Interviewing when h1b is in process
Currently I am working on my opt so far and this is the 2nd time my h1b is in process. At the same time, I am polishing my leetcode skills and actively interviewing with companies. One of the recruiters mentioned that, if i get selected in the h1b lottery this year, I would need to wait until October to join their company. How true is this? Is there a way, where I can join a company and then transfer my Microsoft h1b to the new company. Or would I need to wait until october to get my h1b officially approved and then switch companies? If later's the case, there's no point interviewing right now and I can interview around September October , correct?
If it’s a first time H1B that the company sponsored they’re issued in April and active from October. If it’s an existing H1 and your renewal is approved, once you have the renewal in hand you can transfer employers (assuming they’re willing to do the sponsorship too) and that’s effective immediately.
I think you need to wait in your current company till your H1B is approved to transfer to a new company. But if you get offers by then I guess you can have the start date up to 2 to 3 months later from when you accept the offer. So you can keep interviewing if you are confident about your LC skills. I’m in the same situation, my H1B got picked day before yesterday. Practicing LC and also interviewing/applying to companies.