My I-140 was approved on Sept 2011. I came to US on 2008 beginning on L-1 visa and then my employer converted to H-1 visa. On February'15 I got an extension on my H-1 visa based on I-140 approval but I didn't get it for 3 years from Feb'15 rather I got it till Nov'16 (about 1 year 10 months). I am thinking to join another company now. What should I consider before I transfer my H-1 to employer B from employer A on my situation? My wife is on H-1 and it’s valid till 2018. I am also thinking my wife to apply H-4 EAD rather continuing on H-1. Is that going to be a better option?
See clip from Attorney Rajiv S. Khanna's conference call video that addresses this question.
FAQ Transcript:
I would say that I think you should hold off. Don’t give up H-1 to go to H-4 EAD. There are couple of issues here. We don’t really know how far the government is going to go into investigating these cases - are they going to go to details of the H-1 status, if not it could be a simple matter to get H-4 EAD. If they start getting into status issues we could be looking at a protracted battle over the EAD issues.
People who are thinking of going to H-1 to H-4 EAD I would suggest hold off for a couple of months and let’s see how the government is dealing with the EADs and if they are asking for too much information you may not want to convert from H-1 to H-4 EAD.