I am an H-4 visa holder. A potential employer is willing to sponsor me for H-1B status. Does the H-1B portability rule allow me to change status from H-4 to H-1B?
Generally not. If you are currently in H-4 status (and have never held H-1B status), then you cannot start working until your new H-1B is approved. That is, H-1B portability is generally only available for transfers from H-1B status to H-1B status (with a new employer).
Of course, there is an exception if you have held H-1B in the past but are now switching from H-4, B-1/B-2, F-1, etc. back to H-1B. For example, you may have held H-1B status, then switched to H-4 (e.g., you were laid off from your initial H-1B job), and now want to switch back to H-1B. It generally does not matter which visa category was between the first H-1B and the new H-1B, as long as you did have an H-1B at one point before trying to use the H-1B portability provision to go back to H-1B. The most common combinations we see are “H-1B to F-1 to H-1B” and “H-1B to H-4 to H-1B.” Other combinations are also possible.
가능하세요. 제가 h1->b2->h1 으로 했구요. 저는 일단 회사 그만두고 10일째에 한국에 들어갔다가, 한달후에 미국에 b2로 다시 들어왔구요. 안된다 된다 말이 많았지만 미국 다시 온지 2개월째에 다른회사 찾아서 h1 transfer했어요. 대신 한국에 다시 들어가서 스템핑받아오라고 이민국에서 편지가 와서 한국에서 h1인터뷰 하고 다시 들어왔지만,인터뷰 할때도 아무 문제 없었어요.
