So many clients I’ve talked to recently, during this period of many layoffs across the industry, are here on work visas.
If you are here on a work visa but don’t have a permanent status via Green Card, AND if you are let go or laid off, then you have 60 to 90 days to find a new employer, or sponsor of their status to continue working in the United States or face deportation: Tech layoffs send visa holders on frantic search for employment to avoid deportation – CNBC.
60 TO 90 DAYS TO FIND A NEW JOB OR GET *DEPORTED*.
So while layoffs are stressful for anyone generally…
For those here in the U.S. on a work visa, this stress is uniquely magnified by the fact that if you don’t find a company to sponsor your work visa as soon as possible, the USCIS will come for you – and your family – and ask you to leave the country.
SH*T!
Fears of:
First, losing their livelihood with loss of job…
Then, the stress of finding a new job in record time…
And during a time of economic distress…
Then, the potential of being forced to pick up and leave the country…
Not only you, but your entire family…
Leaving behind real property, like a house or car…
Disruption of life in general: kids in schools, communities you are a part of, going back to a country you may not want to go back to.
You don’t even need to have experienced a layoff.
You feel this even if the threat is there.
For my clients in this situation, they arrive extremely fearful, anxious, and stressed. Through some coaching inquiry, we find that this is affecting them, despite having been through layoffs and still remaining at the company.
Unique resolutions are then found, mainly in the areas of finding solace and fulfillment in the present, versus in the chaos and uncertainty of an imagined future. We also rediscover confidence in self and the ability to persevere in the face of adversity.
While I don’t like to post political views, it is an unfortunate truth that the current attitudes in U.S. towards immigrants and foreign workers is causing mental health issues in workers making a tremendous contribution to society here in the States.
We can only hope that positive change can come, with the shifting political climate.
Comment if this post speaks to your situation…
PS. Check out the USCIS website for some incredibly complex information about all the different work visa classifications.
Leave a Reply