What WiseTech H1B Employees Should Do After the Layoffs

USCIS gives H1B workers up to 60 consecutive days (or until your I-94 expires, whichever is shorter) after the last day on payroll to find a new H1B employer, change status, or depart the US. A few details people get wrong:

• **The clock starts on your last day of employment, not your last day in the office or the day you got the news.** If WiseTech is paying you through a notice period or garden leave, those paid days generally count as employment for H1B purposes — confirm in writing with HR what your official termination date is.
• **Severance is not employment.** Lump-sum severance after the termination date does not extend your status, even if WiseTech keeps you on benefits.
• **The 60 days is a one-time benefit per authorized validity period.** If you burn it once (e.g., taking a job that falls through), you don't get a second 60 days from the same termination.
• **WiseTech is required to withdraw your H1B petition with USCIS** and may be required to pay reasonable cost of return transportation to your home country. Ask HR specifically about both. Get the petition withdrawal date if you can — it doesn't shorten your grace period, but it matters for any future filings.

Write the termination date and the date 60 days after it on a sticky note. Everything below is scheduled against those two dates.

WiseTech's US workforce skews toward software engineering, product, solutions/implementation consulting, and customer-success roles around CargoWise. Here are the pathways that actually apply, ranked by how often they work for this profile:

1. H1B transfer to a new employer (most common, fastest). A new employer files an H1B petition for you, and you can start work the day USCIS receives the petition (premium processing gets a decision in ~15 business days for $2,805). You do not need to be in status on the day of filing as long as you file within 60 days of termination and have a clean prior record. Logistics-tech, supply-chain SaaS, ERP integrators, and freight-forwarder IT teams are the most natural landing spots — your CargoWise knowledge is a real moat.

2. Change of status to H4 (if your spouse is on H1B/L1). If your spouse holds H1B and has approved I-140, you may also get H4 EAD work authorization. Filing the change-of-status I-539 before your 60 days end preserves your lawful presence even if processing takes months.

3. B-2 visitor status as a bridge (use carefully). You can file I-539 to change to B-2 for up to 6 months to wind down affairs and job search. USCIS has explicitly said job searching is allowable on B-2, but you cannot work. File before day 60. This is a defensive move — it stops you from accruing unlawful presence — not a great long-term plan.

4. O-1, EB-1A, or EB-2 NIW (selective). If you have published research, patents, conference talks, or significant press, the O-1 (work visa) and EB-1A/NIW (green card) routes are real. Engineers with WiseTech who led notable AI or logistics-ML work are candidates. Premium-processed O-1 turnaround is ~15 business days; NIW I-140 is similar with premium.

5. F-1 to return to school. Day-1 CPT programs are heavily scrutinized — avoid. A real STEM master's at an accredited school is legitimate but takes months to set up; useful if you have a Fall start lined up.

6. Cap-exempt H1B at universities or nonprofit research orgs. No lottery, file anytime. If you have a research background, look at university IT/research-engineer roles.

What usually doesn't work: starting your own US company on H1B (you can't self-sponsor without an arm's-length board), or banking on an L-1 transfer (you'd need a year abroad with the new employer first).

Velocity in the first week matters more than any single decision later. Concrete checklist:

• **Get your termination letter in writing**, with the exact last day of employment and confirmation of any severance, COBRA, and unused PTO payout. You will need this letter for every future H1B filing.
• **Ask WiseTech HR for the H1B withdrawal date and a copy of the I-797 approval notice** if you don't already have it. Also request your I-129 petition copy — your immigration attorney for the next job will want it.
• **Download every relevant pay stub** (last 3-6 months) and W-2s. New H1B petitions ask for evidence of maintained status.
• **Update LinkedIn and turn on "open to work" with recruiters only** (not the public badge — some hiring managers screen it out). Add "H1B transfer available — 60-day window" to your headline if you're comfortable being explicit; for logistics-tech recruiters this is a green flag, not a red one.
• **Apply to 15-25 roles by end of week.** Prioritize companies that have a track record of premium-processing H1B transfers: Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, Salesforce, Stripe, Databricks, ServiceNow, Workday, and logistics-specific employers like Flexport, project44, FourKites, Convoy alumni networks, C.H. Robinson Navisphere team, and the freight-forwarder IT divisions at Expeditors, Kuehne+Nagel, DSV, and DHL.
• **Tell your network specifically.** Don't post "open to work" generically — DM 20 people with: company, role, your last day, and the fact that you need premium processing. People help when the ask is specific.
• **Talk to an immigration attorney once**, even if you have to pay $300 for an hour. Run your specific facts (any prior gaps, prior denials, dependents' status) past them now, not on day 55.

By day 30 you want either a signed offer in hand, an I-539 backup filed, or both. Tactical guidance:

• **Negotiate premium processing into every offer.** It's $2,805 and most employers will pay it without flinching for a candidate already in the US. If they refuse, offer to pay it yourself — it's worth it.
• **Target onsite/hybrid roles in immigration-friendly metros.** Seattle, Bay Area, NYC, Austin, and Chicago have the densest logistics-tech and enterprise-SaaS hiring. Remote-only roles often run into LCA worksite issues that slow filings down.
• **Be transparent in interviews about timing.** "My H1B 60-day window ends [date]. I need a petition filed by [date minus 2 weeks]." Companies that ghost on this aren't going to come through anyway.
• **File an I-539 change of status to B-2 around day 40-45 if no offer is close.** The mere act of filing before day 60 stops the unlawful-presence clock. You can withdraw it later if a job lands.
• **Document everything for your spouse and kids.** H4 dependents' status is tied to yours. If you change to B-2, they need their own I-539. H4 EAD holders lose work authorization when the principal H1B ends.
• **Don't pause your 401(k) decisions.** You generally have until tax day of the year after termination to roll over or cash out. Cashing out triggers 10% penalty plus tax; rolling to an IRA is usually the right call.

Patterns that wreck people in this exact situation:

• **Treating the 60 days as 60 business days.** It's calendar days. Day 60 includes weekends and holidays.
• **Accepting a verbal offer and waiting weeks for paperwork.** Until USCIS has receipted the I-129, you're not in transfer-pending status. Push for filing inside 2 weeks.
• **Joining a "day-1 CPT" school to buy time.** USCIS and ICE have been increasingly aggressive on these. A denied COS or a future H1B denial because of fraudulent F-1 use is catastrophic.
• **Doing any work — even unpaid "trial projects" — for the new employer before the petition is receipted.** That's unauthorized employment.
• **Forgetting that the I-94, not the visa stamp, controls your status.** Check i94.cbp.dhs.gov.
• **Not telling your spouse's employer.** If your spouse is on H4 EAD and your H1B ends, their work authorization ends with it. They need a plan too.
• **Leaving the US to "clear your head" without a valid visa stamp.** If your stamp expired, you may not be able to re-enter, especially if WiseTech has already withdrawn the petition.

Use the warning. Start interviewing now while you're still in status and can answer "currently employed" on applications. A petition filed while you're still on WiseTech payroll is a clean H1B transfer — no grace-period drama, no gap to explain. If WiseTech offers you a choice between earlier exit with severance vs. staying through a longer notice period, in most cases the longer notice period is better for your visa: more paid-employment days, more cushion before the 60-day clock starts, and you keep your insurance longer. Run the math on the severance differential, but factor in the visa value, not just the cash.