Friends, I'm sharing my personal experience here and looking for some advice and perspective:
I recently got laid off in late November 2025. Before my 60-day grace period ended, I applied to convert to B2 status in January 2026, and that application is currently pending.
I was fortunate to found a new job with a tech company in early March,2026. They filed a COS petition to move me from B2 to H1B using Premium Processing on March 18.
However,2 weeks later**,** USCIS sent me an unusual RFE, which requested my B2 visa I539 to be approved first before the H1B officer can adjudicate my H1B COS. This RFE reason seems to be different from the 'maintenance of status' or 'intent' RFEs I’ve seen on the forum.
But as we all know B2 takes 5+ months to get approved, maybe even longer. And there is no official way to expedite the B2. I asked my new employer's immigration lawyer (Fragomen) if it's a good idea to not wait for B2 approval and directly respond to RFE right now requesting concurrent adjudication of H1B and B2 , which was the standard practice before this year's scrutiny. But my lawyer recommends against it!! They are concerned it’s premature and might force me into Consular Processing, which means I need to leave the country soon and risk that $100K proclamation fee!
I'm really out of ideas and very worried that my offer won't stay on the table for another 3-5 months! It's so frustrating they make it so hard for qualified knowledge worker to stay and contribute.
- Has anyone else dealt with this specific 'B2 approval first' RFE recently? If you’ve successfully navigated this or are in the same boat, please share your experience or DM me. Any advice on how to handle this would be much appreciated!
- How valid is my lawyer's advice?? I understand lawyers are on the more risk-averse side, but waiting for 5 months seems more risky to me - i would lose the offer! Would directly respond to RFE right now requesting concurrent adjudication of H1B and B2 really trigger Consular Processing AND that $100K proclamation fee? I thought that $100K only applies to people who file a new H1B while they are abroad, which does not apply to my situation (I've been in the US while the H1B COS is filed!)