Is she out of status?

E

EcosseLad

Registered Users (C)
My friend got laid off last April, her H1-B is good until March 08. Since April she has been trying to find a new job and surviving on her layoff pay, because she was told that she can't claim unemployment.

I was under the impression that you need to leave the country if not employed under your H1, she seems to think she is ok to stay and get a new job who will pick up the remaining time.

Is she in status or no? If not, what risks is she running by remaining here? I'm hoping someone here can give me some insight, so she doesn't mess things up, or at least to put my mind at ease if she is indeed right about staying.
 
EcosseLad said:
My friend got laid off last April, her H1-B is good until March 08. Since April she has been trying to find a new job and surviving on her layoff pay, because she was told that she can't claim unemployment.

I was under the impression that you need to leave the country if not employed under your H1, she seems to think she is ok to stay and get a new job who will pick up the remaining time.

Is she in status or no? If not, what risks is she running by remaining here? I'm hoping someone here can give me some insight, so she doesn't mess things up, or at least to put my mind at ease if she is indeed right about staying.
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I worked on R visa for a while. I understand it is very similar with H. In my case, I could ONLY work for one (sponsoring) employer and as long as my employer was willing to have me there. However, if I would leave, my employer would have to report to USCIS and I would need to leave the country. I think with H there is a way to swap employers, however I would imagine staying here without working will get you out of status. There is definately some grace period, but not working for 4 months might be getting her into trouble. If she overstayes over the grace period for less than 180 days - she is a subject to 3 year ban, if longer than 180 days - subject to 10 year ban...meaning she cannot come back into the US for 3/10 years...
 
So what I'm hearing is

That she is out of status. Even if she gets a job now, will she be able to apply for an H1 transfer? Should she leave the country now and try to continue her search abroad? Even if she gets a job will her period out of status pretty much FOOBAR any hope she had of getting a new visa?

Thanks
 
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