TN to H1B (Transfer) before Oct 1st

[Canadiamerican]

I am a Canadian citizen working in US on TN, which has been extended
to May 2012. My current employer applied H1B for me early this year.
It's approved and approval notice received. (I am not sure if H1B is
better than TN and I didn't ask for it, but my employer decided to apply for me).

I just got an offer from another company that wants me to start in Mid
August. In that case I would have to apply for TN again to cover the
gap between August and Oct 1st. How likely is that my TN would be
denied considering I have an approved H1B? Are there any pitfalls I have to watch out for? or I'd better just wait until Oct 1st to start my new job?

Thanks for all your help.

 

[nelsona]

There is little chance it will be denied for H1 reasons. H1 is a non-immig status, just as TN is, so nothing related to H1 will get your denied.

Now, H1 is a slightly better status than TN if you intend to go for GC, so, you might want to think about porting your H1 to your new employer, for use after October. You can do this whether or not you actually work in H1 status for the original H1 sponsor. You are now entitled to 6 years (at least) of H1 status because of your approval.

You might wantto follow-up on the mechanisms of H1 porting (the new company would still need to apply for H1 with i-129 for you) on the H1 forum.

 

[Canadiamerican]

Thanks for your reply, Nelsona. I will definitely have my H1 transferred and use it to start my GC.

Once I am in status, I will benefit from the portability provision, which means once immigration is notified I can start immediately with a new employer. So I can have my start day on Oct 5th and have my new employer notified immigration on Oct 2nd.

Do I understand it correctly? or Maybe I should go ask in H forum.