The Kleinfelder Blog

Kleinfelder Bridge Engineer Hao Xu

Kleinfelder Los Angeles Area’s Hao Xu has returned to the States after his journey to visit family in China. Hao joined Kleinfelder in June 2018 to support our bridge design services team. In January 2020, he had what was planned to be a two-week trip to China to visit family during the Chinese Lunar New Year. At the time, however, Hao would have never guessed returning home would be so difficult and that his trip to visit family would extend for more than a year.

The COVID-19 outbreak started suddenly, a week after Hao’s visit. Following the announcement of the outbreak, China and then the U.S. shut down, and the U.S Embassy’s doors were closed and flights were halted in China. Hao was faced with knowing he had an employer awaiting his return, an empty apartment with food still in the refrigerator, bills piling up in the mailbox, and a car sitting in the garage. As the pandemic worsened, the path of return to the States became narrower and narrower. He tried to make the trip back to the U.S. from other countries; however, the travel restrictions made even his best efforts fruitless. He also tried to file an emergency travel application with the U.S. embassy, but it was denied. Despite the mounting hurdles, he appreciated that Kleinfelder continued to support him by preparing government requested documents and providing legal support. It was the unwavering support of the company that gave him hope he would eventually return to the U.S.

While waiting anxiously in China for the pandemic to subside, Hao was not able to work remotely due to the sensitivity of the projects and internet restrictions. The silver lining, though, was that he was with his family and they were all safe and healthy. After a year and a half, he finally got the chance to return to the U.S. via a detour from Singapore, where he stayed and waited for two months for his documents to be processed.

Hao returned to the U.S. just two days before his work permit expired, and an extension application was sent out immediately so he could continue working for Kleinfelder.

“I am sincerely thankful for the company’s support throughout the COVID-19 crisis, especially for all the help HR specialist Lindsay Matier provided; she is very resourceful and acts quickly,” commented Hao. “I’m very happy to be back and look forward to picking up my life where I left off.”

Kleinfelder and the Los Angeles Area are very excited Hao has returned. Please join us in welcoming him back from quite an adventure!