Green Card Freeze: What H-1B Workers & NRIs should do now?

If your employer is one of the eight in the October 8, 2026 green card freeze, your H-1B stays valid but your case stalls. Your next move depends on the stage your case reached. Start with one date: 365 days before your sixth H-1B year ends.

How the green card freeze hits each stage of your case

The freeze stops one step, PERM, the Labor Department's labor certification. What it costs you depends on how far your case had got before October 8, and the announcement breakdown lists exactly what was covered.

A case still at PERM is the most exposed, because every later step waits behind it. A case with an approved I-140 is the least exposed, because that approval already fixed your place in the queue.

The 365-day date decides your H-1B extensions

The two ways to stay past year six

H-1B status ends after six years unless a green card case keeps it alive. Two rules (both from the AC21 law) do that, and both depend on what was filed and when.

• A PERM or I-140 filed at least 365 days before year six ends allows extensions in one-year steps until the case is decided.
• An approved I-140 whose priority date isn't current allows extensions in three-year steps.

A worked example with two dates

Take Priya and Arjun, two hypothetical H-1B workers at a frozen employer, neither with a filing yet. Priya's sixth year ends on June 30, 2028, so her 365-day date is July 1, 2027. Arjun's ends on December 31, 2027, so his is December 31, 2026.

If the initial 180-day period applies, which the Labor Department hasn't confirmed, the freeze ends around April 6, 2027. Priya's employer could still file before her date. Arjun's date passes while the freeze is on, so waiting at that employer closes the one-year route for him.

Your own dates will differ, because time spent outside the US can extend the six years. I'd circle that date before anything else, because nothing your employer announces can move it.

What changing employers does to your case

The freeze names eight employers, so a new employer outside them isn't frozen, unless the list grows. What you carry across depends on your stage.

If your PERM green card case is still pending

A labor certification is valid only for the particular job it was filed for (20 CFR 656.30). A new employer therefore files its own PERM, and your 365-day clock restarts from that filing. Put the PERM start date in your offer letter, because the employer can't make you pay for it (20 CFR 656.12(b)).

If your I-140 is approved

Your priority date, your place in the queue, belongs to the approved I-140, and a new employer's later petition can use it.

The rule (8 CFR 204.5(e)) names few ways to lose it: fraud or willful misrepresentation, a material error in the approval, or the Labor Department revoking or invalidating the labor certification. No revocation has been announced for any of the eight.

Timing matters too. If an employer withdraws an I-140 within 180 days of its approval, the approval is revoked. After 180 days, the priority date survives a withdrawal, as does your right to extensions.

If your I-485 is already filed

Once your I-485 has been pending 180 days with an approved I-140, INA section 204(j) lets you move to a new job in the same or similar occupation without restarting. You confirm the move on Supplement J.

Routes that skip your employer's PERM

Two green card routes need no employer PERM, so neither depends on your current employer.

• EB-1A, for extraordinary ability, needs no job offer and no labor certification, and you can file the petition yourself (8 CFR 204.5(h)).
• NIW, the national interest waiver, asks USCIS to exempt the job offer and labor certification when that serves the national interest (8 CFR 204.5(k)(4)(ii)).

Both skip the labor certification, but not the per-country queue, and no employer's PERM speeds that queue up, as the India EB-2 backlog shows. I'd treat them as a parallel track, because each needs evidence you either have or don't.

What staying or leaving costs you in money

Your immigration clock and your money clock run separately, and the freeze can push you to act on one without seeing the other. Four things change on your last day.

• Unvested RSUs: your grant agreement decides what happens to them when you leave, so read it before you give notice.
• 401(k): your own contributions are always yours, while the employer match vests on your plan's schedule.
• Cash runway: your last day starts a grace period of up to 60 days for your H-1B status, so know how many months you can cover.
• Tax: if the plan becomes leaving the US, the year you leave decides how much you keep.

I'd map all four before you accept an offer, because a new employer's PERM start date means little if the move costs you more than the delay would. The RSU and 401(k) guide and exit-year tax planning cover the details.

Who the freeze does and doesn't affect

Three groups sit in different positions.

• Employees at Infosys, TCS, Wipro, HCL, Cognizant, Capgemini, Microsoft and Adobe whose PERM isn't certified feel it first.
• Everyone at other employers isn't named, though the list can grow.
• H-4 spouses depend on your case, because a spouse can apply for a work permit only when you have an approved I-140 or your H-1B was extended past year six (the H-4 spouse work permit rule).

What to do this week

Work through these in order.

1. Ask HR or your immigration team, in writing, for four dates: PERM filing, PERM certification, I-140 receipt and I-140 approval.
2. Ask for your exact sixth-year end date, then subtract 365 days.
3. Save every approval and receipt notice somewhere you control, because your priority date lives in them.
4. Hold your resignation until you know your stage, and ask any new employer to name a PERM start date in the offer.
5. Run the money side before you resign, using the four costs listed above.

Conclusion

This week, send HR one email asking for your four case dates and your sixth-year end date. I'd do that before any decision about your job, because those dates are the whole picture. If you want the money side of a move mapped first, InvestMates can run it with you.