F1 (STEM OPT) planning to switch employer

[Forum_user_9]

Hello,

I'm currently on STEM OPT extension which is valid until Feb-2017 and my employer filed H1B petition for the coming fiscal year. I'm currently working as a consultant at client location and received a full time job offer recently from one of my dream companies.

If I decide to join the new company, what are the next steps that I need to take care of from my end? Also, what happens to the H1B application that my current employer sent to USICS?

My employer informed that it is going to take a month or two to receive an update on the H1B lottery. I understand that my current employer spent efforts and money to file an application with USCIS and I'm ready to compensate for that.

I understand that I will lose the chance of giving a shot at H1B this year, should I choose to join the new company, but I don't think the new company will defer the job offer to October (H1B transfer option if approved) or even wait until the lottery results are out.

Please let me know your thoughts or suggestions on my current situation.

[scientist2016]

Your H1B petition is for future employment, so it does not matter who you are working with currently or where you are working. In other words, the H1B petition from your current employer will continue, and no legal obligation on your part to stay with the employer who applied for the H1B. If you switch employers, and your H1B gets picked in the lottery, you could always initiate a H1B transfer (after your OPT expires) or ask the then current employer to apply for a cap exempt H1B, which can be done at any time (no need to wait until the next H1B cycle). Of course, all this is predicated on the assumption that your current employers will not withdraw the H1B application once you leave them.