US may scrap 60-day grace period for H-1B workers after job loss

The Trump administration is considering eliminating the 60day grace period that allows laidoff H1B and other foreign professionals to find another job or change their immigration status while remaining legally in the United States according to material shared by an IndianAmerican community leaderThe proposed Department of Homeland Security regulation listed as RIN 1615AD22 is under review by the federal Office of Management and Budget It would affect nonimmigrant visa holders including workers on H1B L1 and O1 visas following the termination of their employmentThe existing grace period gives affected workers up to 60 days to secure new employment transfer their visa status or seek another lawful nonimmigrant classificationIts elimination could have wide consequences for Indian professionals who constitute a large share of H1B visa holders in the United States particularly in technology engineering and healthcareAjay Bhutoria a former member of the Presidentrsquos Advisory Commission on Asian Americans Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders urged the administration to withdraw the proposalldquoI strongly condemn and slam this proposed DHS policyrdquo Bhutoria said ldquoEliminating the 60day grace period is inhumane and unworkable When a worker faces a sudden termination 60 days was already dangerously short Stripping away this protection entirely leaves thousands of lawabiding individuals with zero time to wrap up their livesrdquoThe proposal is still under regulatory review and has not taken effect It would ordinarily have to be formally published before the public could submit commentsBhutoria said the repercussions would extend beyond individual workers to their spouses and childrenldquoPeople will not even have time to sell their homes manage their leases or transition their children out of schoolsrdquo he said ldquoFamilies will be uprooted overnight thrown into chaos through no fault of their own after dedicating years of hard work and tax contributions to this countryrdquoHe argued that recruitment for specialised positions frequently involves several interviews background checks and immigration paperwork that cannot be completed quicklyldquoWhen I served on the Presidentrsquos AANHPI Commission I specifically authored and pushed a recommendation to extend the grace period to 180 days precisely because the hiring process for specialized technology and engineering roles involves four to five rounds of interviews background checks and extensive USCIS paperwork that cannot be squeezed into a rigid window let alone done overnightrdquo Bhutoria saidHe described the measure as a threat to both immigrant families and the ability of American companies to retain highly skilled workersldquoThis proposal strikes at the heart of the South Asian immigrant community and skilled workforcerdquo he said ldquoI urge DHS and the administration to withdraw this proposal immediately and instead adopt a compassionate pragmatic 180day grace period that respects human dignity and protects Americarsquos competitive edgerdquoBhutoria also called on South Asian organisations business leaders and advocacy groups to prepare comments if the proposal is published in the Federal RegisterThe H1B programme allows American employers to hire foreign workers for specialised occupations requiring advanced knowledge Indian nationals have historically received the largest proportion of H1B visas issued by the United StatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever