For some H-1B workers looking for jobs in the U.S., the interview may be ending before it even begins.
A new discussion on Reddit has brought attention to claims that some companies are avoiding candidates who need an H-1B transfer, with one person who said they work at a Fortune 500 company claiming interviewers were specifically told not to interview workers on visas for new full-time positions.
The discussion began after an H-1B software engineer said they had been laid off and were struggling to find another employer willing to take over their visa.
Posting on the r/h1b subreddit on September 28, the software engineer said they had five years of experience and had been “actively applying and interviewing” for several months.
But the candidate said at least nine interview or application processes were abruptly cut short after employers learned that they were on H-1B status and would require a transfer.
“I had at least 9 interviews/application processes cut short once I told them I was on h-1b and would need a transfer,” the worker wrote.
The candidate said they had assumed that already having a valid H-1B would make the job search easier than being on OPT or having no work authorization.
“I was under the impression that having a valid h-1b made navigating the market easier than being on OPT or no authorization,” the post said.
Instead, the worker said the situation had become unexpectedly difficult.
“I get that sentiment has changed recently due to politics but didn’t think it was this bad,” they wrote.
READ: H-1B American dream comes with a $400K price tag, says Indian American influencer (September 23, 2026)
The question that followed was blunt: are companies still hiring H-1B workers, or has finding a job become “purely a game of luck”?
‘We were asked to not interview people on work visas’
The most striking response came from a Reddit user who said they work at a Fortune 500 company and participate in interviews for their own team as well as adjacent teams.
“Unfortunately we were asked to not interview people on work visas for new FTE roles,” the commenter wrote.
The employee said interviewers were not given an official explanation for the instruction.
“We were not told the official reason for this,” they said, while suggesting that “current uncertainty, processing times and political environment” could be factors.
The commenter said the company continues to support existing full-time employees who are on work visas, including assistance with extensions and green cards.
“Existing FTEs on work visas are fully supported by the company for extensions, green cards etc,” the commenter wrote.
At the same time, the company had recently hired contractors who were on work visas, according to the user.
The company was not identified, and the claim could not be independently verified.
But another Reddit user immediately responded: “Same here.”
A separate commenter said they had heard similar reports from recruiters.
“Yeah I’ve heard this same thing from a couple recruiters,” the user wrote, attributing the situation to a combination of “uncertainty, job market, government policy.”
The commenter added: “It sucks for some of us who came to college here and have tried to do things the right way in pursuit of a better life.”
H-1B transfer or no transfer, employers have more choices
Several users argued that the problem may not be limited to immigration policy.
One commenter pointed to the difficult technology job market, saying the software sector is currently “oversaturated” with workers who have been laid off.
The argument was straightforward: when companies have enough candidates who do not require immigration paperwork, an H-1B transfer can become another hurdle.
“One less hoop to jump through not needing to deal with the paperwork assuming they already had qualified candidates,” the commenter said.
Another user claimed the software market was worse than other sectors and described an alleged hiring freeze at a Big Tech company in California.
READ: Trump orders scrutiny of H-1B employers (September 20, 2026)
“My brother is an engineering VP at a Big Tech company in CA,” the commenter wrote.
According to the user, the company had “suspended hiring all H1Bs earlier this year” before resuming hiring for some foreign workers with engineering PhDs.
The commenter claimed the company had not struggled to find qualified American workers with master’s and bachelor’s degrees, but had more difficulty finding candidates with PhDs in engineering.
‘All but halted’ for some visa workers
Another commenter described the situation in even broader terms.
“Market uncertainty in what the administration will do has all but halted hiring anyone with a Visa that is either in process or may need processing in the future,” the user wrote.
The commenter then made a much bigger claim about the future of employment-based immigration, saying that “the idea of using work visa as a path towards permanent residency is likely in the past.”
That statement reflects the user’s opinion and was not supported with evidence in the Reddit discussion.
The comments also show that H-1B workers are confronting a sharply divided debate over whether employers should continue hiring foreign workers when American workers are available.
One commenter wrote simply: “Americans need jobs.”
Another said that workers on H-1B visas were meant to “augment the workforce” and argued that the recent wave of technology layoffs meant there was less reason to hire workers requiring visas.
Others pushed back strongly.
One Reddit user argued that immigrants have played a major role in the U.S. economy and said current H-1B rules were unfair to workers who pay taxes and have built their careers in the country.
“Work visas are gained by highly qualified professionals,” the commenter wrote, while acknowledging that exploitation of the system should be addressed.
The user described the current situation as unfair to “honest tax paying H1 professionals who have given their best years to the US.”
Not every company is turning away H-1B workers
The Reddit discussion, however, does not show a uniform freeze across the U.S. job market.
Several H-1B workers said they had recently switched jobs or received offers.
One commenter said they had interviewed extensively and “got 3 offers in the last month,” adding that companies were still open to H-1B transfers.
Another said they had recently received two offers.
One user said they had switched jobs twice in six months and had just received an I-797 approval for their second new position.
Another commenter said their company had recently extended an offer to someone on H-1B for a senior role.
The discussion also suggested that specialized skills could make a difference.
One user said that experienced security engineers, DevSecOps professionals, data scientists and electronics engineers were still seeing demand, although the number of available positions was limited.
“Yes, for the right talent,” another commenter wrote.
READ: ‘I feel free’: Ex-Microsoft professional quits American Dream, moves back to India (April 22, 2026)
The original poster’s experience therefore appears to be part of a much more complicated picture. Some H-1B workers are reporting successful job changes, while others say employers are backing away as soon as sponsorship or a visa transfer enters the conversation.
A growing fault line in the U.S. tech job market
The Reddit discussion ultimately exposes a deeper problem for foreign workers who have built careers in the U.S. under employer-sponsored visas.
For an H-1B worker who loses a job, finding another employer is not simply a matter of competing for the same position as other applicants. Immigration status can become another factor in the hiring decision.
And according to multiple commenters in the Reddit thread, some employers may now be treating that immigration requirement as a reason to stop the hiring process altogether.
The most direct account came from the person who said their Fortune 500 employer instructed interviewers not to interview people on work visas for new full-time positions.
That does not establish that Fortune 500 companies broadly follow such a policy, nor does the Reddit discussion prove that H-1B hiring has stopped across the U.S.
But the comments offer a snapshot of the uncertainty facing workers who need an H-1B transfer, with some describing outright freezes and others reporting successful job changes.
For the software engineer who started the discussion, the question remains painfully simple: after years of working in the U.S., does already holding an H-1B still give a worker an advantage in the job market?
Their experience, they said, has so far suggested otherwise.
The Reddit thread had drawn more than 96 upvotes and numerous responses as of Sept. 29, with users offering sharply different accounts of the H-1B job market.