If you're on H-1B and your priority date is current, you're in one of the strongest positions in U.S. immigration law to file Form I-485 and get your green card while you keep working. The rules shifted in 2025, though, and some of the choices you make during adjustment of status now matter more than they did even a year ago.
Adjusting status from H-1B should be the easy version of this process. Dual intent is built into your visa, your employer has likely already filed an I-140 for you, and once the visa bulletin opens up, you can file Form I-485 to pick up work authorization and travel permission while you wait. That's the theory. The reality is that H-1B holders keep getting tangled in three questions that aren't anywhere on the form: when to file, whether to use the EAD or stay on H-1B, and what to do if you switch jobs or get laid off mid-process.
This post walks through those decisions, including the 2025 and 2026 policy shifts that have made some of them harder than they used to be. For the form mechanics themselves, our step-by-step comparison of I-130 vs I-485 covers that ground; what follows is the H-1B-specific strategy.
Why H-1B holders have a built-in advantage
Most U.S. nonimmigrant visas want you to prove you'll go home eventually. The H-1B is one of the few that explicitly doesn't. Under INA § 214(b) and 8 CFR § 214.2(h)(16)(i), filing a PERM application, an I-140 petition, or an I-485 "shall not be a basis for denying an H-1B petition" or the worker's admission, change of status, or extension of stay. The doctrine has a name: dual intent.
The practical consequences are substantial. F-1, TN, and O-1 holders put their status at risk every time they renew a visa stamp abroad with a green card application pending. H-1B holders don't. You can file I-485, get an EAD, get advance parole, switch H-1B employers, extend H-1B past the six-year cap, and travel on your H-1B visa stamp without any of it threatening the adjustment application or the other way around. The whole H-1B category was designed with the green card transition in mind.
The three-step path from H-1B to green card
For most H-1B workers, the process runs in three stages, each with its own clock.
Step 1: PERM labor certification. Your employer files a labor certification with the Department of Labor showing they tested the U.S. labor market and couldn't find a qualified U.S. worker. In 2026, PERM often takes well over a year: DOL reported an average of 501 calendar days for analyst review as of March 12, 2026, before adding any separate prevailing wage and recruitment steps. The date DOL receives the PERM filing becomes your priority date. EB-1A extraordinary ability and EB-2 National Interest Waiver skip PERM entirely.
Step 2: I-140 immigrant petition. Once PERM is certified, your employer files Form I-140. Premium processing for eligible I-140 classifications costs $2,805, effective February 26, 2024, and USCIS states the premium-processing timeframe is generally 15 business days for most eligible I-140 classifications and 45 business days for EB-1 multinational managers/executives and EB-2 national interest waiver cases. I-140 approval locks in your priority date.
Step 3: I-485 adjustment of status. When your priority date is current on the visa bulletin chart USCIS designates for that month, you file Form I-485. For April 2026, USCIS is using the more permissive "Dates for Filing" chart for all employment-based categories. If you're not sure what that means, our guide to how the visa bulletin works explains the two charts.
You can also file I-140 and I-485 at the same time, which is called concurrent filing. That option is only on the table when your priority date is already current at the moment of I-140 filing. For H-1B workers in EB-1, EB-2 Rest of World, and most EB-3 cases in 2026, concurrent filing is available. For EB-2 and EB-3 India and China, it isn't.
The decision that matters most: EAD or H-1B?
This is where most H-1B workers lose money and sleep, and it's the section most online guides get wrong because they were written before the 2025 rule changes.
When you file I-485, you can also file Form I-765 for an Employment Authorization Document and Form I-131 for Advance Parole. For I-485 filings postmarked on or after April 1, 2024, these are not bundled for free with the adjustment filing: adjustment applicants generally pay a reduced $260 fee for Form I-765 and a separate $630 fee for Form I-131. They can give you the right to work for any employer and to travel internationally, independent of your H-1B. That sounds like a clear upgrade. It usually isn't.
Here's the distinction that trips people up: getting an EAD has no effect on your H-1B. Using the EAD to work for anyone, including your current H-1B employer, ends your H-1B status. Same goes for advance parole. If you re-enter the U.S. on advance parole instead of your H-1B visa stamp, you become a parolee with a pending I-485, and your H-1B is gone.
Why does that matter? If your I-485 is denied, your H-1B is your safety net. You're still in lawful status, you can still work for your employer, and you can refile or appeal without worrying about removal proceedings. Under USCIS policy as expanded in February 2025, USCIS now regularly issues Notices to Appear in immigration court after certain I-485 denials when the applicant has no other lawful status. Holding onto H-1B makes that scenario a lot less dangerous.
Current USCIS policy points the other way on EAD renewals. DHS permanently increased the automatic extension period for many eligible EAD renewals from up to 180 days to up to 540 days in a final rule published December 13, 2024, and USCIS still allows up to 5-year validity for adjustment-based EADs in category (c)(9), including pending I-485 applicants. Because EAD timing still varies by case type and category, some applicants prefer keeping H-1B as an added backup, but the specific late-2025 cutbacks described here are not current USCIS policy.
The practical rule for 2026: file for the EAD and advance parole because they're cheap insurance, but don't activate them unless you actually need to. Keep working on H-1B. Travel on your H-1B visa stamp when you can. Activate the EAD only if you're laid off past the 60-day H-1B grace period, your H-1B is expiring without an extension path, or you need to work for an employer who can't sponsor H-1B.
Changing jobs during a pending I-485: the AC21 rule
If your I-485 has been pending 180 days and your I-140 is approved, you can change employers under the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act, usually called AC21. The statutory basis is INA § 204(j), and the regulations are at 8 CFR § 245.25.
The catch: the new job has to be in the same or similar occupational classification as the I-140 job. USCIS looks at Standard Occupational Classification codes but treats them as guidance, not a bright line. A software engineer moving to another software engineer role almost always qualifies. A software engineer moving into product management probably doesn't. You'll also need to file Form I-485 Supplement J to document the new offer.
If your original employer withdraws or revokes the I-140 after your I-485 has been pending 180 days, the I-140 generally stays valid for portability, unless USCIS revokes it for fraud or a substantive error. Before 180 days, a withdrawal is usually fatal to the I-485.
A layoff is the high-stakes version of all this. You have the standard H-1B 60-day grace period to find a new employer or change status. If your I-485 has cleared 180 days, AC21 gives you flexibility. If it hasn't, you may need to activate your EAD, change to H-4 through a spouse, or leave the U.S. A new H-1B transfer is often the cleanest outcome even when AC21 is on the table, because it keeps your H-1B safety net intact.
What the process actually costs in 2026
The H-1B to green card path isn't cheap, and the bill has grown since 2024. Here's the realistic breakdown for a single applicant in the employment-based path.
PERM is usually paid by the employer and typically runs $3,000 to $8,000 in attorney fees and advertising. I-140 filing fees vary by preference category, with a $600 Asylum Program Fee paid by the employer. Premium processing is $2,965 and is optional. The I-485 package for a single applicant filing with an EAD and advance parole comes to roughly $2,330: $1,440 for the I-485, $260 for the I-765 EAD, and $630 for the I-131 advance parole. USCIS also requires a medical exam on Form I-693, which usually runs $200 to $500.
Two procedural changes affect how you pay. After October 28, 2025, USCIS generally accepts only credit card payments on Form G-1450 or ACH payments on Form G-1650 for paper filings, unless the filer qualifies for an exemption and submits Form G-1651 for paper fee payment. And each form needs its own payment. USCIS may reject a package that uses one combined payment for I-485, I-765, and I-131.
Add attorney fees and the total for a typical H-1B family lands somewhere between $15,000 and $35,000. That's where Immiva's positioning helps: structured form guidance without the $5,000 bill for someone to type your answers. Our pricing page has the current numbers.
The India and China backlog reality
If you were born in India or China, the calendar looks different. The per-country cap in INA § 202 limits any single country to 7% of each preference category's annual allocation, no matter how much demand comes from that country. The result is queues that move in months per year instead of days.
As of the April 2026 visa bulletin, EB-2 India has a Final Action Date of July 15, 2014, and EB-3 India sits at November 15, 2013. For someone filing PERM today, the realistic wait for a green card number is 12 to 15 years. EB-2 China is at September 2021, with a shorter queue of roughly 4 to 5 years.
Forward movement in early 2026 was unusually fast, partly because numbers originally allocated for consular processing abroad were redirected to domestic I-485 applicants after the State Department paused immigrant visa processing in 75 countries. Retrogression is a real risk if processing restarts. If your priority date becomes current, file as soon as you reasonably can.
There are alternatives. EB-1A self-petition works for candidates with extraordinary records. EB-2 NIW works for workers whose contribution has substantial merit and national importance. And H-1B holders with an approved I-140 can extend H-1B in three-year increments past the six-year cap under AC21 Section 104(c), so a 12-year wait won't force you out of the country. Our green card backlog explainer covers the legislative attempts to fix this, none of which have passed.
Official sources
This guide is based on current USCIS policy and federal regulations as of April 2026.
USCIS Resources
Federal Regulations
Immigration and Nationality Act
Policy Alerts
- Federal Register: Removal of Automatic EAD Extension (Oct 30, 2025)
- USCIS: EAD Validity Period Update (Dec 2025)
Immigration law changes frequently. We revise this guide when USCIS updates policy or the visa bulletin meaningfully moves.