EP 9: Navigating the Alphabet: Work Visas and Investing in the U.S.
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Foreign nationals on work visas are very keen to take advantage of the U.S. Tax code when it comes to investing and saving for retirement and other financial needs.
They are looking to save for retirement, their kid's college funding and other financial goals.
Like American citizens, they would like to take advantage of the tax-advantaged accounts like 401k plans, 403b plans, Roth IRAs, 529 college savings plans as well as health savings accounts.
Unfortunately, due to the temporary nature of the work visas (they are all nonimmigrant visas), they face unique challenges that make it very difficult to accomplish these goals.
In this episode, your co-hosts Jane Mepham, CFP, and Manasa Nadig, EA, discuss the challenges that range from brokerages that won't open accounts to the lost benefits of some tax-advantaged accounts when moving overseas due to tax-treaties amongst other issues.
In the second half, they detail solutions that will allow you to invest in the U.S. on a work visa despite the fact that you may not know where you are going to be when you retire.
Jane and Manasa, started out on work visas, so they have lived out the exact challenges they discuss in this episode.
If you are a foreign national on a work visa - this episode is for you.
The views and opinions are those of the speakers and 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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Jane Mepham, CFP (00:01.9)
Are you a foreign national on a work visa that's been laid off, especially Amazon? This episode is for you. Over the last couple of weeks, actually last week, there's been a lot of announcements about folks being laid off. Specifically Amazon announced it was all over the news that they were letting go 30,000 people. Now, based on all the data that Manasa and I look at,
we know that Amazon has one of the highest numbers of foreign nationals on work visa. And these visas range all the way from H1B to L1 to O1 to TN. So there's a very high chance that people on work visas are impacted by this layoff. So in today's episode, we are addressing this specific group of Amazon workers, as well as other workers at tech companies.
that have been impacted by these layoffs. We're going to talk about how we help you stay, not only stay in the country, but really what you can do as far as like your immigration status and really help you get back on your feet. Manasa, this is really sad news, I know, but where do you want to start?
Manasa Nadig, EA (01:23.577)
I'm going to start by saying, yes, dealing with a layoff is not easy. You have to be super strong. We consider jobs as a big part of our identity and definitely losing your job is a lot. It leaves us with a void. It leaves us with having to deal with grief. And typically, I think
This would be a time when you could pause and maybe take the time to mourn and grieve that loss. But unfortunately, being on a work visa, it means that you don't have much time to dwell on all of that. And that is something that can definitely add to your level of stress. So...
Our advice on this is to be super strong, one, but then also focus on what your next steps should be. It may sound really harsh at this point, but things can get worse unless you act fast. And our goal today in this episode is to probably hit on a few points.
which will help you stay in control of what is obviously a very bad situation. And we empathize, know, we, Jane and I have been on work visas, H1B, well, sorry, not L1, but J1 visas. And we totally understand that gut-wrenching, churning fear that comes with any discussion of layoffs.
Our clients are on work visas. We work with foreign nationals on work visas. And I personally talk to many prospects on work visas. And so we get it. And of course, thinking about the families and your family members who are relying on you to maintain this job and families maybe back home who have
Manasa Nadig, EA (03:50.245)
or who may have worked really hard to get to where you are, thinking about all of this is very, very tough. So if you want, take some time to just find a spot to, you know, reinforce your strength, but then do get to work, please. So.
If it means being on autopilot for the next 30 to 60 days, just do it. It'll be okay. It'll be okay. But do it.
Jane Mepham, CFP (04:26.574)
Okay, let's get to work, right? So your primary goal, as far as this is concerned, is to stay in the country and we're going to talk a lot about this today, or exit on your own terms. Now, if you're going to plan to exit on your own terms, we actually have a checklist that we've put together that helps you go through the process of exiting the
Manasa Nadig, EA (04:30.675)
Yes.
Jane Mepham, CFP (04:56.648)
U.S. again on your own terms. We're going to link that in the show notes. But let's get back to your primary goal being able to stay in the country. So we've already talked about the different visas that foreign nationals at Amazon and a lot of tech companies are on. Again, we know it sucks to lose your job. And hopefully you've done
Prior to this, you had put some work in as far as getting ready. I actually have a post I did a couple weeks ago that actually talks about how you prepare for a tech layoff. So now we need to put that into action. But even if you have not followed that, there is still hope for you, okay? So.
The way we've done this, because we love checklists, I think just being a planner, being organized, we like to do things in form of checklists, if you like, very deliberate intentional steps. we've divvied this up into different steps and we are actually giving it like different days. So day zero, which is when you got the notice to day 10. And these are what we are calling ASAP.
steps. Okay. Now these tabs are right now focused on your immigration timeline. So the first thing you want to do is look at your key timelines. When exactly does your employment end? Right. Because we go with the last day of work performed, not necessarily the last day that you got paid. And if you're not sure about that, because of your immigration status,
it's best to have an immigration lawyer look over this with you. And by the way, one of the things we always talk about, this is probably not the time to go talk to the company immigration lawyer because by nature of their job, they're going to be more focused on the company itself. You really want to have a different immigration lawyer for yourself. And by the way, I know of different immigration lawyers.
Jane Mepham, CFP (07:08.544)
on LinkedIn who are offering quick, what should we call it? Consultations, they're paid consultations, but reasonably priced. Let's put it that way. So one, make sure you have a consult with an immigration lawyer and discuss your options. And I'm gonna talk about some of those. And then as you're getting ready to go talk to your immigration lawyer, check the validity of your I-94.
The 60 day grace period that we all talk about assumes you have this much time remaining because technically, and we've addressed this in prior episodes, if you lose your job and you don't do anything about it, you have 60 days in which you need to leave the country. So check to see if you truly have 60 days.
But if it's not 60 days, unfortunately, your window of opportunities shrinks a lot and you only have something like a 10 day grace period to leave the country, find another job or switch to a different visa. Now the next bit of advice, this is specifically from immigration lawyers. We all talk about switch to another visa if you can and what their
recommending is to actually switch to what's called a B2 visa, which is a visitor's visa. If you're able to do that, that gives you another total of six months to be able to stay in the country. So it really gives you more time to evaluate your options. If you're married, you could switch to a dependent visa. So let's say your spouse is on H1B and their job is still okay. You could switch to the H4 visa.
or you could switch to F2 visa if your spouse is let's say on the F1 visa. So look to see if you're able to switch to another dependent visa or absolutely switch to a B2 visitor visa because that at least allows you to stay in the country for another six months or so. And then as you're doing all this, and of course you're doing this with help of an immigration lawyer, I can't stress that enough because Manasa and I are not immigration lawyers.
Jane Mepham, CFP (09:27.212)
Let's get your resume to everybody who has a connection in the industry. Update your LinkedIn profile. Don't be embarrassed to put there that I am looking for a job and tell them what kind of a job you're looking for, right? Let people know because time is not on your side. Don't forget to check internal postings at your former employer as well. So there's a possibility you may be able to do an internal switch.
which of course I think would be ideal, right? And then I think we've already talked about switching to a dependent visa, but now if your spouse is on a dependent visa and there's a remote chance they could obtain a work visa, please have them start looking as well. Because if one of you gets a job, then you have a chance to go on with your life. So that was day zero to day 10.
Manasa do you want to jump into the next one?
Manasa Nadig, EA (10:27.165)
Yeah, that was a lot to think about. And thank you, Jane. really put that into very actionable steps. Definitely. Now that you know what your ASAP steps are, I think we would like to then say day 11 to day 20, you need to go into emergency mode. Now, what is this emergency mode?
Jane Mepham, CFP (10:29.856)
Yeah.
Manasa Nadig, EA (10:56.469)
Because the first thing, if I was in your place, I would do is to analyze what my exact financial situation is. So in order to do that, I would go look at all of the paperwork that I have, know, bank statements, brokerage statements, everything that I can download and look at, and definitely make sure that all of
My taxes are filed and I'm up to date with my tax returns for the year. And that involves compliance with all of the foreign stuff as well that we keep talking about on our episodes. Really important to make sure that that's done. And all of the other paperwork that you have, a house, cars, insurance, everything. So gather all of that information. So that's part of your emergency mode, day 11 to day 20.
And while you're doing that, obviously, you do not have the time or the effort or the energy to go look into big ticket items. This is definitely not the time to be looking at buying a house or a rental property or a car even. That would be something that both Jane and I would think is not something that we would advise.
And while you're looking at your finances and looking through all of the financial situation that you need to arrange for, do make sure that you have enough to pay for an airfare back home and, you know, make arrangements for that if you think that you might need help. That's just of what I would say is an emergency mode from day 11 to day 20, Jane.
Jane Mepham, CFP (12:51.904)
You know, that last one is kind of sad, but I think it's just being practical, which leads me to day 21 to day 40, which we're calling practical, practical, practical, right? The goal is to ensure you have a solid plan by the end of this. So step up your job, search.
People you haven't talked to in years, again, don't be embarrassed if you need a job, reach out to everybody, get your family to help you to support you on this journey, the whole job search journey. If you have older kids and this is what I'm talking about being practical, what I'm going to suggest may not, will not work for you. I get it. Okay. It also has to be right for your family, but
If at all possible, consider sending your family back home if it makes sense and if it helps you focus on your job search. It also has to make economic sense and work for your family. And the only reason Manasa and I talk about this, because I've seen somebody do this. I saw a friend do this and it really worked for them. The spouse took the kids home. They were younger kids, which allowed
the friend to actually give up on the rental, moving with another friend and focus like 300 % on the job search. And in their situation, it worked because they'd been planning on having the kids spend a couple months in their home country. So it has to work for you. The whole idea is you want to be a hundred percent focused on this job search and you want to make sure everybody, your family, everybody is really focused on this.
Manasa Nadig, EA (14:41.193)
Yes, yes. I totally empathize with that. In fact, you know, I also know someone recently who found out that they had been laid off from one of the auto companies and they were on an H1B. And the first thing we told them to do was just start to network out your resumes, know, that there's enough can't be said about how quickly that needs to happen.
And I'm glad that that turned out to be a happy ending because now they did get a job in another company and their H1 is secure. yeah, so that was day 21 to day 40 being practical. you're kind of, after day 40, you're kind of bumping up against the day 41 to day 60 period, which is when things get
really heated up. So the only thing that I could say here is don't give up. Hopefully by now you have a game plan in place and if you get a new job, your employer has already started a new visa process and you can sit back and relax. But if that hasn't happened, you know, you can't work till you're
petition is approved or you haven't found a new job for which then you may have to go back and do the other things that Jane just said. The government shutdown that's going on right now. Today we're recording. It's October 31st, Halloween and kind of scary. But it is going to complicate things, I guess. So hopefully the government shutdown will end quickly.
but we can focus on what we can control as we always say. working with your immigration lawyer is definitely, definitely very important. Right, And also other considerations like health insurance, but I'll leave that up to you to go in and talk about.
Jane Mepham, CFP (16:50.505)
Yeah, ain't...
Jane Mepham, CFP (16:57.327)
Sure. So the D60, this could be it for you. But remember, if you switch to the B1, the B1 visit, a visa that we talked about at the beginning of the article, you actually have six months, not 60 days to explore other options. If you've been able to switch to a dependent visa,
Manasa Nadig, EA (17:19.123)
right.
Jane Mepham, CFP (17:23.935)
then the validity of your visa is based on the primary holder's visa. So you definitely have more time. So we've talked about 60 days, but you do have the opportunity if you act quickly to ensure that to actually give you more time in the process. So it's key that you actually do that. You've alluded to health insurance. So let me address that right now. We all know that the worst thing that can happen
Manasa Nadig, EA (17:47.903)
Right.
Jane Mepham, CFP (17:51.503)
to lose your insurance coverage and then have a medical emergency. Now here's what we found out. You can enroll in COBRA, which is fantastic. Your immigration status, meaning you don't have a job, does not prevent you from enrolling in COBRA. So losing your job is what allows you to get into the program and it runs for 18 to 36 months. Of course, there's going to be...
there's going to be costs associated with it. Right. Now there could be other options to consider. We do want to call out that you're not eligible for the ACA type of coverage, you know, marketplace coverage that only goes to people who have green cards or who are citizens. It's as simple as that. So this option is close to you. So the other option is if your partner has a job,
and they have insurance, this is probably the easiest option. You will be able to claim what's called a life-changing event. And so you can get onto their insurance plan. This is also what we call Showtime Health Insurance Plans. These will cover you for a short period, typically up to a year. And honestly, they're temporary solutions. So you really want to weigh the cost versus your need. But if you have a need,
it's an option, right? And then there's also what we describe as a what's called travel plan health insurance. It's, it's really very similar to the short term health insurance plan that you can get into. The key thing is evaluate your family situation, figure out what makes the most sense for your family and go with that plan. And it all comes back to what we talked about at the beginning.
is your plan to stay or are you going to make a plan to exit? focus on what you can control. Manasa, what else do want to add to this?
Manasa Nadig, EA (19:53.745)
I think that at this point, I would definitely like to tell our dear listeners that we totally empathize and we understand that this is a really tough time for you. And tough times are when you're vulnerable and you might get attracted by people selling some kind of immigration scams. So be careful of that. And, you know,
Remember the immigrant mindset that we both talk about all the time. That is, you have what it takes. You got up to this point and you really need to dig deep at times, but you do have that mindset. The hardworking, positive mindset is what you need to focus on. And if it is a possibility, speaking of immigrant mindset,
And if it is a possibility that you can't move back to your home country, then please do look at other countries that are opening up the job offers. Don't give up hope. Have a plan in place. And to help you with your plan, do check out the checklist, which we will put a link to in our show notes. And most of all, dear listener,
Thank you. Thank you for being here. Thank you for listening to our episodes and encouraging us. And if you think that these steps today was something that was helpful to you, please share this episode with your friends. And we're hoping for the best and we're hoping that if you are really looking at being terminated, then best of luck. Thank you.
Jane Mepham, CFP (21:52.076)
Thank you.
