Employees in the middle of an employment-based green card case often get a better offer. Whether they can take it without starting over depends on how far the case has gone.
Two rules do most of the work: priority date retention and portability.
After the I-140 is approved: your priority date
Once your I-140 petition is approved, you generally keep its priority date for any later employment-based petition, even with a new employer. The exceptions are a revocation for fraud, willful misrepresentation or a material error, or because the labor certification was revoked or invalidated. Your place in line comes with you.
The rest of the case does not. A new employer usually must file a new PERM application and a new I-140. If the first employer withdraws the approved petition, the priority date is generally still yours. A withdrawal 180 days or more after approval also leaves the petition approved for some purposes, such as H-1B extensions.
After the adjustment application has waited 180 days: portability
If your Form I-485 has been pending for 180 days or more, and the I-140 was approved or approvable, you may be able to change jobs and keep the same application.
The new job must be in the same or a similar occupational classification as the original one. You show this on Supplement J, with a job offer from the new employer.
- Same or similar means the duties, skills and experience overlap. The title alone does not decide it.
- A move from an individual role into managing the same kind of work can qualify.
- A move into an unrelated field usually does not.
Before either point
If the I-140 has not been approved, a job change usually means starting the process again with the new employer, and possibly a new priority date. Waiting a few weeks can matter.
H-1B holders must also keep valid status while the green card case continues. A new employer can file an H-1B change petition, and in most cases work can begin when it is filed.
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Published June 9, 2026.