Once you have a job offer at a new employer, you must make certain that the potential new employer knows that you are in H-1B status and will require H-1B sponsorship. This is a question that may be asked at your job interview, but it is very important that the employer understand that they must file on your behalf prior to your joining the new company. It’s not cheap to sponsor an H-1B employee and if you quit your current job and the new employer withdraws the offer because of the costs or unwillingness to sponsor you, you may find yourself in a very uncomfortable position. Your U.S. citizen colleagues will all tell you not to leave a job without having a new job assured; it’s just good life advice.

But if the new employer agrees to file on your behalf, you will need to take the lead in providing all the documents that are required for the process to go smoothly and efficiently. This will include your personal status documents (your passport, educational credentials), your U.S. status documents (your I-94 entry record, pervious/current visa(s), I-20s from your U.S. education, if applicable, and your most recent 3-6 paystubs), and if at all possible, your current Labor Condition Application (“LCA”) and H-1B petition. Your current employer is required to provide you with a copy of the LCA they filed with your H-1B petition, and you should politely request a copy of the petition as soon as it has been approved. 

If you have family members who need sponsorship that will be dependent to yours (H-4 status for your spouse and any foreign-born children), you may be asked to pay both the legal fees and filing fees for your family, so you should be prepared to do so, and also to provide their documents (passports, birth and marriage certificates, any previous U.S. immigration documents) in a timely manner. 

Once your new employer has all these documents, they can prepare and submit the new LCA, which takes ten days to be certified; and once the LCA is certified, they can prepare and submit the new H-1B petition. 

You can begin working with your new employer once the change-of-employer petition has arrived at the USCIS. You can use the UPS or FedEx delivery confirmation as proof of this. Alternatively, you can wait until your employer has received the notice of receipt (Form I-797C) from the USCIS – about ten days, usually, after the petition is submitted. 

You may wish to remain with your current employer until the receipt notice has been issued just for safety’s sake so that you don’t accrue any time in the U.S. not actually employed in H-1B status. If there is a snag of any kind in the process – say, there is an error and the LCA has to be redone, or you have to wait for a translation or a credentials evaluation – make sure that your new employer has your most recent paystubs to include in the petition as evidence you are maintaining your H-1B status.