u/XX645344

Would really appreciate any advice or similar experiences here.

I got an I-526E RFE in April 2026 and am currently preparing the response (planning to submit in June). I also got an offer from my dream company, and they want me to start in early July. 

During interviews, I told HR I wouldn’t need sponsorship because at the time I genuinely thought I’d just use my combo card / EAD based on pending AOS. I’ve always felt pretty confident about my case overall. But lately I’ve started seeing denied I-526E cases online, and now I’m kinda panicking. 

At this point, I’m leaning toward keeping my H-1B until the I-526E gets approved, but the timing is super uncertain and could easily be July or even later.

I’m now considering asking the new employer if they’d be willing to do an H-1B transfer, and I’d really appreciate any advice on how to approach that conversation with HR. 

My thinking is that for a large company, an H-1B transfer may actually be a more standardized / lower-risk option from an I-9 + compliance perspective vs. onboarding through a pending-GC EAD. Also I already have H-1B with 5+ years left & I do NOT need GC sponsorship from them. So theoretically this shouldn’t be a huge burden or cost for a large employer.

BUT I’m worried HR / HM / legal may get nervous/angry since I originally said I didn’t need sponsorship. Worst case, maybe it impacts the offer or they rescind it altogether.

And if they refuse the H-1B transfer, I may have to ask to delay my start date for a few weeks or up to 2 months until the I-526E gets approved… which could also get awkward or potentially burn bridges.

I’m honestly super torn. I really don’t want to lose this opportunity, but I’m also nervous about immigration/status risk in the current environment.

Has anyone been through something similar? Would especially appreciate thoughts from ppl in HR / legal / immigration. Much appreciated!

Would really appreciate any advice or similar experiences here.

I got an I-526E RFE in April 2026 and am currently preparing the response (planning to submit in June). I also got an offer from my dream company, and they want me to start in early July. 

During interviews, I told HR I wouldn’t need sponsorship because at the time I genuinely thought I’d just use my combo card / EAD based on pending AOS. I’ve always felt pretty confident about my case overall. But lately I’ve started seeing denied I-526E cases online, and now I’m kinda panicking. 

At this point, I’m leaning toward keeping my H-1B until the I-526E gets approved, but the timing is super uncertain and could easily be July or even later.

I’m now considering asking the new employer if they’d be willing to do an H-1B transfer, and I’d really appreciate any advice on how to approach that conversation with HR. 

My thinking is that for a large company, an H-1B transfer may actually be a more standardized / lower-risk option from an I-9 + compliance perspective vs onboarding through a pending-GC EAD. Also I already have H-1B with 5+ years left & I do NOT need GC sponsorship from them. So theoretically this shouldn’t be a huge burden or cost for a large employer.

BUT I’m worried HR / HM / legal may get nervous since I originally said I didn’t need sponsorship. Worst case, maybe it impacts the offer or they rescind it altogether.

And if they refuse the H-1B transfer, I may have to ask to delay my start date for a few weeks or up to 2 months until the I-526E gets approved… which could also get awkward or potentially burn bridges.

I’m honestly super torn. I really don’t want to lose this opportunity, but I’m also nervous about immigration/status risk in the current environment.

Has anyone been through something similar? Would especially appreciate thoughts from ppl in HR / legal / immigration. Much appreciated!

Would really appreciate any advice here.

I recently got a dream offer and they want me to start in early July assuming no sponsorship needed. Right now I’m on H1B, and I also have EAD through a pending personal GC process (not employment-based GC). During interviews, I told HR I wouldn’t need sponsorship because at the time I thought the easiest path would just be to use EAD and stop maintaining H1B. 

But now I’m getting nervous about relying entirely on pending-AOS EAD in the current environment, so I’m leaning toward keeping my H1B active as a backup.

I’m considering asking the new employer if they’d be willing to do an H1B transfer instead, and I’d really appreciate advice on how to approach that conversation with HR.

My thinking is:

• H1B transfer may actually be more standardized / lower risk from an I-9 + compliance perspective for a large company vs. pending-AOS EAD
• I have H1B with 5+ years left
• I do NOT need employment-based GC sponsorship from them

So theoretically this shouldn’t be a huge burden or cost (legal fees $2-4K + premium processing $3K) for a large company. BUT I’m worried HR / HM / legal may get nervous/angry since I originally said I didn’t need sponsorship. Worst case maybe it impacts the offer or they rescind it.

And if they refuse the H1B transfer, I may need to ask to delay my start date by anywhere from a couple weeks to potentially 2 months until my personal GC process gets updates… which could obviously get awkward, and I’m not sure the employer would be willing to wait that long.

I’m honestly super torn. I really don’t want to lose this opportunity, but I’m also nervous about immigration/status risk. Has anyone been through something similar? Would especially appreciate thoughts from ppl in HR / legal / immigration. Thank you!