You can legally work in the United States as a foreigner with the H-1B work visa.

This type of document is approved for individuals seeking to provide services in a specialized field, services of high merit and distinctive competence for cooperative research or development projects with the Department of Defense (DOD).

It also applies as an haute couture model or for advertising of great merit or notable ability, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Office (USCIS) explains.

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In recent months, we have seen hundreds of companies such as Microsoft, Twitter, Meta, Amazon and others announce massive layoffs at their subsidiaries around the world.

In this sense, workers in the United States have been no exception. While losing a job can be a very different stress load between those who are residents and those who work in the country, thanks to a work visa, such as the H-1B.

People who don’t have an H-1B visa have 60 days to find another job or, if they can’t, they have to leave the United States. Photo: Istock

“It is a very stressful situation I am in right now. Most companies are freezing hiring and many people have been laid off,” a software engineer in Cary, Pasupulati, who has lived in the United States for eight years, told The News&Observer.

People who are in the same position as him will have a period of 60 days to find another job or, if they don’t get one, they will have to leave the United States and return to their country of origin, in accordance with what the law dictates federation of the country

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Time to get a job when I’m laid off and I have an H-1B work visa

As an H-1B Skilled Worker or Couture Model, you can be admitted for up to three years.

The term is renewable, but generally cannot be extended beyond six years, though certain exceptions may exist under sections of the American Competition Act in the Twenty-First Century, the USCIS explains.

Not all is lost. But equally, you must maintain your zeal to resume a new job. Photo: Istock

For these cases, the employer is the one responsible for all costs associated with this type of visa. And according to USCIS, if any layoffs are made before the end of this period, they are also responsible for paying the transportation costs, to the countries of origin, of the employees hired through this route.

If you are a refugee or asylum seeker in the United States, you can use that same visa to “ask” some relatives

With the wave of layoffs that has occurred, mainly in the technology sector, but not the only one, millions of people have become unemployed.

To learn more about the eligibility criteria for H-1B visas and other important information, you can enter the following link.