Twitter layoffs: What's next for H-1B visa holders?

Laid off employees on work visas have 60 days to find another job or leave the country, an employee said

Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter, said he had "no choice" but to severely downsize the company's workforce, a move that has thrown the future of many up in the air, especially those employed on work visas, like the H-1B.

Musk's purported severance package has not spelled relief for all, as an interview of Twitter employees with The New York Times shows.

As per a Forbes article, where they cite US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data, analysed by the National Foundation for American Policy, Twitter has 625 to 670 employees in H-1B status, which represents 8 per cent of the company's 7,500 employees.

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One individual commented, "All of the people I know who are here on visas have no idea what will happen to them. And they have not been told anything. So this is more than just privileged tech people crying because we’re moving from one six-figure salary to another six-figure salary. These are people who are trying to immigrate to this country and have gainful employment and do a good job, who are highly skilled."

Another said, "Some of them are here on work visas. If they lose this job, they have 60 days to find another job, or they’re out of the country. So it could not be more serious for the folks who have these jobs."

What is an H-1B visa?

The H1-B visa is granted under the Immigration and Nationality Act, section 101, so US employers can temporarily hire foreign workers for specialty positions.

What are the H-1B visa rules if a worker is laid off?

As per the USCIS, if employees are laid off, fired, if they quit, or otherwise cease employment with the previous employer, they have up to 60 consecutive days or until the end of the authorised validity period — whichever is shorter — to find new employment, change the status, or depart from the US. If people find new employment, they can transfer — under the H-1B Portability Rule — where they can begin working for the new employer the day the USCIS gets the new employer's H-1B transfer petition. However, this must come before the H-1B visa expires.

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What laid-off Twitter employees with H-1B visas can do

For H-1B workers who have already been counted against the annual quota, there is some upside, as William Stock of Klasko Immigration Law Partners explained to Forbes, saying, "H-1B workers benefit from the fact that they have already been counted against the annual H-1B quota, so it is somewhat easier for another employer to sponsor them."

Another option for H-1B workers who cannot find a job after the layoff is to file for an I-539 application which changes the status of the visa to B-2. This is essentially a tourist visa, which gets the worker out of the immigration jam for some time but they cannot work in the US on this visa, so they must have savings to support themselves while job hunting.

If Twitter employees have applied for green cards, then their options depend on the stage of the process. For those who have filled up the I-140 immigrant petition, and it has been approved for six months — the place in the backlog line is secure. However, a green card is based on someone taking up the job they were sponsored for, so a change in employers usually requires applicants to repeat the first two stages of the process.

Those in the last stage of the process, called adjustment of status, have it relatively easier in switching employees without impacting their green card application. There is a rush, nonetheless, because a job offer has to be shown to complete the green card process.

Stock explained, "An H-1B visa holder would not be able to make an application for adjustment of status, however, unless they have a job offer from the petitioning employer in the same job for which the immigrant petition is approved. An H-1B visa holder who transfers to a new employer would need that employer to file a new labor certification and immigrant petition on their behalf. That new immigrant petition would have the same priority date as the first immigrant petition filed by earlier employers."