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Re:H-1B Visas: U.S. Lawmaker Re-Introduces Bill to Tighten R... by suryacom on Monday January 09, 2017 @06:37PM (#13361010)
Visa can be transferred. But, Green Card process has to be restarted from the square one; that is +10k for attorney.
Re:H-1B Visas: U.S. Lawmaker Re-Introduces Bill to Tighten R... by usernametbd on Monday January 09, 2017 @06:45PM (#13361083)
> Green Card process has to be restarted from the square one

That's not fully true AFAIK. The green card (GC) is a 3-step process - PERM, I-140 and GC itself.

If you already have your I-140, unless your previous employer cancels your I-140 (which cost them a few thousand dollars), your new employer can just start over the third step of the process. This is not optimal, sure, but it is not square one either.

Re:H-1B Visas: U.S. Lawmaker Re-Introduces Bill to Tighten R... by woodrow on Monday January 09, 2017 @07:12PM (#13361285)
If you have an approved I-140 and your I-485 has been filed and pending for more than 180 days (or if you filed I-140 and I-485 concurrently and both have been pending for more than 180 days), you may switch to a same or similar job under the AC21 portability rule. Also, starting 17 January 2017, employer withdrawal of an I-140 pending for more than 180 days will no longer cancel the petition.

So if you can get as far as the I-140/I-485 filing, you should be good to go, though IANAL (and you should retain your own to guide you through this process).

Re:H-1B Visas: U.S. Lawmaker Re-Introduces Bill to Tighten R... by suryacom on Monday January 09, 2017 @06:49PM (#13361125)
That is not correct. The second employer has to do all three: PERM, I-140 and GC.
Re:H-1B Visas: U.S. Lawmaker Re-Introduces Bill to Tighten R... by arjie on Monday January 09, 2017 @09:24PM (#13362021)
Yeah, but it's not like the employee is paying for the green card. I have loads of friends on H-1Bs (I'm on one as well) and no one I know has paid for the green card application. That's on the employer and they know what they're getting into when they hire a foreigner.