State of H-1B Visa Holders in the Union: Era of economic uncertainty is casting a spotlight on the limitations of the H-1B immigration process
It is well established that firms serve themselves and their employees well when they stay fiscally healthy even at the cost of laying off a portion of their workers. But large-scale layoffs by tech companies facing recessionary headwinds, coming right after rapid growth and profits of the pandemic-era makes workers feel shortchanged. Among them are imported workers on H-1B visas, who have a 60-day grace period to transfer their visa to a new employer in the USA or start life elsewhere. 75% of the allotted H-1B visas are granted to India-born high-tech professionals each year.
Tech jobs were hit hardest by layoffs last year- 97,000 across the sector. More than 77,000 workers in US-based tech companies have been laid off in the first six weeks of 2023. The world’s media wanted a share of their lay-off stories. But most laid-off Indian H-1B holders wished the media lay off, closing the news world’s access to them, barring a few posts on LinkedIn.
A software engineer laid off by Twitter agreed to communicate with me via a highly encrypted app without revealing his name. He comes from a ‘low-income household’ in India, says he excelled in academics and wanted to reach great heights in his career. “My family supported my education in the US by taking a huge loan. They have sacrificed their dreams and happiness for me to achieve mine and I am forever indebted [to them]. They are completely dependent on me,” he says. Everything he built is on the line for him and his family. Actively hunting for a job to be able to stay in the country, he does not want media presence to come in the way of his efforts.
A young mother taking care of her weeks old newborn was laid off by a major tech firm while on maternity leave. Planning to focus on her baby, she was unprepared for the strain of juggling recruitment preparation and interview calls with motherhood. The H-1B holder Indian felt that her ‘job was stable’ only to realize that employee protection laws in the country are unfavorable to those on a work visa. She does not want any media mentions that identify her.
The H-1B families who confided about their upended lives and personal uncertainty were not willing to ‘jeopardize’ their employment search, nor did they ‘want to upset USCIS’ (US Citizenship and Immigration Services) fearing possible consequences on current and future visa prospects. “We are suffering, but please don’t quote me,” was the common refrain coming from highly educated, articulate H-1B Indian Americans, considered the ‘top tech talent’ in the world, most earning upwards of a quarter million dollars annually.
H-1B families are extremely concerned about sharing their experiences also because – ‘what if our kids see it on the internet’. Valid fears. 14-year-old Tanvi Marupally has been missing from her home in Arkansas since 17 January 2023. Her H-1B holder father Pavan has made online pleas to reassure her that his job is secure, hoping that she hears him. He believes that with tech layoffs in the news, Tanvi ran away fearing the family might have to move to India if he got laid off. The youngster had experienced her mother’s job loss and uprooting. Pavan told THV11 that when his wife had to return to India and search for employment it took a year for the family to be reunited.
Indian American teenagers wish they could convince Tanvi to return. “It is very brave to run away from home, but she must be very conflicted. I want to tell her – I understand how difficult the situation is, but I am sure everything will work out,” says an 11th grader based in New Jersey, whose parents had the difficult chat with her about ‘fear of deportation in case of job loss’, very early on. Despite ‘being aware’ the strong student’s grades tumbled in 2021 when her father was not able to re-enter USA for many weeks (due to lack of stamping appointments) after cremating her Dadaji who had succumbed to Covid-19 in India.
Indian families on H-1B visas live in the U.S. for years building vast personal and professional networks. Their children grow up knowing America to be their only home yet remain acutely aware of the fault lines amidst the mass layoffs. A high schooler in Texas who envies his peers for the advantage of paid internships, is persevering harder these days, “I try to focus on what is in my control, work hard for my grades and not worry about what I can’t control.” His mother, terrified about her son aging out, adds that the “fear is heightened these days with huge layoffs” taking place. As per Cato estimates, ‘roughly 90,000 children of immigrants – mainly Indians – will age out of green card eligibility during their waits’.
Speaking about the fear of impermanence in young children, Sociologist Dr Pallavi Banerjee of the University of Calgary says, “If they must leave their country, the only one they have thought they belong to, within 60 days of their parents losing their jobs, everything else falls to the sides. The message they are getting is you really don’t belong here. Children process uncertainty with fear, impacting their futures.”
It does not have to be this harsh – the right to live in the country is voided in 60 days after the avenue to contribute to the economy is snatched away. H-1B and similar specialty visa holders, their families and many others in the industry strongly believe the 60-day window is inadequate. It is heartening to find samaritans in the industry, peer Indian Americans rallying to help find jobs for those whom the clock is ticking by tapping into their own networks. Support groups have sprung up online and offline following mass layoffs, but expressions of ‘shame’ come up constantly in group chatter. IIT Bay Area Alumni Association’s board member Dharmesh Jani who has set up supportive events explains why most avoid opening, “When an Indian is granted an H-1B visa, there is jubilation around it as USA is a destination of choice. When they lose that job, in our culture, unfortunately, it carries a sense of shame – that they are not good.”
H-4 holding spouses with a green card petition are not able to provide for their families financially when the H-1B visa holder is laid off, because their work permit also becomes void immediately. Over 93% of current H-4 EAD holders are South Asian women. Having faced numerous breaks in their professional careers due to the ‘restrictive visa regime’, spouses on H-4 visa feel helpless amidst mass layoffs.
Despite hardships, the USA continues to be a magnet for many aspirational Indian immigrants who consider the cutting-edge work environment their dream ‘land of opportunity’. U.S. dominance in science and technology has required a steady import of talent from abroad. According to a 2022 American Immigration Council factsheet, the economic benefits of the H-1B visa program are felt in communities across the country, not just in the technology firms of Silicon Valley. Firms profit from foreign workers who fill a critical gap in the US labor market, complement American workers, expanding job opportunities for all. The H-1B route was traversed by numerous prominent Indian Americans including Alphabet’s CEO Sundar Pichai, who has affirmed that his success and Google’s success has depended upon the H-1B immigration process.
Given how critical immigrants are for the economy, to maintain US competency the immigration system needs an overhaul. The cyclical nature of economic swings and the era of economic uncertainty is casting a fresh spotlight on its constraints. As per Cato Institute nearly 82% (2021) of the employment‐based backlog is for Indians. The infamous Green Card queue makes Indian H-1B families vulnerable to shocking disruptions like mass layoffs, discourages entrepreneurship and compels talented individuals to move their careers to other countries.
Every bit of piecemeal reform – the new pilot project of stamping visas on U.S. soil, and the USCIS update with Child Protection Act age calculation for certain adjustment applicants – is welcomed. Indian ‘H-4 wives’ rejoiced when H4-EADs were granted by President Obama in 2014. The Biden-Harris administration should want to commission permanent employment authorization for Americans-in-waiting, the H-1B & H-4 holders in the Green Card queue.
President Biden who ran a pro-worker and pro-immigrant campaign, is caught in between. A full-scale reform might be tricky. To begin, an extension of the grace period from 60 days to six months or even a year for H-1B (and F-1 OPT) holders is a consideration which can be swiftly implemented by a Presidential order.
Savita Patel is a San Francisco Bay Area based journalist whose work appears in leading Indian and international news brands including BBC, The Quint, Outlook-India, India Today TV (Aajtak), and ABP TV. She reports on Indian diaspora, tech, immigration, geo-politics, and culture. In earlier roles, Savita led award-winning Features teams at Aajtak (India Today’s Hindi TV News Network); was Producer & Editor of TV features – Worldview India (international affairs), Across Seven Seas (Indian diaspora), & India Business Report (BBC); and California-based Correspondent for Voice of America. She received her Master’s Degree in mass communication from AJK Mass Communication Research Center in New Delhi, and studied Broadcast Journalism at University of Wales in Cardiff. She has been awarded the East-West Center’s journalism fellowship and the British Council’s Chevening scholarship.
