Fired H1B staffers need to leave in 60 days? US Immigration Services says this

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said that it is wrong to assume that fired workers who hold H1B visa have to leave the country within 60 days.

The comments came amid mass layoffs in the US in the tech sector. The USCIS also said that H1B staffers who have been fired have multiple options to stay.

USCIS Director Ur M Jaddou in a letter to the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS) said, “When non-immigrant workers are laid off, they may not be aware of their options and may, in some instances, wrongly assume that they have no option but to leave the country within 60 days.”

The FIIDS had written to USCIS regarding the impact of tech layoffs seeking an increase in the grace period for H1B visa holders. In response, USCIS acknowledged the impact of layoffs on non-immigrant workers, saying, “We are aware of the issue of involuntary terminations, especially in the technology sector.”

However the USCIS said that when a non-immigrant worker is laid off, they may take one of the four actions which include include filing an application for a change of non-immigrant status, filing an application for adjustment of status, file an application for a “compelling circumstances” employment authorization document or be the beneficiary of a non-frivolous petition to change employer.

“If one of these actions occurs within the up to 60-day grace period, the nonimmigrant’s period of authorized stay in the United States can exceed 60 days, even if they lose their previous non-immigrant status,” the USCIS said.

“If the worker takes no action within the grace period, they and their dependents may then need to depart the United States within 60 days, or when their authorized validity period ends, whichever is shorter,” the USCIS added.