Your professional success has always been a source of pride. You graduated at the top of your class at your university and have moved into a successful professional role. On the other hand, perhaps you started a small business that a bigger company purchased, allowing you to move into the corporate world.
Eventually, you accepted an intracompany transfer to a United States facility or accepted a job offer from a new employer. You may have even moved your spouse and children with you. There are numerous employment-related visa programs that help talented and educated professionals enter the United States, often with their immediate families.
However, the companies that employ talented immigrants aren’t always able to follow through with their promises to those workers. You might end up losing your job or being laid off through no fault of your own after moving to the United States for a job opportunity. Will you automatically face removal from the country after losing the job that helped you secure a work visa?
Many visa programs have a grace period for skilled workers
Your removal from the country is not automatic or immediate after the loss of your job. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has long extended a grace period to those in the country on specialized non-immigrant work visas.
Typically, you have up to 60 days after the loss of a job to secure new gainful employment and file the appropriate paperwork with the USCIS after a job loss. Although the company that initially sponsored your entry into the country can no longer maintain your employment arrangement for some reason, the skills or education you have make you beneficial to the domestic economy.
Workers who are able to find a similar job with another company can often secure a new visa and continue to live and work in the United States despite the unexpected interruption in their employment.
Making use of your industry connections and actively applying for new positions could help you and any family that traveled with you remain in the United States. Losing a job can be an immigration challenge for those with employment visas, but it does not have to be the end of someone’s time in the United States.
