Ex-Meta techie wraps up 14 years of life in US after layoff, says he's tired of immigration clock

A former techie at Meta who got laid off in the latest round of firing that happened in May said he had to make the hard decision of leaving the US, the country where he built a life for 14 years, as the immigration clock is ticking. Sridhar Vanka, who has been the technical program manager at Meta since 2022, took to LinkedIn to announce that he would be relocating to Hyderabad, India and looking for jobs as his clock in the US has now run out on the immigration status.“The last ~7 weeks have been an emotional roller coaster – optimism, hope, uncertainty, anxiety, heart breaks and waiting – lots and lots of waiting. I have grown tired of my immigration status fore-shadowing every conversation. There were also a few exciting opportunities that I could not pursue because of the afore-mentioned immigration clock,” Vanka wrote.“My family is now wrapping up a life we built here in the US over the last 14 years and looking to start over in Hyderabad starting next week. A lot of wonderful memories and friendships – these last couple of weeks have been gut-wrenching,” the post added, revealing the struggle visa holders go through once they lose their jobs — notwithstanding how long they have been staying in the US.In Vanka’s case, for example, it has been a long career in the US as he worked with Amazon and TCS before Meta.An H-1B visa holder generally gets up to 60 days to remain in the US if they are laid off or until their I-94 expires, whichever comes first. They have to find a new job within this grace period to remain in the US. In many cases, the visa holders switch to a B1/B2 visa or an F1 visa to extend their stay, but it has become extremely difficult now and is also not viable for a senior-level professional to go back to school.As one Linkedin user asked Vanka why his employer did not file for his Green Card given how long he has been working in the US, he said: “I guess it is a combination of the employer not investing enough in the employee to make that happen + a really long green card backlog. No easy answers/lessons there unfortunately.”