Dr. William:

I worked as a Systems Engineer in CA for a small engineering company with H1-b, and recently got layoff, can I find a job for another employer?

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A:

If you have H1-B visa at this time, and get layoff by your current employer, you still can find another employer within certain time period (before it is two weeks), and then work for the new employer. Currently, it is reported that USCIS will give H1-B visa holders more time (more that 10 days) to switch to new employer due to the recent layoff for the H1-B workers.

Within certain time period, if your new employer can apply for a new H1-B visa for you, your status in US should not be a problem (keep the new H1-B petition receipt from USCIS service center). But you can work for the new employer only after the new H1-B visa petition get approved.