Changing the status from H-1B to B-1/B-2 visa has been considered as a safe and legal path to stay in the US when an H1-B visa holder loses their job. But now the USCIS is not allowing this, even if all legalities are maintained. There has been no new rule calling this illegal but the USCIS archived the website pages that indicated that job searching and interviewing may be permissible under B-1 or B-2 classification. According to immigration experts, it's not clear whether 'archived' means 'rescinded' and whether the USCIS now considers this as illegal.
But several cases surfaced in recent months where USCIS did not allow past H-1Bs to switch to B-1/B-2 status after they lost their jobs.
