H1B right after J

[krucha]

Hello, could you please advise if it is safe to apply for H1B Visa right after applying for a change of status from F to J? I received a suddden raise and became eligible for h1b, yet i have my documents in the process of getting a J-1 status?

Thank you in advance,
Irina

[newacct]

If your J1 has the 2-year home residency requirement, then you can't get H status. So you should cancel the change of status to J if you want to do H1b. But you need to still be in F status now to be able to apply for change of status to H1b without relying on the change to J status.

[krucha]

Thank you so much for your response.
Do I understand it correctly that I can’t apply for H1B if my OPT expired 10 days ago?
And if J does not have 2 year rule, then I can apply to change the status to H1B immediately?

Thank you,
Irina

[newacct]

You remain in F1 status for 60 days after successfully completing OPT, so your employer can still apply for change to H1b status from F1 (but it would only work for cap exempt H1b; the cap-subject H1bs need to be applied in April). If your J1 does not have 2-year home residency requirement, your employer can apply for change to H1b from J1 at any time during your J1.

[krucha]

Thank you so much for your response, it is so helpful!