Don’t want to get into immigration policy at work…

May 29, 2019 6:40 PM

Next week I’m planning on putting in my 4 weeks notice. I’m leaving because my US visa is expiring. When my boss and co-workers ask why I’m leaving, how do I minimize having to discuss the Canadian/US immigration system?

My leaving will be a surprise since my workplace is inexperienced with foreign workers. They know I’m OPT and everything has been above board, but they don’t know that I can’t extend my visa, and that I haven’t pursued any attempts to renew it either. I’ve kept quiet about this, so many of my co-workers will even be surprised that I’m not an American citizen.

After reading about the insanity of the US immigration process, I decided to apply to the Canadian permanent residency program instead. My situation right now is that my post-completion OPT will expire in a month, and after that I have a 60 day grace period to make arrangements to leave the US. I've been in the pipeline for Canadian permanent residency for a while, and I'm expecting to be approved for it in the next few months.

I’m planning on telling a simpler, more digestible story than the above to my boss – that I’ve been on the permanent residency path for both the US and Canada, that Canada granted me PR first, and that I have to leave for Canada in the next few months as part of the PR deal. It’s not a correct story, but it’s a story that makes it seem like most of this has been out of my control and so will minimize questions. I don’t want to explain why I haven’t tried to extend my visa; I don’t want to say that I’m still waiting for Canadian PR approval and that there’s a (small) chance of denial.

I’m giving 4 weeks notice because I really like my workplace, I have a lot of loose ends, and I want to be considerate, but then that’s 4 weeks of my co-workers asking me questions. I really, really am not looking forward to co-workers casually asking me about my expiring visa over lunch, especially since these issues are deeply anxiety-provoking. There's also the one office racist who I'm sure would love to get up in my face about jobs being taken away from Americans. What can I say that will foreclose questions but will also not be too far from the truth?

I was thinking of maybe saying that I was “moving closer to family,” but I literally have no family in Canada, and the timing of my leaving is sudden and will be disruptive.

Thank you!

posted by anonymous to Work & Money (13 answers total)

"For a lot of long-term life reasons, I'm moving to Canada. This is a great opportunity for me and I'm happy about it, though I'll miss you all and I'm sorry the timing wasn't perfect."
posted by Lyn Never at 6:46 PM on May 29, 2019 [16 favorites]

I would keep it short and very low on detail. "I'm moving for personal reasons" or "I'm moving for family reasons" are both not false (you are part of your family). "This is going to be disruptive but unfortunately reasons beyond my control make it impossible to avoid" and even "I'd really prefer not to get into the specifics. I'm sad to be leaving this job; I really like this workplace. I'm glad I was able to give four weeks notice, because it gives me time to tie up loose ends. I'm going to miss you." Repeat as necessary.
posted by sockermom at 6:47 PM on May 29, 2019 [6 favorites]

I'm not sure why you feel the need to tell your boss or your coworkers anything regarding your Visa situation. Nor do you need to give four weeks notice - if you want to do that as a courtesy for your boss, great, but you don't need to do that for your coworkers.

"I've been thinking about moving to Canada for some time and the time is right. I love working here and my decision to move has nothing to do with this position. "
posted by Karaage at 6:49 PM on May 29, 2019 [11 favorites]

Could you just say that you're moving to Canada and nothing else? They'd have to be pretty rude to press you about immigration details if you don't offer any first other than where you're going. Questions that are too personal can be met with "oh that's not interesting".
posted by bleep at 6:50 PM on May 29, 2019 [5 favorites]

In four weeks’ time, you may never see these people again. Or at least, not often. Feel free to give the short explanation. There’s really no need for more. Anyone who is miffed they didn’t get more info will be ancient history 3 1/2 weeks later.
posted by greermahoney at 6:54 PM on May 29, 2019

After lots of contemplation, Canada is where I want to be. (And kindly fuckoff if they pry beyond that—“ I’m sorry; I don’t think that’s appropriate for workplace discussion”:)
posted by SaltySalticid at 7:01 PM on May 29, 2019 [1 favorite]

I used to handle visa stuff for software engineers, and it was very common for them to jump USA ship and move to Canada for more lucrative offers. You could tell your white lie and say you are moving to be close to family (how will they know?), or say you had more lucrative offer and decided it's a good career move. We were all envious of those guys, btw. Bush was President and we wanted to go with them (think of today!).
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 7:02 PM on May 29, 2019

I understand where you are coming from, but aren't you letting the US govt/administration off lightly? I'd suggest that the more people that know that good people find it hard to stay, the better. The racist is a problem, but then he/she will probably be a problem anyway.

Could you handle something along the lines of, 'I'd like to stay, but the visa situation is too difficult, and so I am going to move to Canada'? If anyone asks, 'why difficult', say its in all the press.

It is your call, and something like 'moving to Canada' would cover it, if you feel the need to say anything.
posted by GeeEmm at 7:05 PM on May 29, 2019 [16 favorites]

I think that you are preparing to give them way more information than they need to know.

"I'm leaving to pursue a new opportunity in Canada. I'm sad to leave here, but the timing is right for me to pursue this."
posted by kinddieserzeit at 7:12 PM on May 29, 2019 [6 favorites]

I think you'd be entirely justified choosing literally any way to deal with this that makes you most comfortable: give a non-committal info-free answer of the type several people have suggested above, or be entirely truthful, or straight up say "I prefer not to discuss my future plans" or simply lie through your teeth and tell them you're taking another job in the States.
I've been at my company for more than 5 years, and if I were leaving, and if I were asked why, I'd be obviously, loudly evasive. Nobody's entitled to know my plans, or to know yours.
posted by Ipsifendus at 7:26 PM on May 29, 2019 [2 favorites]

I had to leave the UK because my visa ran out a couple of years ago. Although it was rather a different situation at the time than the one you're in, I've found explaining it as "And I moved back to the US because of visa stuff" suffices with most people, including co-workers. Anyone who finds the intricacies of international employment law that interesting can go research it on their own time. (There are not many of these people in the world.)

If people press beyond 'visa stuff', you can always smile politely and hand-wave and go 'oh, it's really boring, you know how this stuff is' and change the subject.

As a last resort, there is always the Emily Post-approved "What an interesting thing to ask!" followed by either silence and blinking while you smile at them or a change of subject, depending on how Done you are.
posted by kalimac at 8:30 PM on May 29, 2019 [6 favorites]

Definitely have lost more than one coworker over the years to nonspecific "visa issues (handwave, eyeroll)" with no more elaboration offered than that. Trust me that almost no person born in the US knows anything about the immigration process and the second you say any visa type or the words "permanent residency" or "green card" or "immigration attorney" their ears basically stop hearing the words coming out of your mouth. This is doubly the case if you work with people who don't think much about the fact that not everyone in the US is a citizen. You are overthinking this.

If anyone pries, which I bet you $5 they won't, just tell them, "you know, I'd have to ask my attorney about that." You don't even have to have an attorney to use this excuse.
posted by potrzebie at 9:17 PM on May 29, 2019 [8 favorites]

Others are covering what to say very well (minimal detail is best). I just wanted to add that 4 weeks is more than ample notice and you shouldn't feel like it's "sudden" or that you're leaving coworkers in the lurch. You're actually being very considerate! People leave jobs with far less notice for less defensible reasons and it all works out in the end. Good luck on your new adventure!
posted by rouftop at 9:34 PM on May 29, 2019 [2 favorites]