H-1 visa holders unemployment benefits

Sorry to read about your layoff. Coincidentally, I just blogged about the consequences of a layoff on H-1B workers today and yesterday. See www.martinvisalaw.blogspot.com for detailed answers. In brief response to your questions: 1. Your employer is obliged to provide the reasonable cost of transport to your country of last residence if you are terminated before your H-1B status expired. 2. You are unlikely to qualify for unemployment, since you are not "available for work" in your current status. 3. A person in H-1B status is legally authorized to remain in the US only as long as they are employed with the H-1B petitioner (“sponsor”). If the employee is laid off, the H-1B worker and dependents in H-4 status immediately lose their status. In reality, most people need at least a few weeks to pack up and sell their residence, take children out of school, etc. While staying in the US to finalize arrangements for leaving is not strictly “legal”, it is very common for foreign nationals to do this. Laid-off H-1B employees could file to change to visitor status to allow them remain in the US to make repatriation arrangement. As long as the application is filed while the worker remains in status, s/he will remain in status for up to 120 days while the change of status application is pending. The worker will also have to file a new non-immigrant application if s/he stays in the US and finds a new position.