J1 to H1b

[AlexMacedonia 0]

Hello, my girlfriend is on a j1 via as a trainee. Her visa is valid for one year but she wants to leave the employer and move to a different state. She's in the food and beverage industry and has found a job in a restaurant in a different state. However, her current employer says that if she leaves them her visa will no longer be valid. Can she change her visa to an h1b with the new employer? Is that a better option? What are the advantages of an h1b visa compared to a j1? Thank you 

[Boiler 45,461]

I doubt it, H1b is a lottery so would be next October at the earliest and I doubt she would qualify anyway

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

I don’t think restaurant jobs generally qualify for H1B. See details here https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/h-1b-specialty-occupations

 

 

[Coco8 1,042]

She has to talk to the restaurant. They would have to pay for the lawyer and visa, and I bet once they know that she is not allowed to work in the US they will rescind the offer. Employees are not allowed to pay for their own visas.

 

She got the J1 to do the trainee program, not to come to the US and find another job on another visa as soon as she got here. That's already problematic and don't think US government paper pushers aren't going to realize that.

 

If she is in a trainee program, she barely has any experience. Unless she is a sous chef or a chef at at either a Michelin star restaurant or a luxury chain restaurant, she is never getting a work visa. Those are typically O1 visas, not H1B because H1B are for people with at least college degree doing more white collar jobs. 

 

She should finish her trainee program. 

Edited August 1, 2022 by Coco8