Over 200,000 H-1B Workers Could Lose Legal Status by June

[Meowmeow]

Over 200,000 H-1B Workers Could Lose Legal Status by June

Concerns arise about “a catastrophe at a human level and an economic level” if visa issues aren’t addressed.  

By 

Olivia Carville

 and 

Shelly Banjo

April 28, 2020, 6:00 AM EDT

Manasi Vasavada and Nandan Buch

 

Source: Nandan Buch

Manasi Vasavada has less than three weeks left before she loses her legal right to be in the country. The dental practice in Passaic County, New Jersey, where Vasavada, 31, has worked for almost two years closed its doors in mid-March due to Covid-19. She has been on an unpaid leave of absence ever since.  

Vasavada is in the country on an H-1B visa, a temporary visa program designed for people with specialized skills. H-1B recipients can only remain in the country legally for 60 days without being paid. Her husband Nandan Buch, also a dentist, is in the country on an H-1B visa that expires in June. They have been watching the days tick by with growing fear.

There may soon come a point when the couple can’t stay and can’t go: India, their home country, has closed its borders indefinitely. They also have a combined $520,000 in student loans from the advanced dental degrees they completed at U.S. universities, which would be nearly impossible to pay back on the salaries they would earn in India. The stress has caused Buch, also 31, to start losing his hair. Neither of them is sleeping well. “Everything is really confusing and dark right now,” said Vasavada. “We don’t know where we will end up.”

As many as 250,000 guest workers seeking a green card in the U.S.—about 200,000 of them on H-1B visas—could lose their legal status by the end of June, according to Jeremy Neufeld, an immigration policy analyst with the Washington D.C.-based think tank Niskanen Center. Thousands more who are not seeking resident status may also be forced to return home, he said. About three-quarters of H-1B visas go to people working in the technology industry, though the exact levels vary year by year. 

Tens of millions of Americans have lost their jobs in the last two months, but workers on visas are vulnerable in ways native-born workers aren’t. H-1B visas, for instance, are tied to a specific location and employer who commits to paying the recipient a minimum salary. Furloughing recipients, reducing their wages, and in some cases allowing them to work from home violates visa requirements. H-1B workers who are terminated have 60-days to find another job, transfer to a different visa or leave the country. Even if they don’t lose their jobs, workers can find themselves in a dilemma if they can’t get their visas renewed during this period of disruption.

[soldier]

Lol em matladutaru raa bhai vellu 

constiction worker code rasda, chef project management chestada 

American workers unemployment ayithe edo oka job istara vallaki. 
vedu kuda my boy press brifing chesinatyu undi

 

[Anta Assamey]

Adenti only 250,000 waiting for GC aa ??? anta takkuva unnara .... 

[ring_master]

31 minutes ago, Meowmeow said:

Over 200,000 H-1B Workers Could Lose Legal Status by June

Concerns arise about “a catastrophe at a human level and an economic level” if visa issues aren’t addressed.  

By 

Olivia Carville

 and 

Shelly Banjo

April 28, 2020, 6:00 AM EDT

Manasi Vasavada and Nandan Buch

 

Source: Nandan Buch

Manasi Vasavada has less than three weeks left before she loses her legal right to be in the country. The dental practice in Passaic County, New Jersey, where Vasavada, 31, has worked for almost two years closed its doors in mid-March due to Covid-19. She has been on an unpaid leave of absence ever since.  

Vasavada is in the country on an H-1B visa, a temporary visa program designed for people with specialized skills. H-1B recipients can only remain in the country legally for 60 days without being paid. Her husband Nandan Buch, also a dentist, is in the country on an H-1B visa that expires in June. They have been watching the days tick by with growing fear.

There may soon come a point when the couple can’t stay and can’t go: India, their home country, has closed its borders indefinitely. They also have a combined $520,000 in student loans from the advanced dental degrees they completed at U.S. universities, which would be nearly impossible to pay back on the salaries they would earn in India. The stress has caused Buch, also 31, to start losing his hair. Neither of them is sleeping well. “Everything is really confusing and dark right now,” said Vasavada. “We don’t know where we will end up.”

As many as 250,000 guest workers seeking a green card in the U.S.—about 200,000 of them on H-1B visas—could lose their legal status by the end of June, according to Jeremy Neufeld, an immigration policy analyst with the Washington D.C.-based think tank Niskanen Center. Thousands more who are not seeking resident status may also be forced to return home, he said. About three-quarters of H-1B visas go to people working in the technology industry, though the exact levels vary year by year. 

Tens of millions of Americans have lost their jobs in the last two months, but workers on visas are vulnerable in ways native-born workers aren’t. H-1B visas, for instance, are tied to a specific location and employer who commits to paying the recipient a minimum salary. Furloughing recipients, reducing their wages, and in some cases allowing them to work from home violates visa requirements. H-1B workers who are terminated have 60-days to find another job, transfer to a different visa or leave the country. Even if they don’t lose their jobs, workers can find themselves in a dilemma if they can’t get their visas renewed during this period of disruption.

520K ante 3.9 crores.. each person 2 crores anukundaamm

Anta education loan istara asalu india lo

[Scada]

[Meowmeow]

2 hours ago, ring_master said:

520K ante 3.9 crores.. each person 2 crores anukundaamm

Anta education loan istara asalu india lo

Yes. 

[sri_india]

add me to that list ....... FT position  kabbati lay off chesthy inka india keeee 

[Meowmeow]

4 minutes ago, sri_india said:

add me to that list ....... FT position  kabbati lay off chesthy inka india keeee 

Dentist no WFH

[ring_master]

14 minutes ago, Meowmeow said:

Yes. 

home loans okay......education ki anta enduku ra bujje

[Meowmeow]

Just now, ring_master said:

home loans okay......education ki anta enduku ra bujje

My I-20 amount is 70,000$ per year. I went to school for 6 years. If I didn't get fee waiver, I would have had to pay 420,000$ as tuition fee. It is possible. 

[ring_master]

5 minutes ago, Meowmeow said:

My I-20 amount is 70,000$ per year. I went to school for 6 years. If I didn't get fee waiver, I would have had to pay 420,000$ as tuition fee. It is possible. 

nenu maatledi loan gurinchi...I don't think Indian banks would give $hit if you don't show that much property value

[Meowmeow]

1 minute ago, ring_master said:

nenu maatledi loan gurinchi...I don't think Indian banks would give $hit if you don't show that much property value

I don't know how loans work. But it would be stupid for someone to deny education in a great school only because they can't afford it. 

[sri_india]

21 minutes ago, Meowmeow said:

Dentist no WFH

right .... Dentist on h1-B very tough situation ....

[acuman]

15 minutes ago, ring_master said:

nenu maatledi loan gurinchi...I don't think Indian banks would give $hit if you don't show that much property value

Dental DDS ki admission vachhi and citizen surity sign vesthe ikkada banks isthayi

[ring_master]

Just now, acuman said:

Dental DDS ki admission vachhi and citizen surity sign vesthe ikkada banks isthayi

veelu default chesthe aa surity sign chesinodu kadtaada?