COS Success story H1B->H4->H1B

Hello everyone, I was laid off early Jan and soon moved to H4 within my 60-day grace period .. 1. Mid Feb applied COS to H4, which was expiring in Sept 2. June applied for an H4 extension in premium concurrent processing with my spouse 3. In the midst of this, a few companies were willing to do my h4 to h1 COS even though it was pending status, but several others denied going forward in the recruitment process 4. July H4 extension in premium RFE 5. Aug H4 extension denied stating my first application is still pending and that I overstayed my I94. I think my lawyers did a terrible job of responding to the RFE, which resulted in denial 6. Aug initial H4 approved until the end of Aug 7. Applied for H4 extension again and decided to travel to get my stamping done instead of waiting here 8. September received a job offer but said I need to consular notification since the H4 extension is pending (I think they could have just done a COS, but they wanted to play safe) 9. October consular notification in premium was sent. H4 approved and consular notification approved 9. November, since H4 was approved, they did a COS H4 to H1B in premium. Approved.

Will start work in December. It was a tough long journey, but I have learned a lot of life lessons. Thanks to this thread for helping with answers regarding H1B stamping, etc..

Update: I already had an approved i140, so COS was quite simple for FAANG and other big tech companies that a big immigration firm to work with.

The recruiters would usually reach out to the immigration team regarding my case, and smaller firms weren't interested in dealing with my pending H4 status, but bigger immigration firms were okay to go forward in the process. Having an approved i140 from my previous employer helped.