What if the new employer's petition is denied after I started?

Your authorization to work under that petition ends when it is denied. This is why the timing of the filing, and whether you were in valid status when it was filed, matter so much.

Do I go back into the H-1B lottery to change employers?

Generally no. If you have already been counted against the cap and have not been outside the United States for a year or more, the new petition is cap-exempt.

An illustration of a tidy desk holding an open notebook and a stack of sorted paper folders, with two doors on the far wall suggesting a choice between paths. — Illustration generated by AI

OfficialUSCIS — H-1B Specialty Occupations · Last verified 17 Aug 2026

Changing employers on an H-1B: what portability actually allows

You do not have to wait for an approval notice to start a new job on an H-1B. Here is what the portability rule says and what has to be true for it to apply to you.

Starting work on receipt, not on approval

H-1B portability allows you to begin working for a new employer as soon as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services receives a non-frivolous H-1B petition filed on your behalf. You do not have to wait for the approval notice. The receipt notice is the document that matters, so keep a copy of it.

Source: USCIS — H-1B Specialty Occupations · in effect from 2000-10-17

The three conditions

Portability applies if you were lawfully admitted to the United States, the new petition was filed before your period of authorized stay expired, and you have not been employed without authorization since your lawful admission. If the new petition is later denied, your authorization to work under it ends.

Source: USCIS — H-1B Specialty Occupations · in effect from 2000-10-17

The cap does not apply again

If you were counted against the H-1B cap once and have not left the United States for a year or more, a new employer's petition is generally cap-exempt. You do not re-enter the lottery to change jobs.

Source: USCIS — H-1B Specialty Occupations · in effect from 2000-10-17

Official

Frequently asked questions

What if the new employer's petition is denied after I started?: Your authorization to work under that petition ends when it is denied. This is why the timing of the filing, and whether you were in valid status when it was filed, matter so much.
Do I go back into the H-1B lottery to change employers?: Generally no. If you have already been counted against the cap and have not been outside the United States for a year or more, the new petition is cap-exempt.