H1 Validity after resignation - Working with Indian software firm

[rehan.surve]

Hi,

My friend is planning on resigning from his current employer. He has a valid H-1B stamped visa till March 2015.

I wanted to know if his H1-B will still be valid if he resigns from current employer and doesn't hold any job (He will be looking for job in meantime).

If valid, then I need to know for how long can he stay in U.S on his H1-B after resigning from current employer and getting another job?

Or does he need to change his Visa type? If so what is best and easiest possible visa he can transfer to and will it be a problem to get it changed back to H1-B again?


Any advise is greatly appreciated.

Regards

[raghvi]

Hi,

My friend is planning on resigning from his current employer. He has a valid H-1B stamped visa till March 2015.

I wanted to know if his H1-B will still be valid if he resigns from current employer and doesn't hold any job (He will be looking for job in meantime).

If valid, then I need to know for how long can he stay in U.S on his H1-B after resigning from current employer and getting another job?

Or does he need to change his Visa type? If so what is best and easiest possible visa he can transfer to and will it be a problem to get it changed back to H1-B again?


Any advise is greatly appreciated.

Regards

While being in US on H1B one needs a valid I-94 as well as continuous payroll to be run by the employer whose petition is approved. So if your friend resigns without transferring his/her H1 to another employer OR to another status he/she will go out of status from the day of resignation. Once he/she is out of status it will not be possible to file for a transfer/change to another employer/status.

Before his/her last working day either a COS to some other Status type needs to be filed (even better if approved) OR a transfer to another employer (better if approved) needs to be filed.

This is my opinion not legal advice.

[rehan.surve]

While being in US on H1B one needs a valid I-94 as well as continuous payroll to be run by the employer whose petition is approved. So if your friend resigns without transferring his/her H1 to another employer OR to another status he/she will go out of status from the day of resignation. Once he/she is out of status it will not be possible to file for a transfer/change to another employer/status.

Before his/her last working day either a COS to some other Status type needs to be filed (even better if approved) OR a transfer to another employer (better if approved) needs to be filed.

This is my opinion not legal advice.

Thanks a lot Raghvi.