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| Sunday, March 19, 2006 |
| How much do you hate your job? |
Last night I heard about an old co-worker's good-bye party. I did not attend (I was not very close to her), but a friend did. Why a party on a Saturday night for an old work colleague? Because for this woman, it was not the job she left that people were celebrating, it was the consequences of leaving that job - last night was her last night in the United States. Her work visa had expired since she was no longer employed and today she is flying back to China. A country she has not lived in since she was sixteen (she is in her late 20's now). Both of her parents are now living in the U.S., as are her other close family members.
I knew she was not very happy at her job, but would you quit if doing so meant you would not only lose your paycheck but also your resident status? Today when she gets on that plane she is leaving behind her parents, her boyfriend, her friends, and the life she has know since a teenager. Tomorrow when she steps off the plane she will be starting all over again in a country that is now foreign to her.
How much would you have to hate your job to make the decision she did? Why could she not have worked hard to find another job and sponsor before making this decision? I can only hope it all works out for her, and be grateful that I have never faced the kinds of challenges she is about to face. |
| posted by Boston Gal @ 3:00 PM *
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| 8 Comments: |
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I'm a regular commenter, but I think I'll leave this anonymous in case someone from my workplace sees this!
Anyway, the company I work at sponsors plenty of H-1Bs, and they are constantly afraid of losing their jobs. The ones with green cards, however, are much more relaxed. One of them definitely hates her job and would love to leave but can't. It's difficult for her, since her entire life is now here rather than in her homeland. Your coworker must've really hated her job to quit! I'm surprised that she can't get another visa, though, with her family here.
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Yes, I really wish I knew the full story. I had not known she even had a boyfriend! I guess they have been together for a year. My friend who was at the party said she did not seem too worried. A lot of folks there thought she was in a weird kind of denial about the whole situation. She does not have a job lined up in China and she will not be staying with family. I believe the plan is to land, get a hotel room and try to contact some old school chums she has not talked to in over a decade.
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If she was able to make it to here from China, she'd be all right in China.
I had a friend who was in the same situation, she was laid off by Deutsche Bank while on the H-1B visa.
It's actually not that hard to get your visa extended though. She managed to do that and she's still in NYC. The key is your friend probably misses home more than here. Otherwise she may have just married the boyfriend and got an instant Green Card :-)!
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You can only get a maximum 6 years on an H1-B. AFter that you have to leave unless you can find a job which allows you to get sponsorship for a green card and even then it can take a long time to process... I am on year 4 of my H1-B. It's now over a year since my lawyer told me I was approved for a green card and still waiting to get my paperwork to actually go back to Australia and get the visa. Took 2 years to get to that stage. I am lucky as professors are the number 2 priority after physical therapists and nurses.... other professions stand a lower chance and longer wait to geta green card. The backlogs have gotten worse and the number of visas lower, particularly since 9/11.... partly budget lack partly politcs etc.
At this rate I might end up being a tenured professor without a visa to live in the US!
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ouch! that sucks having to leave the country. why didn't she try getting another job or another company to sponsor her green card?
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Getting US work visas is actually much harder than people think. To get H-1B status, your company has to prove that they can't find someone else qualified in the US to do the same job. Companies spend about $10K for each filing and there's a limited pool annually.
Getting a different visa status or a green card costs around $10K-20K if you retain a lawyer, which is always the best track to take. If she couldn't pony up that kind of cash there are few alternatives.
Marriage fraud is exactly that. Fraud. You will get deported. And getting married to your US Citizen honey doesn't guarantee that you get to stay. I know a couple where the husband was on an F-4 Student visa as a grad student. Fell in love with an undergraduate and got married. He had to leave when his schooling was finished and they did the long distance thing until his regular visa came through.
She must have really hated her job, or thinks that in China's booming economy that she'll be a hot commodity with her English skills. I wish her the best of luck.
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Given her situation, I would guess that she chooses to go back to China, rather than being forced to.
For those with the right skill and connection, China is where the fortune of life is.
Wish her good luck.
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Hmmm. It is a difficult decision but understandable. Not so long ago I was on a similar situation. I left my home country, all my family, my friends and a very good paying job in order to come to the US and pursue a brighter future. Don't missunderstand me, I was not unhappy there nor did I have a crapy job. I might even say that it was a very good position, where I earned more money that any of my friends from college (even more than my dad at that time!!!)
And I left everything and everyone in order to pursue what I thought as a better future... maybe your friend or coworker thought the same...
Anyway, Good Luck to her!!!
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I'm a regular commenter, but I think I'll leave this anonymous in case someone from my workplace sees this!
Anyway, the company I work at sponsors plenty of H-1Bs, and they are constantly afraid of losing their jobs. The ones with green cards, however, are much more relaxed. One of them definitely hates her job and would love to leave but can't. It's difficult for her, since her entire life is now here rather than in her homeland. Your coworker must've really hated her job to quit! I'm surprised that she can't get another visa, though, with her family here.