers, a nonprofit that advocates the hiring of American tech workers. It has urged the Trump administration to call for suspension of the H1B visa program this year given the rising incidence of unemployment and the increasing numbers of claims for unemployment benefits in the USA.
In a letter to President Trump, the US Tech Workers wrote, “We urge you to pause the H1B visa program that would bring in 85,000 workers this year and suspend the recently approved addition of additional 35000 workers for the H2B visa.”
On the other hand, Nasscom, a leading IT industry association, has approached USCIS with an appeal to extend the grace period up to 90 days for H1B tech professionals.
Can we bench our H1B employees? Can we tell them to take unpaid leave? Can we give them paychecks with a cut? Can we dispense with their services? American firms having foreign employees on H1B visa are inundating their immigration attorneys with such concerns given the economic volatility caused by the COVID19 pandemic. The current scenario for migrant workers on H1B visa is adding to the rejection of H1B petitions that has skyrocketed from 6% in 2015 to 21% in 2019.
The Congress’ chief spokesperson, Randeep Surjewala demanded that the Modi government should talk to the US President and ensure job security of Indian H1B visa holders in the current COVID19 circumstances. He also called for the need to bring laidoff H1B workers and their families within the ambit of COVID19 health insurance.
The online petition for H1B workers’ extended grace period will remain live till April 22, 2020 and requires 100,000 signatures.
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