THE ECONOMIC DOWNTURN AND ITS EFFECTS ON SPONSORED WORKERS AND H1B VISA HOLDERS - Updated February 2010
It has been a year since I wrote the original article about the economic downturn, and unfortunately, as of the end of February 2010, the situation has gotten worse. In 2010, unemployment rate has increased to about 10%, about 12% in California. Millions of people are out of work. Thousands of businesses are closing down every month. Every aspect of our communities has been affected by the global economic downturn. To address this problem, President, Barack Obama, signed the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009,” (the “Stimulus bill”). This bill provides a large number of tax credits and billions in U.S. dollars to programs that support American businesses and families, including extending the Unemployment Insurance benefits for thousands of laid-off workers. However, one year after the stimulus bill was signed into law, communities and families are still unable to get the much awaited relief as promised by the bill. Although the stimulus bill allegedly infused billions of dollars into our banks, certain new bank regulations make it very difficult for businesses and individuals to obtain credit and loan. Thus, the cycle of business closings and unemployment continue.
Many Sponsored workers and H1B visa holders have been displaced by being laid off of work. As if losing one’s employment and source of income is not devastating enough, it is worse because one’s immigration status is threatened to be lost too. Most of the time, family members are also involved.
AVAILABLE REMEDIES FOR LAID-OFF SPONSORED WORKERS AND H1B VISA HOLDERS
If you were a Sponsored worker or H1B visa holder and you were recently laid off, please do not lose hope. There are available remedies for you. Please call our office to discuss options available to preserve your status. We would be happy to assist you in finding other Employers/Sponsors for you.
UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS FOR LAID-OFF SPONSORED WORKERS AND H1B VISA HOLDERS
Many laid-off Sponsored workers may be eligible to apply for unemployment benefits. What are “unemployment benefits?” Briefly, these are benefits paid from unemployment insurance programs governed by State laws following federal guidelines. Such insurance programs are paid for by each State’s employers. For unemployment benefits to be provided, the programs require that employment be lost through no fault of the employee. This means that if the employee voluntarily resigns or is terminated for cause, he or she is ineligible for unemployment benefits.
However, some of these laid-off Sponsored workers do not apply for unemployment benefits, even if they are eligible to do so, for fear that such benefits may cause problems due to the public charge removability provisions under Immigration laws. Under the current Immigration laws, persons may be removed (deported) if they become subject to “public charge” within five years of their entry to the United States.
It is important to understand that unemployment benefits are not public charges per se because first, they are from insurance programs paid for by the employers; second, there is no government fee for this service; and third, there is no requirement for the employee to pay it back to the State. In fact, unemployment benefits are considered “taxable income” by the IRS. Thus, eligible laid-off Sponsored workers should apply for these benefits while they are unemployed.
To find out if one is eligible for unemployment benefits, any interested laid off worker must first check with his/her employer and/or State Unemployment agency to find out if the employer participated in the State Unemployment Insurance program.
This article is not intended to provide the reader any legal or tax advice. For more information on applicable legal remedies or tax benefits for you, please call our office at (714) 530-0042.