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How can I protect my H-1B and green card if I am laid off?

alcorn.law

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Re: How can I protect my H-1B and green card if I am laid off?

#31

Post by hayst4ck »

cousin_it wrote: post #26
causi wrote: post #2

This can pose a big problem for people who have made their homes in the U.S. for decades, diligently working, paying taxes, buying houses, and raising their children. It's perverse there is any visa that lets someone stay in the country for decades without offering them a path to permanent residency and citizenship.

I'd go even further. If a country benefits from someone's work and taxes, it should give them a say in how these taxes are spent (i.e. let them vote) after a quite short term, for example one year.

Do you think assimilation matters? Do you think to a meaningful degree cultural norms dictate societal level outcomes?

Re: How can I protect my H-1B and green card if I am laid off?

#32

Post by nrmitchi »

User23 wrote: post #27
wobbly_bush wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is nothing illegal or unpopular about this answer. It doesn't happen as commonly due to large cultural differences, and there is more to life than just a visa (as important as that might be).

It's illegal to fraudulently marry for the purpose of gaining permanent residency. Obviously there's some gray area there and I'm not giving legal advice, but at least sometimes using marriage to get residency or citizenship is a crime.

The word "fraudulently" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. As I understand it, the bar to get into "fraud" territory is actually pretty far down the spectrum.

Dating people and limiting people you go on dates with the "US Citizens" because you want to be able to actually have a life that doesn't involve one/both of you being deported is 100% not fraud, or illegal. If you main reason for having a relationship with someone is to get a green card, but you still have a bonafide relationship with that person, it is not illegal. It may make you a shitty person, but it's not illegal.

A conspiracy to lie to USCIS about your relationship, which typically involves purposely arranging and/or fabricating evidence of a relationship *is* fraud, and is definitely illegal.

Re: How can I protect my H-1B and green card if I am laid off?

#33

Post by dboreham »

trustingtrust wrote: post #16

What is the exact reason for such a big backlog ? My theory is that the backlog is mostly a double edged sword. If the backlog turned to zero today, the Universities would flood with applications from around the world and the number of I140s would increase exponentially in the next 10 years. The backlog hence keeps expectations in check. I know plenty of friends on I140s who may not get a green card for the next deca…

> What is the exact reason for such a big backlog ?

The affected people can't vote.

Re: How can I protect my H-1B and green card if I am laid off?

#34

Post by dboreham »

nrmitchi wrote: post #32
User23 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's illegal to fraudulently marry for the purpose of gaining permanent residency. Obviously there's some gray area there and I'm not giving legal advice, but at least sometimes using marriage to get residency or citizenship is a crime.

The word "fraudulently" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. As I understand it, the bar to get into "fraud" territory is actually pretty far down the spectrum. Dating people and limiting people you go on dates with the "US Citizens" because you want to be able to actually have a life that doesn't involve one/both of you being deported is 100% not fraud, or illegal. If you main reason for having a relationship with…

They made a whole movie about this.

My wife and I had the amusing task of learning all kinds of obscure facts about each other ahead of my interview, since we had seen the movie and knew they would ask about which end of the toothpaste tube the other squeezes...

But in the end the person conducting the interview seemed to have seen the movie too and determined that we were bickering sufficiently about our answers to prove the marriage was legit ;)

Re: How can I protect my H-1B and green card if I am laid off?

#35

Post by snotrockets »

throwaway44111 wrote: post #9
causi wrote: post #2

This can pose a big problem for people who have made their homes in the U.S. for decades, diligently working, paying taxes, buying houses, and raising their children. It's perverse there is any visa that lets someone stay in the country for decades without offering them a path to permanent residency and citizenship.

H1-B is dual intent. After six years in the US as an H1B worker, you can become eligible to apply for a US Green Card, which will allow you to remain in the USA indefinitely. However due to the backlogs in priority dates for some categories, you could potentially be in H-1B status for 10-20 years while waiting for your priority date to become current. But you can keep renewing using AC21 provisions in the meantime.

This is not true. An H1B employee can not apply to become a permanent resident ("green card") based on their H1B employment itself.

As far as I know, the only way to self petition for an extraordinary ability (EB1) based immigration, but that probably applies only to a small percentage of H1B workers. The rest are bound to their employer applying to grant the employees immigration benefits, which the employer may or may not do.

Re: How can I protect my H-1B and green card if I am laid off?

#36

Post by snotrockets »

Kalium wrote: post #5
causi wrote: post #2

This can pose a big problem for people who have made their homes in the U.S. for decades, diligently working, paying taxes, buying houses, and raising their children. It's perverse there is any visa that lets someone stay in the country for decades without offering them a path to permanent residency and citizenship.

I believe H-1B is a dual-intent visa, allowing application for a Green Card after a specified number of years. Green Card holders then become eligible for citizenship after another specified number of years. So if my understanding is correct, the US government agrees with you.

This is not true. An H1B employee can not apply to become a permanent resident ("green card") based on their H1B employment itself.

As far as I know, the only way to self petition for an extraordinary ability (EB1) based immigration, but that probably applies only to a small percentage of H1B workers. The rest are bound to their employer applying to grant the employees immigration benefits, which the employer may or may not do.

Re: How can I protect my H-1B and green card if I am laid off?

#40

Post by olliej »

causi wrote: post #2

This can pose a big problem for people who have made their homes in the U.S. for decades, diligently working, paying taxes, buying houses, and raising their children. It's perverse there is any visa that lets someone stay in the country for decades without offering them a path to permanent residency and citizenship.

H1-Bs do have a path to permanent residence and so citizenship.

The problem is that the various rules around being on an H1-B make it super easy to exploit workers - which has a side effect of reducing permanent resident and citizen wages.

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