Employment visas allow those who have achieved professional success or completed a degree to turn their work history into an immigration opportunity. Employment visas help those with specialized education, hands-on experience and/or high-ranking positions within a company to potentially secure employment in the United States.
Workers who obtain a visa and a job offer in the United States can often help their spouse and unmarried minor children apply for related visas so that entire immediate families can stick together. They can often renew their visas at least once and may become eligible for green cards, in some cases.
However, the risk of using a work visa to enter the United States is that someone could potentially lose their job. Mistakes that they make at work could lead to a termination, or the company could struggle and either lay off numerous employees or end up closing and terminating everyone. Then what?
Workers can sometimes avoid removal after a job loss
There are many employment visas that help bring skilled workers and sometimes their close family members into the United States, and someone’s eligibility for the visa depends on having a job domestically. If a visa holder loses their job, they may have to return to their country of origin.
Before that, thankfully, they may qualify for a temporary stay on removal efforts. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will give immigrant workers with multiple different types of employment visas up to 60 days after losing their job to find a different job and submit new paperwork.
In some cases, the USCIS grace period rule can allow an immigrant to avoid removal and to secure a new job opportunity, which benefits domestic companies and the domestic economy. Especially if someone works in a very competitive or niche industry, it may be difficult to secure a new offer of employment in just 60 days. Immigrants worried about their status may need to look into every program that could potentially protect them and their family members from removal.
Seeking legal guidance to learn more about the rules and limitations that apply to employment visas can help those who lose their job while permitted to remain in the U.S. temporarily.
