Witnessing unexpected and mass layoffs at major technology companies, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced a complete guide to deal with the situation. It has been announced for non-immigrant workers in the US whose employment has been terminated, either voluntarily or involuntarily. This is clearly news to cheer for many Indians on H-1B visas where they can now use various options for remaining in the United States for authorized stay depending on the existing rules and regulations.
Regulations allow for a discretionary grace period so that workers in E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, L-1 as well as O-1, or TN categories and their dependents are classified as having maintained their status due to their termination from employment for about 60 consecutive calendar days or till their authorized validity period ends, whichever is shorter.
The workers can now maintain their non-immigrant status if their new employer files a timely petition on their behalf with a request for a stay extension. Moreover, the workers can still remain in the United States for the duration of authorized stay if they file an application for changing to a new non-immigrant status (like B-2 visitor non-immigrant status).
