Can My H1B Sponsoring Company Cancel My Visa?

If you resign from a company that sponsored your H1B visa and you do not have another employer to transfer your visa to, your status in the US will be affected. Here is how it works:

1. Employer’s role – When you resign, your sponsoring company is required to inform the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that you are no longer employed with them. Once they do this, your H1B status linked to that employer ends.

2. Visa cancellation – The company itself cannot directly cancel your visa. However, once they notify USCIS, your H1B petition becomes invalid because it is tied only to that employer.

3. Grace period – After your H1B employment ends, you may be eligible for a grace period of up to 60 days (or until your I-94 expires, whichever is earlier) to find a new employer to file an H1B transfer or change your status to another visa category.

4. If you do not find another employer – You cannot legally continue to stay or work in the US on the same H1B. Staying beyond the grace period without a new visa status would mean you are out of status, which can create problems for future visa applications.

So, while your company cannot directly cancel your visa, your H1B status ends once you leave the employer, and you must act within the grace period to maintain legal status in the US.