Following huge layoffs across the US, many Indian IT professionals become jobless and are searching for H1B visa sponsorship jobs. They are also seeking H1B visa grace period extension.
They are of the opinion that it is difficult to find new jobs in the existing grace period.
As the tech industry in the US is dominated by Indians, the recent layoffs hit them the most. They have to find an H1B sponsoring job within 60 days from the day of becoming unemployed.
Due to current market conditions, these IT professionals will face a lot of difficulties in finding jobs in US in 60 days.
After analyzing the possibilities, the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS) urged the Biden government to extend the H1B visa grace period.
Indian IT professionals in US need H1B visa sponsorship jobs
H1B visa allows US employers to temporarily employ foreign employees in specialty occupations. The duration of the stay on the visa is three years and it can be extended to six years.
Upon the expiry of the validity of the visa, immigrants including Indian IT professionals have to leave the US within 10 days. However, if the employment is terminated before the expiry of the visa validity, they have a grace period of 60 days to find another H1B visa sponsorship job and if they fail to find the employer, they have to leave the country within the next 10 days.
Though in a normal situation, it is not difficult to find another employer within 60 days, due to the current situation in the US, employees are finding difficulty in finding another job to support their H1B status.
Job loss due to recession threat in US
Many companies in the US not only stopped hiring but also conducted rounds of layoffs. Several big companies including Amazon, Twitter, and Meta that are getting ready for the possible recession have reduced their workforce.
Though people are facing difficulties even in finding part-time jobs, it is not abnormal as whenever a country’s economy passes through a bust period, people usually lose jobs.
