H1B workers face an agonizing tradeoff between salary, stability, and green card timeline when switching jobs, with no structured way to evaluate the immigration risk of each option.
Input your current immigration status, job offers, and company details. The tool pulls public PERM/LCA data, layoff history, and H1B sponsorship track records to score each option on immigration safety, financial upside, and timeline impact. Includes scenario modeling (e.g., 'what if I get laid off at month 8?').
Freemium — free basic comparison, $29/month for full risk scoring, scenario modeling, and company immigration intel
This is existential-level pain — a bad job switch can literally mean deportation or resetting a 10+ year green card timeline. The Reddit thread shows real anguish: 'the uncertainty and pain will crush you.' H1B holders lose sleep over these decisions. The 60-day grace period after job loss creates genuine fear. People stay in bad jobs for years rather than risk their immigration status. Few problems have higher personal stakes short of health emergencies.
~750K H1B holders, ~130-170K transfer annually (high-intent moment). At $29/month targeting even 2% of annual transferors (~3,000 users), that is ~$1M ARR. Tech H1B workers earn $130-160K median so $29/month is trivial. TAM ceiling is moderate — this is a niche within US immigration — but the audience is affluent and concentrated. Realistic SAM: $5-15M ARR. Not a billion-dollar market, but a very solid niche SaaS.
H1B holders already spend $2-5K/year out of pocket on immigration services. They pay $300-500/hour for attorney consultations on exactly this question. $29/month ($348/year) for a data-driven tool that replaces or supplements a $1,000+ attorney consultation is an easy sell. The alternative is agonizing uncertainty or expensive one-shot legal advice. These are high-earning tech workers for whom $29/month is less than a lunch. Pain-to-price ratio is excellent.
Core data sources are publicly available: DOL LCA disclosure data, PERM disclosure data, USCIS Visa Bulletin, layoffs.fyi data. No proprietary data needed for MVP. The scoring algorithm is the secret sauce but doesn't require ML — heuristic scoring based on PERM filing history, approval rates, company size, layoff frequency, and visa bulletin trends is sufficient for v1. A solo dev with full-stack skills can build an MVP in 6-8 weeks. Main complexity: data ingestion pipeline for DOL datasets and building a useful scenario model. Not trivial, but well within reach.
This is the strongest signal. NOBODY integrates job-offer comparison with immigration risk. The data exists but is completely fragmented across h1bdata.info (salaries), MyVisaJobs (PERM), Lawfully (case tracking), and layoffs.fyi (stability). An H1B holder evaluating two offers today must manually check 4-5 different sites and then pay an attorney to synthesize it. The 'decision intelligence' layer is completely unaddressed by technology. Lawfully is the closest analog but is reactive (tracking), not proactive (planning).
The core use case (comparing job offers) is episodic — people switch jobs every 1-3 years, not monthly. However, ongoing value can come from: monitoring your current employer's immigration health (layoff risk, PERM filing trends), Visa Bulletin tracking with personalized alerts, and 'should I stay or go' periodic re-evaluation. The green card backlog means users are in limbo for 5-15+ years, creating a long engagement window. But the $29/month price point may face churn between active job searches. Consider annual pricing or a per-report model alongside subscription.
- +Existential pain point with no existing integrated solution — the decision-intelligence layer is completely missing from the market
- +All core data sources (LCA, PERM, Visa Bulletin, layoffs) are publicly available and free — no data acquisition cost
- +Affluent target audience (median $130-160K salary) with proven willingness to pay for immigration services
- +Strong organic distribution via H1B Reddit communities, Blind app, and immigration forums where this pain is discussed daily
- +Long user lifetime — green card backlogs mean users stay in the immigration system for 5-15+ years
- !Legal liability — users may treat scores as legal advice. Need strong disclaimers and potentially an attorney review layer. One bad outcome (user switches jobs based on score, gets burned) could generate negative word-of-mouth in a tight community.
- !Episodic core use case threatens monthly subscription retention — users may subscribe for 1-2 months during job search then churn
- !Immigration policy changes (new administration, H1B reform bills) can unpredictably reshape the landscape — your scoring models need constant updates
- !Data quality risk — PERM/LCA data has lag (filed vs. approved), layoff data is incomplete, and company immigration practices aren't fully captured by public filings
- !Community trust is make-or-break — the H1B community is tight-knit and skeptical. One perceived error in scoring spreads fast on Blind/Reddit
Aggregates H1B, PERM, and green card sponsor data with employer rankings, salary comparisons, approval rates, and processing time trends
Mobile app that tracks USCIS case status with push notifications, Visa Bulletin tracking, and ML-based processing time predictions for immigration forms
Free searchable database of H1B Labor Condition Application
Grades and rates companies on H1B sponsorship friendliness based on LCA data — approval rates, salary levels, volume of sponsorships
Personalized legal advice on job-change risk assessment, green card strategy, and immigration timeline planning from licensed attorneys
A web app where users input: (1) current immigration status (H1B year, I-140 status, priority date, country of birth), (2) current employer, and (3) one or two job offers. The tool pulls pre-indexed LCA/PERM data for each company and outputs a side-by-side comparison card showing: immigration safety score (based on PERM filing volume, approval rates, layoff history), estimated green card timeline impact, salary comparison, and a simple what-if scenario ('what if you get laid off at month 6/12/18'). No ML needed — heuristic scoring with clear methodology shown. Ship with 3-5 pre-built company profiles (FAANG + major H1B sponsors) to demonstrate value immediately.
Free tier: basic company immigration lookup (LCA/PERM data, like a better h1bdata.info) to capture SEO traffic and build trust → $29/month Pro: full side-by-side offer comparison, immigration risk scores, scenario modeling, personalized timeline estimates → $99 one-time 'Deep Report' for users who won't subscribe but will pay per job switch → Future: $199/year premium with attorney-reviewed insights, community Q&A, and employer immigration health monitoring alerts → Enterprise: sell anonymized, aggregated immigration talent flow data to employers/recruiters
8-12 weeks. Weeks 1-4: data pipeline (ingest DOL LCA + PERM disclosure files, layoffs.fyi scrape) and basic company profiles. Weeks 5-8: comparison UI, scoring algorithm, scenario model. Weeks 9-10: landing page, free tier launch on H1B subreddits and Blind. Weeks 11-12: paywall the comparison/scenario features. First paying users within 3 months of starting. The H1B subreddits (r/h1b, r/immigration, r/USCIS) and Blind are high-intent distribution channels with near-zero CAC.
- “Green card is my priority”
- “not sure whether a better option is to stay or go to Meta”
- “concern is if I go to Meta with this mindset of having to leave soon anyway”
- “the uncertainty and pain will crush you”