Visa holders should explore ‘all options’ amid layoffs, immigration attorney says
Watson Immigration Law Founding Immigration Attorney Tahmina Watson joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss how tech layoffs may be impacting H1-B visa holders and workers' immigration statuses.
Video Transcript
AKIKO FUJITA: Well, back in November, Elon Musk gave Twitter employees just 36 hours to decide if they wanted to commit to an intense work ethic or head for the exit. For many, it might have been a no-brainer. It's not the case for immigrant workers, and especially those employed under the H-1B visa program. Many tech groups have workers under this status, which begs the question, what happens to them at a time of heavy layoffs?
We're joined by Tahmina Watson, an immigration attorney and founder of Watson Immigration Law. Tahmina, we're talking about Twitter today. But obviously, this applies to so many tech companies. We're talking about Amazon, as well as Meta and many others. As we've gotten the reports of these layoffs, how has that increased your case count? Or case load.
TAHMINA WATSON: Well, thank you so much for having me. I think this is a very important issue that people don't really understand. When somebody is working in the United States on a visa, they have to continue to work. Otherwise, they would be unlawfully in the United States. So anybody who is looking at perhaps being laid off soon, they need to start thinking about it immediately. What will be their options?
But if people have already been laid off, they only have 60 days to stay in the United States under what's called a grace period, or they have just about enough time on their visa status. So if somebody has status-- their visa expires December 15, for example-- they will only have that amount of time, not 60 days. So time is of the essence for people who are looking at layoffs or have been laid off already.
RACHELLE AKUFFO: So, Tahmina, say you're on an H-1B visa and you get this layoff notice, what should be your first steps?
TAHMINA WATSON: Well, the first step would be to ask whether they could ask for extra time. Could they perhaps negotiate any paid time off to be paid at the end of their time? Some negotiations have to work. They could also ask perhaps to be moved around within the company and have amended visas. So that's the first thing I would ask people to do is be creative within the company. See if there's wiggle room.
The other thing that people don't necessarily always understand is you can have a part-time visa H-1B. So for example, if an employer is saying they can't pay the salary that we promised, perhaps there could be a part-time option. So we explore all the options within that company. But what will ultimately happen is they will be laid off because that's what companies are doing. And so if that happens, they must actually try to find another job within 60 days.
AKIKO FUJITA: Tahmina, I'm thinking back to even before these layoff announcements. We had a number of tech executives who were pressuring the Biden administration to really clear the backlog that still exists on processing H-1B visas because of the slowdown during the pandemic. To what extent has that really added to the situation for those who are trying to stay within the country without a job? I mean, can you talk a bit about that and how that has sort of compounded the challenges for those who are trying to stay?
TAHMINA WATSON: Well, I think, Akiko and Rachelle, you're asking some very important and complicated questions. And these are-- they complicate the people's lives in very many different ways. So when we talk about backlogs, there are different types of backlogs. There is the H-1B backlog of just processing cases if the government hasn't received their premium processing fees. But there is also a green card backlog.
A lot of people who are on H-1Bs, let's say from China or India, they would be in the line to get a green card. And those backlogs are 10, 15 years long. And so the H-1B visa allows them to stay here while they are in the backlog. So if those backlogs are not cleared, and the job goes away, the green card application also is in jeopardy.
And when you think about somebody who has actually been laid off, it's not just one person's life at stake. It's their spouses. It's the children who were probably born in the United States, children who came here when they were young and they know nothing but America as their homes. It's going to be uprooting entire families. So it's very important to understand that when somebody is being laid off and they're on a visa, the complication is just manyfold. And it's often invisible and too complicated to even explain-- for the laid off person to explain.
RACHELLE AKUFFO: So then when we think of domino effects, I mean, if you think of the share of tech workers who are on H-1B visas and what that means when you don't have this talent in the economy, what are some of the things that people should really consider in how they think about H-1B visas and their value?
TAHMINA WATSON: Well, Rachelle, I think that's a really important question, too, because people don't really understand what the skilled immigrant workers are doing for this country. If somebody just picks up their phones, they'll see that the network, the hardware, the software, all of those things are actually being maintained by a large proportion of immigrant workers. If you think about doctors and the medical profession, there are a lot of people on the H-1B visas. And the contribution that they are making to the economy is profound.
The other thing that happens with H-1B workers is that there is a multiplier effect. For one particular H-1B worker, there are seven non-visa holding jobs that are created because that person will need an accountant, a doctor, perhaps a gardener. There are many different types of jobs that are created from one H-1B worker. So there are many different types of contributions that happen. Some are visible, and some are not visible. But the economic contribution that happens to H-1B workers is incredibly important because we just don't have the talent that is necessary.
