Visa Lawyer Blog
In November, the U.S. economy shed jobs at the fastest rate in 34 years – and experts say December could be even worse. The number of jobs lost in the current recession, which began in December 2007, surpasses the 1.6 million jobs lost in the 2001 recession.
As a result, job losses were spread across a wide variety of industries: manufacturing, leisure and hospitality, construction and even, in the midst of the holiday shopping season, retail. Also seeing sharp declines were professional and business services, a category seen by some economists as a proxy for overall economic activity, and financial services, at the heart of the current crisis.
In November the number of people with a higher degree who were out of work rose to 1.413 million from 1.411 million in the previous month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Many of the workers losing their jobs are visa workers. Employees sponsored by companies for visas like H1B’s, J1’s and H2B’s. Once a visa worker looses his job, he must depart the country or find an alternative employer as soon as possible. The longer such an employee stays unemployed, the harder it will be to get the visa transfered.
Industries like software development, research and bio-tech depend on skilled foreign workers to keep innovation going. Unfortunately, at times of economic crisis, when layoffs start, visa workers tend to go first.
We have decided to do our share and help America’s Money Crisis by offering legal support to transitioning H1B visas workers where time is of the essence.
So if you are on a visa and just lost your job, tell us about it. We want to hear your story. And if you need help, click here for a FREE legal support consultation.
We will post the most interesting stories on CNN ireport Have you lost your job? page