When an H1B Visa Holder Might Need an Immigration Lawyer in San Jose
Globalization is not an unfamiliar term anymore. The world understands it and in fact, benefits from the interconnectivity and interdependencies among countries. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people enter the US in search of opportunities to transform their lives and support their families.
However, the complexity of immigration laws and the current situation between the state of California and the federal government makes it imperative for any immigrant to understand the laws thoroughly before setting foot here. Those who are already working in the US under H1B visas need to get in touch with immigration lawyers to know and defend their rights.
The H1B Visa
Visa is a passport endorsement, and a permission from a country to the individual to cross its borders. Visas can have many different statuses e.g. some allow individuals to work in a country while others only let them stay for a few months. The H1B visa in the US allows foreigners to work professionally in the US. It is a non-immigrant visa status under which the individual can work in the US for only a specified term. However, they can apply for extension of their stay. The visa is for three years and the individual can get an extension of three additional years allowing him/her to stay in the US for six years.
What Can Go Wrong?
While employers and employees both need to benefit from an immigration lawyer, employees need it more. Sometimes, individuals who come to the US in hopes to change their lives can come across their worst nightmares. The company that applies for their visa and employs them refuses to pay their salaries or asks them to perform duties that might not be in their job description. A person who comes to the US for the first time and faces this situation would not know how to handle it.
On most occasions, employees choose to remain quiet and change employers—they consider it the easy way out. However, changing employers often gets them in even deeper trouble. The unsuspecting employee ends up breaching a contract and facing a lawsuit from the company to pay thousands of dollars.
The company might sue the employee for not working for the number of months that were on the signed contract. While California, and as result companies in San Jose, can write such agreements where employees can be penalized for breaching the contracts, they can’t always justify their own actions too.
An Immigration Lawyer to the Rescue
In situation where the employee was not given his salary and made to do tasks that were not in his/her job description, it seems funny and shocking at the same time to be getting sued by the same employer. If the employee with the H1B visa does not take action immediately, they can get in a huge trouble. It only makes sense at that point to hire an immigration lawyer. Not only will the lawyer save the employee from an undeserved lawsuit, but also have the company penalized for their dishonest conduct.
If you live in San Jose and someone you know is in such a situation, call Earl Jiang at 866-263-7866 immediately. Keep in mind that your timely action matters crucially because your H1B visa is only limited to three years.