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> Changing jobs on an H1-B is possible It's possible now (it previously was not), but it resets the H1-B worker's immigration process back to the start as wel

> Changing jobs on an H1-B is possible It's possible now (it previously was not), but it resets the H1-B worker's immigration process back to the start as well, leaving them in limbo for years longer. And they are taking a risk that the new job might not work out and if they don't find another quickly, they'll be expelled from the country.

deleted 5y ago
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novok 5y ago
No it doesn't, once you have a priority number it adds you 'to the line' and might set you back about a year-ish if you change jobs once its your turn to get a green card. It's the priority number waiting period that makes it suck a lot, not the 1.5yrs it take to get a green card from H1B if you don't have any priority number queue waiting. You just need to get that priority number ASAP from the first job, which might take a year or less, and then wait X number of years for it to be 'your turn' and then stay at last the job where you'd actually get your green card for a year or two, which is already pretty typical job behavior already. Most people stay at a job for a year minimum, and once you get promoted up the ranks, they stay at places multiple years. In those X in-between waiting years you can change jobs without it materially effecting your immigration timeline in any serious way. Even then, if you get a good opportunity you can change jobs in exchange for waiting a year or two longer for your green card, which is a choice you can make. It's far from 'indentured servitude', just some annoying paperwork barriers that makes it more expensive for firms to hire you, because it costs money and time to hire an H1B than a person with a green card or citizenship already. And yes, you cannot go work with risky employers, which limits you to big tech and startups at the series B+ stage of funding. There are even cases of successful people who have founded startups with H1-Bs or some other immigration visa with a lot of hassle. Which in the scheme of things as history has shown, has ended up not to be that bad :D

deleted 5y ago

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novok 5y ago

No it doesn't, once you have a priority number it adds you 'to the line' and might set you back about a year-ish if you change jobs once its your turn to get a green card. It's the priority number waiting period that makes it suck a lot, not the 1.5yrs it take to get a green card from H1B if you don't have any priority number queue waiting. You just need to get that priority number ASAP from the first job, which might take a year or less, and then wait X number of years for it to be 'your turn' and then stay at last the job where you'd actually get your green card for a year or two, which is already pretty typical job behavior already. Most people stay at a job for a year minimum, and once you get promoted up the ranks, they stay at places multiple years. In those X in-between waiting years you can change jobs without it materially effecting your immigration timeline in any serious way. Even then, if you get a good opportunity you can change jobs in exchange for waiting a year or two longer for your green card, which is a choice you can make. It's far from 'indentured servitude', just some annoying paperwork barriers that makes it more expensive for firms to hire you, because it costs money and time to hire an H1B than a person with a green card or citizenship already. And yes, you cannot go work with risky employers, which limits you to big tech and startups at the series B+ stage of funding. There are even cases of successful people who have founded startups with H1-Bs or some other immigration visa with a lot of hassle. Which in the scheme of things as history has shown, has ended up not to be that bad :D