that’s not true - it’s pretty easy to switch. Your application does not count against new quota - employer just needs to pay a lawyer to file paperwork and done. Been there, done that.
It’s not easy to switch. I’ve been on this more than a decade ago and if you’re laid off or leave you have 60 days to find something new.
Any job you take you need your new employer to be able to undertake the effort for H1B renewals and the inevitable green card application. There’s big companies that do it and smaller ones that will absolutely refuse to.
Either way an H1B prefers to stick around until the green card is done. They will not willingly prior to that unless they see a much better offer.
It may not be hard, but there are no guarantees and a clock is ticking.
Say you lose your job. Boom, the clock starts ticking and now you're in a rush to find an acceptable job that meets the criteria of H1B.
Say your manager mistreats you; denies you promotion, raises, etc. and you want to leave. You can't just quit and start looking. You have to line up something that will come through in 60 days and only then you can be free to quit.
None of these situations apply to citizen or PRs. It tilts the balance definitely to the employer's advantage.
> So you basically become an indentured servant, always afraid Da Bossman will fire you [...]
So it’s kind of hard to get a job before getting fired if the firing is a perpetual threat.
> this visa designed for workers in high demand
No, it’s designed for people with “theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge”. Nothing about demand. If there was one person in the world who could frombulate widgets and only one employer in the US who needed to frombulate widgets, that person would be suitable for an H1B (subject to all it’s other restrictions).
That person would not be able to find another job quickly.
The point is not that the transfer is difficult, the point is that finding a suitable new job in the designated time period has a difficulty you can't predict.
are we talking about just switching or getting fired and trying to find new h-1b job? because these are two completely different procedures from uscis standpoint. the claim about h-1b being "indentured servitude" that people are trying to make usually hinges on it being hard to transfer (which is not the case), not the short grace period after getting fired.
I find it rather strange that you talk about them as if they are two separate things when they are intrinsically linked. You have ~60 days from the date of employment termination to have your work permit transferred or you are out of status, period. Leaving your job (whether via resigning or getting fired or laid off) without something already lined up is thus quite obviously much more risky than it is for someone who doesn't have that sword hanging over their head. I'd sincerely hope it doesn't need explaining how this tilts the balance of power even more in the employer's favour.
> You have ~60 days from the date of employment termination to have your work permit transferred or you are out of status, period.
What the hell else supposed to happen to your temp worker visa when you’re no longer a worker? Are you supposed to just get an immigration hall pass indefinitely?
Same point as in sibling thread - if you cant get a new job lined up while still employed or within 60 days of being laid off, you clearly dont possess "distinguished merit and ability" which is the entire purpose of this visa
I have run across multiple job postings stating that they would not accept applicants needing company support on visas so at a bare minimum they are cut off from that portion of the economy and have a harder time than Americans would
Any job you take you need your new employer to be able to undertake the effort for H1B renewals and the inevitable green card application. There’s big companies that do it and smaller ones that will absolutely refuse to.
Either way an H1B prefers to stick around until the green card is done. They will not willingly prior to that unless they see a much better offer.