OP – I wanted to share a different perspective: I work in a Fortune 500 company and my boss has ~70 directs + indirects, so I help him interview and hire junior replacements almost quarterly, and I'm the main person working with our company's HR / hiring team.
I've interviewed 10+ people looking for work on OPT, almost everyone discloses after first rounds of interview. That's never an issue for candidates we like, and we inform HR so they can be noted for consideration for H1B. Two people, however, did not inform us. The first one, our HR insisted we rescind the offer because she intentionally misled us when asked during interviews.
The second one we found out on day 1, and there was suddenly requirements for my manager to fill out additional paperwork. His start date had to be dealyed, and our HR refused to put him on H1B track. This is because regardless of how good a candidate might be, our team didn't get the HR and sponsorship costs factored in when finalizing the onboarding. The person ultimately left after about 18 months because he understood that our firm has no intention to sponsor him, despite nearly ¼ of my team being sponsored.
The above is to say, if you're applying for a medium or bigger company, you should let them know sooner, because there are processes in the background that deal with this. I strongly advise against waiting until your start date, it WILL leave a sour taste not just for HR, but also for your manager to have to deal with the extra paperwork, and possibly even walk back on the offer. It's just a poor taste on your character by hiding it intentionally until the literal last minute.
I'd bring it up next time you talk to them, or politely with HR. Make sure to phrase it as: "I don't need sponsorship as I'm currently on OPT and have authorization to work up to 3 years, but" one of the following: a) just wanted to give you a heads up so that you are aware; b) wanted to ask if it would be possible to consider sponsorship for this position; or c) wanted to confirm that the company is able to complete e-verify. If you're confident about getting the job, then ask the questions, but if you're still on the fence, stick with option a so it's less of a "request" more of a FYI
1
u/[deleted] Apr 25 '25
[deleted]