Hi,
Currently I am working on H4 EAD. I got selected in H1B CAP lottery this year through my current employer. I am planning to apply for H1B without change of status (COS) for now and keep working on H4 EAD.
In future if I change employer while I am on H4 EAD (and with approved H1B),
will my H1B be valid or it will be cancelled ?
will I be able to apply for change of status with H1B transfer in future?
Thank you in advance. Appreciate your help.
If you haven’t worked for your H1B sponsoring employer by either doing a COS or didn’t opted for consular processing and got H1B stamped, USCIS may not consider your H1B activated so your H1B transfer with COS with a new employer may be denied in future. Once you leave your employer, they must withdraw the H1B.
That said, there have been cases where the change of employer has been approved even if the H1B never worked for the first time sponsoring employer or had no visa stamped.
Better option will be to apply H1B with COS and work for few days on H1B. Then visit Mexico border and enter back on H4 using AVR if your H4 visa has expired and continue working on H4 EAD. Make sure when you do this, your employer update your I-9 to update with correct status.
Thank you @Kalpesh_Dalwadi for the quick response.
Here is my situation:
My current H4 EAD is valid till Nov 2023. I will be applying for H4 and H4EAD renewal along with my husband’s H1B extension soon. Now as I got selected in H1B CAP lottery, my employer will also apply for my H1B which will be valid from 1st Oct 2023.
So now suppose I am on H1B and also have a valid H4/H4EAD for next 3 years. down the line if I change employers and want to go back to H4 EAD, then do I need to apply again ? (As I already have one approved). OR going out of country and coming back will work ?
Thanks in advance!!
You can either apply for change of status or cross Mexico border and switch to H4 using your spouse H1B I-797. If you have valid H4 EAD, you can use that once you change the status to H4.