H1B visa cancellation by March 15th, what are my options?

[northedman]

Hello, I am on H1B visa, I am out of job from January 20th 2009. I got a call from my company today that, they will send me my H1B visa cancellation letter by March 15th. If I dont get a job with in that time!

I am not quite optimistic of finding a job by March 15th.

I want to know what are my options.

1. Can I transfer my H1B to other consultancy with out job? My last pay stud is of January 20th.

2. If I go back to India, and If I want to come to US after recession will my H1B visa valid? (my expire date on visa is October 2010) Or do I have to apply for a new H1B visa to come back?

3. How many days will I have to depart from the country(US) if my H1B is terminated?

4. I have a car loan, credit cards bills here, what happens if I dont pay bills and had to leave the US? Will there be any problem for me in India?

Please let me know your advice. I dont think I have much time left. I have to make a decision soon.

[amoljak]

Sorry to hear about your situation. Consult a lawyer immediately. If you still want free advice read on:

You are already out of time. After you lose your job, you are supposed to go back within 10 days. You are out of status immediately after you lose your job, there is no grace period.

The exact date when your job ended is usually determined based on the last pay stub.

That said, there are shades of illegality with varying consequences, from usual reinstatement to up to 10 year bar from reentering the country (If you stay illegal for a year). You need to consult a lawyer if you are seriously thinking about stating here long term.

H1 is for a job. If a consultancy offers you a job, that pays wages according to the law, you can get a new H1. Again... depending on how long you stay without a job determines if USCIS will grant your new H1.

There is no such thing as H1 transfer.

Your current H1 is already invalid. You will not be able to use it to reenter.

If you do not pay your bills and loans, honest taxpayers like me will eventually have to pay them and we will end up having to pay higher interest rates as well. We will get mad and send more bad karma to you. But if you really don't have any money, you should declare bankruptcy. That stays on your record for 10 years. So if you are back in the US in the next 10 years, you will have hard time getting loans or even renting.