In a big employment opportunity for people traveling to the United States (US) on business (B-1) or tourist (B-2) visa, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said that they can now apply for new jobs and even appear in interviews. However, the federal agency has asked the prospective employees to ensure the applicants have changed their visa status before starting the new role.
B1 visa and B2 visa are temporary, non-immigrant visas that allow holders to travel to the United States for either business or tourism purposes. Almost all reasons for temporary travel are covered by B visas except student travel, which is covered under F-1 visas.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), in a note said that when non-immigrant workers are laid off, they may not be aware of their options and may, in some instances, wrongly assume that they have no option but to leave the country within 60 days.
When a non-immigrant worker’s employment is terminated, either voluntarily or involuntarily, they typically may take one of the following actions, if eligible, to remain in a period of authorized stay in the US:
- File an application for a change of non-immigrant status;
- File an application for adjustment of status;
- File an application for a “compelling circumstances” employment authorization document; or
- Be the beneficiary of a non-frivolous petition to change employer.
If one of these actions occurs within the up to 60-day grace period, the nonimmigrant’s period of authorized stay in the US can exceed 60 days, even if they lose their previous non-immigrant status, said the USCIS in the note.
If the worker takes no action within the grace period, they and their dependents may then need to depart the United States within 60 days, or when their authorized validity period ends, whichever is shorter.
“Many people have asked if they can look for a new job while in B-1 or B-2 status. The answer is, yes. Searching for employment and interviewing for a position are permissible B-1 or B-2 activities,” wrote USCIS in a series of tweets.
“If you are in B-1 or B-2 status, please remember you may not engage in employment within the domestic labor market (also known as “local labor for hire”) while in B-1 status or engage in any employment while in B-2 status,” mentioned the USCIS tweet.
“Before beginning any new employment, a petition and request for a change of status from B-1 or B-2 to an employment-authorized status must be approved, and the new status must take effect,” added the federal agency.
“Alternatively, if the change of status request is denied or the petition for new employment requested consular or port of entry notification, the individual must depart the U.S. and be admitted in an employment-authorized classification before beginning the new employment,” said the USCIS in the tweet.
