Posted on 09/09/2003 5:04:40 PM PDT by dark_lord
According to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS), foreign nationals working in the U.S. lose their H1-B status the moment they lose their jobs.
Since the workers are only entitled to stay in the country to perform the jobs for which they were granted the visa, they must now return to their countries of origin. In recent years, these workers had 60 days in which to remain here. Since 9-11, that has been reduced to 30 days.
But don't panic. There are a few things H1-B workers can do if they have recently lost their employment, or fear that the worst is coming, says Harry J. Joe, founder and attorney of the immigration law practice Jenkins & Gilchrist in Dallas.
If you're an out-of-status H1-B worker, one of the quickest ways to protect yourself is to attend a U.S. college or university on an F-1 student visa. Once you have actually made the application for college and the F-1 visa you are protecting yourself, Joe says, since you can then document a legitimate reason to remain in the U.S. while awaiting approval of your application.
Should you go this route, pursue a master's degree in a field other than technology, such as business, Joe suggests. This will increase your value once you complete the program.
If the better option for an international husband and wife team is for the spouse to seek a student F-1 visa, the H1-B worker can file for H-1 status. This allows the H-1 B worker to remain in the U.S. for the length of time the spouse is a student -- six years.
This option gives H1-B workers a lot of time to find new employment, whether they have just lost their jobs, or anticipate losing them shortly. And again, H1-B workers become protected in their immigration status the moment their spouses file for an F-1 visa, and they file for H-1 status.
By applying for "tourist" status with the INS, H1-B workers can remain in the U.S. for six months to see the sights. Those six months could do wonders for their ability to locate new employers. Once done, those employers can file for H1-B status for them for new jobs.
If none of the above options pans out, H1-B workers who don't want to return home should file for visa status with neighboring Canada. It has less strict policies than the U.S. right now, Joe explains.
When all else fails, H1-B workers who can't get back into "status" should willingly return to their countries of origin quickly, Joe advises. This allows the worker to leave the U.S. on good terms, and in good grace. If H1-B workers lose visa status and remain past the 30-day period with no change in employment or education status, they will not be viewed favorably for new H1-B visas at a later time.
Employers also need to act quickly when H1-B workers lose their jobs, Joe notes. In fact, the employer must notify the INS of the change in status of worker immediately. Failure to do so not only violates the terms of the original visa approval, it makes employers liable for back wages to H1-B employees should they seek them. Employees could argue that their employers never terminated employment, and collect retroactive wages until they line up new jobs.
(Excerpt) Read more at searchcio.techtarget.com ...
http://workforcesecurity.doleta.gov/foreign/faqsanswers.asp#perm1
4. What will I, as the employer have to do once the SWA reviews and evaluates the application?
Once the application is complete, the SWA will oversee the employer's recruitment of U.S. workers, by placing a job order in the statewide job bank system or equivalent. The employer must post an announcement of the job opportunity at its place of business along with a notice of the filing of an foreign labor certification application. The employer must also place an advertisement by the employer in whichever publication is determined by the SWA to be most appropriate to the occupation.
The SWA will screen resumes from job applicants and forwards apparently qualified resumes to the employer. Then the employer must interview and evaluate the applicants, and file a report with the SWA giving the lawful, job-related reasons why each rejected applicant is not qualified for the position. A recruitment report must be furnished to the SWA as evidence of recruitment advertising and in-house posted notice.
Yes, indeed the number of H-1Bs has dropped because employers are not filing nearly as many as they did during the Y2K period...its a reflection of the economy. Which tends to support the position that the H-1B visa is not abused by employers...when they needed the help they asked for foreign workers, now they don't. As for your contention that state labor departments have anything to do with an H-1B petition, you are once again completely wrong. Moreover, an H-1B petition has never taken years to process...more like six months at best.
My friend, you have to be in the right section to read the fine print that applies to what you purport to be talking about. You are reading from the "permanent labor certification" process section. This has nothing to do with H-1Bs. Trust me dude, you have no idea what you are talking about at this point.
"H-1B dependent" is a phrase associated with the employer, not the "person". If I thought it would help I would give you money to buy a clue, but you just don't seem to want to learn anything.
Mexicans who immigrate here legally are welcomed but there is also the corrupt Mexican government's Program for Mexican Communities Abroad. Its unwanted citizens are being herded across the border. The corrupt Mexican government expects, however, that those citizens remain loyal Mexicans and meddles in our affairs to promote that end. Mexico considers itself to be a nation without borders -- a kind of Mexican diaspora. google has tons of links.
The corrupt Mexican government's consulate personnel and corrupt Mexican government's corrupt state governments are also active in creating home town associations (HTA) or "clubs" here in the U.S. that fund projects and public services in the corrupt home towns back in Mexico. google has tons of links. Gee, how do Mexican citizens have so much money left over to send home to family and government? Why don't we just have the various social services send the checks directly to the corrupt Mexican government?
I have found that there is very little interest in viewing ILLEGAL immigration from this angle. In practice it is "legal" because both of our political parties want it and likely have agreements with the corrupt government of Mexico.
The only way to stop ILLEGAL immigration is to stop it at the source: the Democrat and the Republican Party leadership.
For me the only thing I can do is to let them know that I have absolute and total contempt for them and hope the future brings interesting times for them but I'm going to vote for them anyway as the least offensive alternative.
Meanwhile I support the minority Republicans like Tancredo
Of course, there is no doubt that President Bush is doing a great job letting the military defend us -- over there. Not so well publicized is the good job some government guys are doing against "sleepers," etc. here.
I cannot help thinking that the one thing business fears most is high inflation. The best defense against that is "cheap labor" and surplus labor. Surrendering our sovereignty is not just happening. "It's for our own good." :)
Where are you getting your data from? In 2003 there were 56,986 approved in the first 3 quarters with 47,813 pending. For a grand total of 104,799. Not including some 84,000 that were exempt from the rules. All of this while people that are fully qualified can not even get an interview.
Ref: http://www.immigration.gov/graphics/publicaffairs/newsrels/H1BRelease8-26-03.pdf
For more data see:
http://www.zazona.com/shameh1b/Library/BrainSavers/VisaGlut.PDF and http://www.zazona.com/LCA-Data/
There is a check, it is called your state labor department. They can take years to process these things, and many do get denied, which would imply they do something other than rubber-stamp every application that comes in the door.
It is very hard to "prove" that a company "could not find" a qualified American candidate. You are dreaming if you think the government actually goes after companies for this practice.
This is what I am seeing here too, no let up in bringing in foreigners while americans cant get interviews.
Now, can anyone give us the numbers of how many employers were prosecuted and fined, and exactly how much were thoe fines, for not following all of the H-1B and L-1 rules?
Do all of the fines add up to hundreds of millions of dollars(which would be effective), or do they just add up to a few hundred dollars total in the entire country(which means all the regulations and hoops that were mentioned dont mean a thing)?
The last I heard, INS is not doing anything to enforce violations, because they were too numerous to enforce. Also, the penalties on an employer were next to nothing, so that even if the business was caught and fined, it was still more profitable for that business to have broken the immigration law since they made a profit on it anyways even with a very small fine.
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