H-1B AND L-1 VISA

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Context: Indian IT professionals are struggling to find new employment in the US within the stipulated period under their work visas after thousands laid off.

Details:

• According to The Washington Post, nearly 200,000 IT workers have been laid off since November last year, including some record numbers in companies like Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon.
• Over 30 to 40 percent of the Indian IT professionals have been laid off in the US, news agency PTI has reported citing industry insiders. A significant number of whom are H-1B and L1 visa holders.

What is H-1B and L1 visa?

• The H-1B visais a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.
• Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.
• L-1A and L-1B visas are available for temporary intracompany transferees who work in managerial positions or have specialised knowledge. 

Impact:

• A significantly large number of Indian IT professionals, who are on non-immigrant work visas like H-1B are L1 and are now scrambling for options to stay in the US.
• They are now struggling to find a new job in the stipulated few months-time that they get under these foreign work visas after losing their jobs and change their visa status as well.
• The situation is getting worse for those on H-1B visas as they have to find a new job within 60 days or else, they would be left with no other option but to head back to India.
• As tech companies are of a layoff spree, getting a job within that short period, they feel is next to impossible.
• Adding to the miseries of these professionals is the latest decision of Google that they are pausing their Green Card processing.

https://www.livemint.com/news/india/laidoff-indian-it-professionals-scramble-for-options-to-stay-in-the-us-11674452788977.html