A significant number of those fired from companies such as Twitter, Amazon and Meta include Indian workers on an H1-B work permit who have up to 60 days to find another job or move to a new visa category.
Immigration firms said in the last two months there had been a surge in interest around the EB-5 visa from Indians living in the United States as well as in India.
“This surge is being driven by multiple factors, including a feature in the new EB-5 law that allows Indians to file for adjustment of status (I-485) concurrently with EB-5, which makes it possible for them to stay in the US without returning to their home country,” said Peter Calaberese, CEO of CanAm Investor Services.
This is important in the current context for Indians already in the United States as they can legally stay on without a job once their residency applications (I-485) have been filed.
According to some estimates, companies have cut over 88,000 tech jobs in the US in the last few months, with about a third of these estimated to be immigrants on work permits.
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Given the current economic environment, experts said the chances of immediately finding another job to secure the visa status may not be easy.
The EB-5 visa provides two routes to investment, either through direct investment or through the regional centre program, which was reauthorized by the US government earlier this year.
As per the new provisions, applicants need to invest $800,000 if it is a project located in a rural area or a qualified high-unemployment zone or is an infrastructure project. If an applicant seeks permanent residency soon after submitting his EB5 application, the process is likely to take only a few years as against the normal route where current wait times for Indian applicants run into decades on account of the high numbers and country quotas.
“This is a huge benefit to H-1B and F-1 visa holders as, thanks to concurrent filing of EB-5 along with adjustment of status, they are able to receive interim benefits of work and travel authorization in about three-six months which amounts to having a quasi-green card while the EB-5 is pending. This is an almost immediate benefit from the $800,000 investment,” said Vivek Tandon, CEO, EB5 BRICS, an EB5 consultancy.
Early inquiries had started trickling in even before the layoffs were announced, said Abhinav Lohia, director – global business development, Golden Gate Global, an EB5 investment firm.
This was in part due to the pent-up demand as the program had been on hold for almost a year.
“I’ll say the techies felt the tremors before it hit the news,” he said. “There has been a surge in the last couple of months from H1-B and L-1 visa holders, and it’s a lot more now.”
The other reason why this option has become attractive is that it allows applicants to start their own venture, which wasn’t possible under the existing work permit provisions.
Over the last few years, Indians have emerged as the top applicants under this program, alongside China and Vietnam.
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