Layoff event: July–August 2026 · Page reviewed August 2026
Laid off from Visa Inc. on an H-1B? Here’s your next 60 days.
Yes, this page is about Visa the payments company — an awkward name for exactly this moment. Media reports in late July 2026 describe roughly 2,600 technology roles being cut as AI automates parts of payments-network engineering, with further reports in early August of senior-staff reductions at the Foster City campus. Visa has not published its own totals, so treat the numbers as reported rather than confirmed. Visa Inc. has long sponsored H-1B engineers across Foster City, Austin, and Atlanta, so these rounds put visa holders on the 60-day clock.
Your clock starts the day you stop being paid, not the day of the announcement.
Notification date, last working day, and last paid day are often three different dates. The 60-day grace period under 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2) runs from the end of employment. Confirm your exact last-paid date in your separation agreement, then run the 60-day grace calculator with that date — not the announcement date.
Days 0-7: lock in the basics
- Get your separation agreement in writing.Confirm the exact last-paid date, severance amount, equity treatment, COBRA terms, and any immigration-support commitments (petition-withdrawal timing, a layoff — not for-cause — transfer letter, continued access to the company’s immigration vendor). If your role was eliminated in an automation-driven restructuring, make sure the paperwork says position eliminated — that framing matters for future filings.
- Print your I-94 history from i94.cbp.dhs.gov and your I-797 history from my.uscis.gov. You’ll need both for any future filing.
- Confirm I-140 status. If your I-140 has been approved more than 180 days, your priority date stays with you under AC21 §106 even if the employer later withdraws the petition. Document it now.
- If your spouse works on an H-4 EAD: their work authorization is tied to your status chain, and under the Oct-30-2025 rule, EAD renewals filed on/after that date get no automatic extension. Run the EAD gap calculator with their card’s dates — a work-authorization gap for the household is often the bigger financial risk.
Days 7-30: parallel paths
Pursue multiple paths simultaneously — don’t bet everything on one option:
- H-1B transfer (highest priority).A new employer’s I-129 being received by USCIS (not approved) inside your grace window starts AC21 portability — you can begin work on receipt. Payments and financial-infrastructure experience is one of the more liquid skill sets in this market: Mastercard, Stripe, PayPal, Adyen, Fiserv, the card-issuing banks, and every fintech carrying a payments license hire exactly this profile, and the Bay Area sponsor market around Foster City is dense. Also check cap-exempt employers — they file any day of the year with no lottery.
- B-2 visitor backstop. File I-539 to change to B-2 while the transfer search continues. Score your timing with the B-2 conversion risk calculator — and file early in the grace window, not on day 58. USCIS adjudication posture on post-layoff B-2 filings has reportedly tightened in 2025-26; an attorney can calibrate this for your file.
- EB-2 NIW pivot. Payments-security, fraud-modeling, and financial-infrastructure specialists can have credible National Interest Waiver arguments — critical financial infrastructure is a recognized national-interest frame, and NIW is a self-petition that needs no employer. Run the EB-1A / NIW scorer and the evidence builder.
- If your priority date is current, evaluate I-485 now. Filing during the grace window unlocks H-4 EAD and portability — but USCIS’s PM-602-0199 discretion memo means a laid-off filer should front-load positive equities. Use the AOS Equities Builder first.
Severance: the H-1B-specific levers
Whatever your package looks like, the same three visa-aware levers apply before you sign:
- Push for a later last-paid date (or converting part of severance to paid garden leave) — every extra paid week delays the start of your 60-day clock. Severance paid as a lump sum after separation does NOT extend status.
- Get the immigration-support commitments in writing — petition-withdrawal timing, a layoff (not for-cause) transfer letter, and vendor access through your grace window.
- RSU and 401(k) decisions interact with your visa timeline. Run the numbers in the free severance optimizer before signing — the non-resident-alien tax math on a panicked 401(k) cash-out is brutal.
What if nothing works by day 50?
- Run the departure cost calculator and the country hedge calculator to compare an orderly departure against marginal stay options — payments talent is hired globally (London, Singapore, Dubai, and Visa’s own international offices among them).
- An approved I-140 keeps your priority date for life — departing and returning later on a new petition does not erase it.
- Note for re-entry planning: the $100,000 fee on new consular H-1B petitions has been on-again, off-again through 2025-26 litigation — check the current status here before assuming it applies. In-US transfers and extensions were never affected.
Visa's restructuring is reportedly ongoing
The July reports describe AI-driven cuts continuing across engineering. Get one email when there's a new round or a rule change that affects laid-off H-1B workers — nothing else.
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This page summarizes publicly reported information about 2026 layoffs at Visa Inc. (figures per media reports as of August 2026; the company has not published totals, and numbers and teams vary by report) and general H-1B post-termination options. It is not legal advice and is not affiliated with Visa Inc. Consult an immigration attorney for your specific situation.