Miller Mayer immigration attorney Steve Yale-Loehr was quoted by the Times of India in “Laid-Off H-1B Workers to Get 6-Month Reprieve.” The article discusses a recommendation by a presidential advisory panel to extend the grace period for laid-off H-1B workers from 60 to 180 days. In the past six months, the article notes, many laid-off H-1B employees have highlighted on social media their plight of trying to find another job within the current 60-day grace period after a layoff. Mr. Yale-Loehr said that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) “is not required to follow that recommendation.” Moreover, he said, even if USCIS were to extend the grace period, the agency “might have to go through the normal rulemaking process to do that. That could take months.” Also, he noted, if USCIS extends the grace period, “expect a lawsuit by U.S. workers challenging the change as beyond the immigration agency’s authority. Finally, a grace period extension wouldn’t apply retroactively to help H-1B workers already laid off. In sum, laid-off H-1B workers should not get their hopes up yet.” Read the article here.
