200000 H-1B Could Lose Legal Status By June

As many as 250,000 guest workers seeking a green card in the U.S and out of that approximately 2,00,000 are on H-1B visas. They all could lose their legal status by the end of June, according to Jeremy Neufeld, an immigration policy analyst with the Washington D.C.-based think tank Niskanen Center.

Manasi Vasavada, an H-1B, has less than 3-weeks left before she loses her legal right to be in America. The dental practice in Passaic County, NJ for almost 2-years and the organization closed its doors in mid-March due to Covid-19. She has been on an unpaid leave of absence ever since.

H-1B recipients can only remain in the country legally for 60 days without being paid. Her husband Nandan Buch is also a dentist and is in the country on an H-1B visa that expires in June. They have been watching the days. There may a time in June when the couple can’t stay and can’t go: India (their home), as the country has closed its borders indefinitely.

Thousands more who are not seeking resident status may also be forced to return home, he said. About 3 quarters of H-1B visas go to people working in the technology industry, though the exact levels vary year by year.

Tens of millions of US people have lost their jobs in the last 2-months, but workers on visas are vulnerable in ways native-born workers aren’t. H-1B visas are tied to a specific location and employer who commits to paying the recipient a minimum salary.