Ep 32: What Is English For "Job Loss on a Work Visa"?
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What happens to you if you lose a job on a work visa?
It's the biggest threat to your financial life in the US. In this short episode, we detail your options based on your specific work visa.
Generally, you have to leave the country in 60 days or less, depending on your visa type, visa stamp, home country, and where you are in the visa process. However, there are some unique nuances regarding your other options based on the type of this visa.
In this episode, we address the H-1B, L-1, E3, TN, and O visas and the specific repercussions of losing a job.
The speakers' views and opinions discussed in this episode should not be considered financial, tax, or legal advice. Consult your advisor for any legal, cross-border tax, and financial advice.
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Manasa Nadig, EA (00:01.038)
I think yes.
Jane Mepham (00:04.014)
And we are back with another Shortie episode of the International Money Cafe podcast. This is an episode where in 10 minutes or less, Manasa and I will take a time used in the cross -border space finances and taxes and just kind of give you a very high level overview of what this is. A while back, we completed episode 19, which really talked about the biggest threat
to your finances when you're on a work visa. And in that episode, we went through what you should do, how to prepare for it. Somebody reached out to me and said, okay, I'll listen to episode 19, but I'm curious about the different types of visas. So in today's Shortie episode, we're gonna take the five main work visas and tell you what happens if you lose a job.
on one of those visas. So the consequences of job loss on each specific H1B, I mean on each specific visa, sorry. And then go back to episode 19 to know how to prepare for this. How does this sound, Manasa?
Manasa Nadig, EA (01:18.434)
Yes, that sounds perfect. So I'm going to start out with some of these visas that I happen to work with a lot. And the first one is the L1A and the L1B visa. So you already know if you don't, The L1A and L1B visa are multinational workers being transferred from a foreign company to a US office.
and they're usually here for five to seven years. The consequences of a job loss on this visa is that they have to leave the country in 60 days or less or find another job on an L1 or an H1B visa, or they may have to switch to another non -immigrant visa.
Jane Mepham (02:09.43)
And now that you mentioned the H1B visa, let me talk about that. I do seem to get a lot of people reaching out to me on the H1B visa. This is a professional visa and there's again, whole bunch of different requirements. Your duration is typically three to six years, but you may be able to get yearly extensions if applying for a green card. So anyway, if you lose a job on the H1B visa, here are the consequences. One,
you need to leave the country in 60 days or less, you can find another job, but this job has to be on another H1B visa, or you can switch to another non -immigrant visa like a visitor's visa B1 or a student visa or something like
Manasa Nadig, EA (02:55.844)
Yeah, so the next visa we'll pick up is the TN visa. This visa is specifically for Canadians or people from Mexico. It's a NAFTA approved job and they're usually here for three years, but that's dependent on various entry requirements. So if you're on a TN visa and you lose your job, then again, you have to leave the country in 60 days or less.
or find another job on a TN or an H -1B visa, but the H -1B visa is subject to a lottery consideration and I'll leave Jane to clarify that. Or you have to switch to another non -immigrant visa.
Jane Mepham (03:46.062)
So when you talk about the lottery consideration, what that basically means is you have to go, a company has to offer you the job and then you get put into this pool because now there's thousands of people applying for a job on H1B visa. And then if you're lucky, your name will get picked because there's only 85 ,000 of these visas that they end up giving out. So to give you.
a number to kind of clarify this. I looked at it, I think it was in the last two years, the pool had something like over 500 ,000 people applied for this. So it can get pretty tricky and pretty hairy if you have to go back through this. Okay. Let me talk about the E3 visa. So this is a specialty occupation visa. It means I think like a bachelor's degree or higher, but the key thing is
Manasa Nadig, EA (04:28.066)
Hmm. Hmm, hmm.
Jane Mepham (04:41.55)
you have to be from Australia to get the E3 visa. It can be extended indefinitely in two year increments. Okay, if you lose a job on the E3 visa, one, you have to leave the country in 60 days or less. You have to find another job on either an H1B visa or an E3 visa, or you can switch to another non -immigrant visa.
Manasa Nadig, EA (05:08.996)
Yeah, I know. So we are seeing a pattern here. So consequences of a job loss on most of these work visas is that you have to leave the country in 60 days or less unless you find another job on a different or the same visa. So definitely now, the episode 19 where we talk about what you need to do to be prepared for this becomes really important.
So yeah, we do come to the end of another.
Jane Mepham (05:40.096)
No, there's one we didn't talk about.
Manasa Nadig, EA (05:42.792)
we did not. Yes. goodness. my goodness. Yes, yes, yes. Let's do that.
Jane Mepham (05:44.374)
Yes, the O -1 visa. Okay, I'll talk about it. Yeah, so the O -1 visa is the Extraordinary Ability Visa. It's actually been called the Hollywood visa because you have to have very special skills to get it. And the O -1 visa, you get it for three years. It can be extended indefinitely in one year increments, and it can be from any country.
Okay, if you lose a job on the 01 visa, again, as you said, you have to leave the country in 60 days or less. You have to find another job on the same or on an H1B visa, or you can switch to another non -immigrant visa. And I think we've covered all of them. Right, Manasa?
Manasa Nadig, EA (06:35.106)
Yes we did! We sneaked a O-1 in there too. So yes, so we come to an end of this great Shortie episode and like always please stay tuned for more. Go to our website and subscribe and we will be very happy to see you again on our next episode. Thanks! Bye!
Jane Mepham (06:39.413)
Absolutely.