Applying for H1B visa, while on J-1 visa

Vilmaelisabet

New Member
Hi,

I'm currently in the US with J-1 visa, and I have been offered an H1B visa from an US company. I've been talking with the immigration lawyer, and he mentioned that US Department of State might cancel my J-1 visa when the H1B visa process starts. Is that true? I'm here on J-1 visa until end of July (+1 month grace period) and I'm aware that I have to go back to my home country after that to wait till the H1B visa is valid at October 1st. But can they really cancel my J-1 visa before that?

PS. I've got the 2 year rule waived.

Thanks for the answers!
 
Visas are only for entry. You cannot get a visa in the US; you will only get an H1b visa when you go apply for it at a consulate in your country. At that time, why does it matter if your J1 visa is cancelled or not? You are not going to re-enter the US in J1 status anymore.
 
Visas are only for entry. You cannot get a visa in the US; you will only get an H1b visa when you go apply for it at a consulate in your country. At that time, why does it matter if your J1 visa is cancelled or not? You are not going to re-enter the US in J1 status anymore.

Thanks for the reply! So if I'm lucky enough to get the H1B visa, I have to go to consulate before July? Because I was hoping I could stay in US and in the company at least until end of July, and then go handle the government stuff back home.
 
Thanks for the reply! So if I'm lucky enough to get the H1B visa, I have to go to consulate before July? Because I was hoping I could stay in US and in the company at least until end of July, and then go handle the government stuff back home.
You can get the H1b visa any time before you come on H1b. How long you can stay in the US in your current J1 status is an unrelated matter.
 
You can get the H1b visa any time before you come on H1b. How long you can stay in the US in your current J1 status is an unrelated matter.

So they can't just cancel my current J1 visa? That's what I'm worried about that after I apply for H1B, will my current visa be cancelled and I'm kicked out of here before I'm planning to leave.
 
So they can't just cancel my current J1 visa? That's what I'm worried about that after I apply for H1B, will my current visa be cancelled and I'm kicked out of here before I'm planning to leave.
First of all, applying for an H1b petition doesn't cause cancelling of visas. Second, visas are only for entering the US; whether your J1 visa gets cancelled is irrelevant because you (probably) are not planning to enter the US again into J1 status. Visas have nothing to do with staying in the US.
 
First of all, applying for an H1b petition doesn't cause cancelling of visas. Second, visas are only for entering the US; whether your J1 visa gets cancelled is irrelevant because you (probably) are not planning to enter the US again into J1 status. Visas have nothing to do with staying in the US.

Gotcha, that makes sense. Weird how my lawyer was so worried about it then.
 
First of all, applying for an H1b petition doesn't cause cancelling of visas. Second, visas are only for entering the US; whether your J1 visa gets cancelled is irrelevant because you (probably) are not planning to enter the US again into J1 status. Visas have nothing to do with staying in the US.

Ok so now I contacted my current J1 visa sponsor about this, because I needed to extend my J1 visa for the time while my company applies me the H1B visa. But my J1 visa sponsor said that they will not consider the extension because I'm interested in H1B visa. Can they do that, and what's the reasoning behind that? It still doesn't mean that I will even get the H1B visa nor that doesn't consider my J1 visa in any ways.
 
Top