Losing a job while being pregnant can be heartbreaking. For someone on an H-1B visa, it can be even more stressful because of visa rules and extra scrutiny.
A social media post by an H-1B visa holder has gone viral after she shared her painful experience of being laid off during her third trimester of pregnancy. The woman said she was getting ready to request maternity leave when she suddenly got the news that she was being let go.
“I am in my third trimester and was planning to request maternity leave. But I got the news I am being let go. What should I do?” she wrote. “My husband has been looking for a job since he got laid off a few months ago. He didn’t take COBRA and we were on my insurance plan. Now we are both out of work, it’s not looking good. My husband is a green card holder and I am on H-1B.”
This post shows the difficult situation many foreign professionals in US face when job loss happens at such a vulnerable time. For people like her, losing a job is not just about losing income, it can also mean losing their legal status to stay in the country, their health insurance, and their family’s sense of security.
‘You can always go back home’
Netizens posted their opinion on the post. A user noted, “Remember, you can always return to India. With your USD you can live off comfortably and find a new job. Few years down the line, you can be back in states with a new shiny job.”
“She is not American! Why should tax payers pay her bill… she can go back to her home country,” added another.
“My suggestion is from being a mother of two and experiencing pregnancy. Let your husband grind and try to find a job, with best effort. For you, just embrace your pregnancy and soon motherhood. Buy insurance; it’s very much needed. How the market is right now, I want to suggest you do not put effort into finding a new job now; it will stress you, and the outcome might not help much. Take a break and take care of your health. I understand the timing is not right, but stress is not good. I know friends who stressed a lot for jobs and getting promotions and delivered prematurely. Your first priority should be you and your baby. Let your husband figure out a job and get insurance,” added a user.
“She is on H-1B, she has to find Job within 60 days. People often confuse the rules for spouses of U.S. citizens with spouses of Green Card holders. A GC holder’s petition won’t give her any legal status to stay in the U.S. and has a long waiting period. She still needs to secure her own status — like an H-1B transfer or switching to B-2,” added another netizen.
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