The B-2 Bridge Is Burning: What H-1B Workers Need to Know Now

For years, if you got laid off on an H-1B, the standard move was straightforward — file Form I-539 to change to B-2 visitor status within your 60-day grace period, job hunt, interview, then transfer back to H-1B without ever leaving the U.S. USCIS even had a page explicitly saying job searching and interviewing were permissible B-2 activities.
That page was quietly archived on March 31, 2026.
Now adjudicators are using that archival to issue RFEs, Notices of Intent to Deny, and outright denials — arguing that job searching was never a valid B-2 purpose, and that filing a subsequent H-1B petition proves you never had proper B-2 intent to begin with. No formal policy announcement. No rulemaking. Just a pattern of denials.
The stakes are high. A denied B-2 could force consular processing abroad — where some new H-1B petitions now carry a $100,000 fee under the September 2025 Presidential Proclamation.
If you're an H-1B worker, an HR/immigration contact at a tech company, or an employment attorney — this is something you need to know about now, not after a layoff happens.
Talk to an immigration attorney before assuming the old playbook still works. It may not.