High tech job losses could put foreigners in limbo

By Alan Elsner

Reuters, March 27, 2001


WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Layoffs in the high technology sector and the collapse of many Internet start-ups could potentially put tens of thousands of foreign workers in legal limbo in the United States.

The workers, mainly from India, China and western Europe, were brought to the United States under special permits known as H-1B visas to work in high technology companies. If they lose their jobs, they automatically lose their legal right to stay in the country and are supposed to leave immediately.

``The law is that if you lose your job, you are out of status and you have to leave, unless you already have another visa application pending,'' said Greg Siskind, an immigration lawyer with Siskind, Susser, Haas and Devine in Memphis, Tennessee.

Until 1998 the yearly quota of such H-1B workers was 65,000. That year, as the high technology field exploded, it was raised to 115,000. In 2000, with the Internet revolution roaring ahead, it went up to 195,000 for each of the next three years.

Companies like to employ such foreign workers because they tend to demand less than native citizens, said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies.

``We're talking about hundreds of thousands of people who are pliable and dependable employees desperate to get their Green Cards (permanent residency visas) and will work 18-hour days to stay here,'' he said.

Nobody knows how many of these workers have lost their jobs recently or could lose them in the near future due to the Internet meltdown. But immigration experts believe the number could be quite substantial.


Processing slow

The Immigration and Naturalization Service is running 80 days behind in processing its case load and has no up-to-date figures. Additionally, many of these workers may try to stay in the United States illegally if they do get laid off.

INS spokeswoman Eyleen Schmidt said the agency was sensitive to the problem and might be inclined to look favorably on foreign workers who were abruptly terminated.

``If they can show extraordinary circumstances beyond their control that led them to be out of legal status, that would be taken into account if they found a new job and requested a renewal of their visas,'' she said. ``It would be adjudged on a case-by-case basis.''

But it would be illegal for anyone on a H-1B visa to begin a new job until their case had been adjudicated. That means even if such workers do find new jobs, they face several weeks or months without income.

H-1B visas are good for three years and can be extended for another three. Before that time runs out, many holders apply for permanent residency -- a stepping stone to citizenship.

Siskind said one problem was the abrupt way some of the technology companies were laying off workers without any notice at all. If foreigners had even one day's notice, they could file for a different visa, which would allow them to work while their request is pending.

Those who choose to defy the law by staying illegally could run into problems later. If they ever left the United States, even for a visit to their homeland, they could be denied reentry into the country.

``I've heard of cases of people who lost their jobs and find new ones in which they work illegally and then have serious consequences later on. They could be barred from coming back for 10 years,'' said Siskind.