Form I-485 Supplement J: The AC21 Portability Letter, Filled Out Line by Line

There is no such thing as an "AC21 portability letter." There is Form I-485 Supplement J — eight pages, no filing fee, and your new employer fills in half of it. Here is every part.

The offer is signed, or nearly. The recruiter quoted a number you have waited four years to hear. And someone on a forum told you to "have your lawyer send an AC21 portability letter," so you went looking for a template and found nothing that looked official.

That is because the letter does not exist any more. Since January 17, 2017, any request to port your job under INA section 204(j) must be made on Form I-485, Supplement J — current edition 01/20/25, official title Confirmation of Valid Job Offer or Request for Job Portability Under INA Section 204(j). It is eight pages. It costs $0. And it is not a form you can finish alone: your new employer completes Parts 6 through 9 and signs.

Before any of that matters, three gates have to be open at once: an approved or still-pending I-140 naming you, an I-485 pending 180 days or more from its receipt date, and a new permanent job offer in the same or a similar occupational classification.

This is a walkthrough of a government form, not legal advice. The "same or similar" call is a discretionary determination, and it is the one place a real immigration attorney earns their fee. For the doctrine behind the form, see our guide to the full AC21 portability rules.

⚠️ Read this first — everything below the eligibility section assumes you are already at 180 days. The count runs from the receipt date on your Form I-797 for the I-485, and it runs until USCIS receives your porting request. If you are at day 120 and a recruiter is pushing you to resign, the form is not your problem — the calendar is. USCIS's instructions state that it will reject a portability Supplement J filed before the I-485 has been pending 180 days. Read "Counting the 180 days" first, then come back.

What Supplement J actually is (and what replaced what)

Supplement J is a supplement to Form I-485, not a standalone petition. It does one of two jobs: confirm that the job offered in the underlying I-140 is still a valid offer you intend to accept, or request portability to a new job under INA 204(j).

AC21 is the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act of 2000, which added section 204(j) to the Immigration and Nationality Act. For sixteen years, portability requests were made by letter. USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 7, Part E, Chapter 5 now states it plainly: "If the applicant makes a request to port on or after January 17, 2017, the applicant must submit a Confirmation of a Valid Job Offer or Request for Job Portability Under INA Section 204(j)."

Content still circulating from 2014 to 2016 explaining how to draft an AC21 letter describes a procedure that no longer exists. Your attorney will very likely still send a cover letter and an occupational-comparison memo. Those are useful. They are not the request.

One carve-out most walkthroughs skip: the instructions state that individuals seeking or granted an EB-2 National Interest Waiver, or classification as a person of extraordinary ability under INA 203(b)(1)(A), do not need to file Supplement J at all — those categories are not tied to a specific job offer.

The two reasons to file it, and which one is yours

Part 1 is a single choice between two boxes, and it decides everything downstream. Know which one is yours before you start typing.

Reason 1: confirming the job offer is still real

If you file (or filed) Form I-485 separately, based on a previously filed I-140, you must file Supplement J instead of submitting a job-offer letter. USCIS also requires it when it sends you an RFE or a NOID, and states that it "may also request that you file Supplement J again before we make a final decision on your Form I-485."

Reason 2: requesting portability to a new job under 204(j)

You may file for this reason only after the three conditions are met, and USCIS lists three triggering situations: you have a new, permanent job offer from a US employer in the same or a similar occupational classification and want USCIS to decide your I-485 on it; USCIS sent an RFE or NOID asking whether the job in the I-140 (or a previously filed Supplement J) is still available; or USCIS sent a NOID because your petitioner withdrew the I-140 or went out of business.

When you do not file it

If you are filing Form I-485 together with a Form I-140 that names you as the beneficiary, you do not need Supplement J at that time. Do not carry the concurrent-filing rule further than that: a concurrent filer can still be asked for one later by RFE, or need one to port.

And one online-filing carve-out that is easy to miss: if you are requesting to transfer the underlying basis of a pending employment-based I-485, do not file Supplement J online.

Eligibility: the 180-day count, and what "same or similar" means

Counting the 180 days

The Policy Manual is precise: counting "begins on the day the applicant properly filed the adjustment application with USCIS and includes every subsequent calendar day until USCIS receives the applicant's request to port (so long as the application remains unadjudicated)."

Two consequences people get wrong. Mail transit counts against you — the clock stops when USCIS receives the request, not when you sign it or drop it in a mailbox. And a visa had to be available when you filed the I-485, but it "does not need to remain continuously available for the 180 days to accrue." Retrogression after filing does not pause the count. If the priority-date machinery is unfamiliar, our explainer on how priority dates and the Visa Bulletin work covers it.

To find your receipt date, look at the Form I-797 Notice of Action for the I-485 — our guide to reading your USCIS receipt notice shows you where.

Same or similar occupational classification

USCIS defines both terms:

• Same occupational classification means "an occupation that resembles in every relevant respect the occupation for which the underlying employment-based immigrant visa petition was approved."
• Similar occupational classification means "an occupation that shares essential qualities or has a marked resemblance or likeness" with that occupation.

Officers then evaluate the totality of the circumstances, considering factors including but not limited to: the DOL occupational codes assigned to the respective jobs; job duties; job titles; required skills and experience; educational and training requirements; any specifically required licenses or certifications; the offered wage or salary; and any other material and credible evidence. On wages, USCIS notes that similar pay is not conclusive proof of similarity — and a salary difference alone does not preclude a favourable finding. The burden is on you.

How SOC codes actually get used

This is where most competing content is simply wrong. USCIS states that it "does not consider SOC codes or their descriptions as the sole determining factor(s) or mandatory factor(s) in portability determinations."

The mechanics, using USCIS's own worked example. The SOC code for the detailed occupation "web developer" is 15-1254:

Two rules of favourable treatment follow:

1. If you establish by a preponderance of the evidence that all six digits match, and the totality supports it, officers "may generally treat such evidence favourably."
2. If the two jobs sit in two distinct detailed codes inside the same broad code, USCIS "generally considers such positions to be in similar occupational classifications unless the preponderance of the evidence indicates that favorable treatment is not warranted." USCIS's example: Computer Programmers (15-1251), Software Developers (15-1252), Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers (15-1253), Web Developers (15-1254) and Web and Digital Interface Designers (15-1255) all sit within 15-1250.

Now the counter-example that exists precisely to defeat over-reliance on that second rule. Geographers (19-3092) and Political Scientists (19-3094) both sit inside the broad code for Miscellaneous Social Scientists and Related Workers (19-3090). USCIS says that because "the workers in those respective occupations largely do not share the same duties, experience, and educational backgrounds," an officer may determine the two jobs are not in similar occupational classifications. A shared broad code is a good sign. It is not a pass.

Promotions, management moves, and self-employment

A qualifying change "may involve lateral movement, career progression, or porting to self-employment, either in the same or a different geographic location."

Ordinary progression is the easy case. Software engineer to senior software engineer is analysed under the rules above.

Moving into management is a different analysis. Management Occupations sit in their own major group (11-0000). USCIS may treat evidence favourably where you are primarily responsible for managing the same or similar functions of your original job, or the work of people whose jobs are in the same or similar classification as your original position. Its example: an original job coded 15-1152 (Software Developers) porting to 11-3021 (Computer and Information Systems Managers) may be found similar, because such managers generally manage people in classifications grouped under 15-1250. Its counter-example, so you do not over-read that: Cooks, Restaurant (35-2014) to Food Service Managers (11-9051) may be found not similar, because the duties diverge and the manager code specifically excludes Chefs and Head Cooks.

Self-employment can qualify, but three things must hold: the work is in the same or similar classification; you show that your business and the job offer are legitimate; and — the one that catches people — USCIS looks at whether the original petitioner genuinely intended to employ you when both the I-140 and the I-485 were filed, and whether you intended to take that job upon adjustment.

Any of these three scenarios is where you stop reading articles and retain counsel. So is any change of industry.

The form, part by part

Eight pages, edition 01/20/25, OMB No. 1615-0023. Print it all from one download: if pages are missing or come from different form editions, USCIS may reject the form. The edition date and page numbers must be visible at the bottom of every page.

Part 1: Reason for filing (one box, and it decides everything)

Item 1, select only one: confirm the I-140 job offer remains valid, or request 204(j) portability to a new, full-time, permanent job offer.

Parts 2 and 3: you

Part 2 is your information, and Items 7 through 10 are the load-bearing ones:

"Unknown" on Item 10 is a real, permitted answer. Use it if that is the truth. You have a USCIS Online Account Number only if you previously filed something with a receipt number beginning IOE, and it is not the same as your A-Number.

Part 3 is your daytime and mobile phone, email, and your certification and signature under penalty of perjury.

Parts 4 and 5: interpreter and preparer

Complete Part 4 only if an interpreter read the form to you in a language you are fluent in. Complete Part 5 only if someone other than you prepared it — and note that Part 5 covers a preparer of Parts 1 through 4 only.

Parts 6, 7 and 8: the employer's half

This is the half that changes your timeline, because you need a signatory at the new company, not just a free evening.

Part 6 — information about the employer. Item 1 is the employer type: Business/Organization or Self/Individual. Item 2 is the employer's US mailing address. Item 3 is the US physical address where you will actually work, if different from the mailing address or from the address in the I-140. For business entities, Items 4 through 12 are: business or organization name; Employer Identification Number; type of business entity; type of business activity; date established; current number of US employees; gross annual income; net annual income; and NAICS code. (Items 13 through 17 cover an individual employer instead: legal name, date of birth, SSN, annual income, occupation.)

That is real financial disclosure, and small employers sometimes balk at it. Raise it with the new company early rather than discovering the objection the week you planned to file.

Part 7 — the job offer. Item 1 job title. Item 2 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code. Item 3 nontechnical description of the job. Item 4 full-time yes/no, Item 5 hours per week if no. Item 6 permanent yes/no. Item 7 wages offered with a per-unit (hour, week, month or year). Item 8 whether you already work there, Item 9 your start date if you do.

Item 6 is not decorative. Portability requires a permanent offer; a contract role with an end date is not one.

Part 8 is the individual employer's or authorized signatory's name, title, contact details, certification and signature. Part 9 is the employer-side interpreter block. Part 10 is overflow: label every continuation with the page, part and item number, and sign and date each sheet.

The two mistakes USCIS calls out by name

From USCIS's own filing tips: "Submitting the form with incorrect addresses, such as using an attorney's address instead of the employer's physical address, or with missing information may result in us issuing you an RFE, which will delay the processing of your Form I-485."

So: the employer's physical address, not your lawyer's. And no blank fields — the instructions tell you to enter "N/A" where a question does not apply and "None" where a numeric answer is zero.

And the one that is not recoverable by explanation: "We will reject any unsigned form."

What to attach

For a portability filing, the instructions list:

• A copy of Form I-797, Notice of Action, establishing the receipt date and acceptance of your I-485 and showing it has been pending 180 days or more; and
• If available, a copy of Form I-797 showing you are the principal beneficiary of an approved or still-pending I-140.

If you do not have those, USCIS says it will review its electronic record using the receipt numbers you entered in Part 2. That is a fallback, not a plan: the instructions warn that "failure to provide the evidence listed above or secondary evidence may result in delayed processing or denial of your request for job portability." Print the notices.

Then the optional layer worth its weight: an occupational comparison. USCIS names the resources its own officers consult — the DOL Occupational Outlook Handbook, the O*NET system and the SOC system used by DOL's Occupational Employment Statistics program — and states that applicants "may also use any of these resources or other relevant evidence." A two-page side-by-side of duties, education and experience requirements for the old and new codes is the strongest thing you can add, and in real cases it is attorney work product.

Where and how to file

Three paper routes, and they are not interchangeable:

Online: you can submit Form I-485 online with Supplement J at the time of filing. And if you already have an I-485 pending with a receipt number beginning IOE, you may file Supplement J online by itself — plus Form G-28 if an attorney is filing. The exception, again: do not file online if you are requesting to transfer the underlying basis of a pending employment-based I-485.

After you file

USCIS issues a receipt number if it accepts your Supplement J, and you can track it in Case Status Online. The Contact Center rules are specific: if you filed to request job portability, wait 120 days from the date on the Supplement J receipt notice before calling; if you filed it together with the I-485, wait until the posted I-485 processing time has passed and have your I-485 receipt notice in hand.

USCIS also states that it "may use Validation Instrument for Business Enterprises (VIBE) to validate the basic information about the companies or organizations listed on the Supplement J." That is why the EIN, NAICS code and physical address in Part 6 need to match what public records say about the company. A mismatch is a slow, avoidable RFE.

One reassurance from the instructions, because people misread this constantly: in adjudicating Supplement J, USCIS "does not make a determination whether you have current work authorization with the prospective employer." The basis for adjustment is prospective employment.

The three scenarios that scare people, answered

The employer withdrew the I-140

There are two independent 180-day clocks, and either one can save your priority date.

• If USCIS receives the withdrawal request 180 days or more after the petition was approved, or a corresponding I-485 has been pending 180 days or more, the petition remains valid for priority-date retention and you may be eligible under 204(j) — unless USCIS revokes the approval on substantive grounds.
• If the petition has been approved fewer than 180 days and the I-485 has not been pending at least 180 days (or was never filed), USCIS automatically revokes the approval. You then need a new petition to support a new I-485.

If a layoff brought you here, our guide to being laid off with a pending I-140 covers the grace-period arithmetic running alongside this.

The petitioner went out of business

Same architecture. If business termination occurs 180 days or more after approval, or the I-485 has been pending 180 days or more, the petition may remain valid for priority-date retention and porting may be possible. And where the business terminated before approval, the Policy Manual states that if the petition was approvable when filed and remained approvable until the I-485 had been pending 180 days or more, it remains valid for priority-date retention.

The I-140 is still pending, not approved

You can file Supplement J on a pending I-140 if your I-485 has been pending 180 days or more. But read the Policy Manual's warning exactly: "An unadjudicated petition is not valid merely because the petition was filed with USCIS or through the passage of 180 days." The petition must have been filed for someone entitled to the classification at the time of filing, and it must ultimately be approved. If USCIS ever revokes the approval, portability is gone. Our explainer on what an approved I-140 actually gets you is the companion read.

Common mistakes

• Filing before day 180. USCIS rejects it. The clock ends at receipt.
• Filing when you did not need to — you submitted the I-485 and I-140 concurrently.
• Using the attorney's address in Part 6 instead of the employer's physical address.
• Printing mixed form editions, or dropping a page.
• Assuming a matching job title is enough when the duties diverge.
• Assuming a shared broad SOC code is automatically sufficient. See Geographers and Political Scientists.
• Resigning before the new employer has agreed to complete and sign Parts 6 through 9. This is the expensive one. Get that commitment in writing first.
• Filing online when you are requesting a transfer of underlying basis.
• Leaving fields blank rather than entering "N/A" or "None."

If you are still weighing whether to move at all, read whether to switch employers or stay for the green card before you hand in notice. And remember that your current employer's immigration attorney represents the employer, not you.

Frequently asked questions

Is there such a thing as an "AC21 portability letter"?

Not since January 17, 2017. Before that date, an applicant could request job portability under INA 204(j) by sending USCIS a letter. The USCIS Policy Manual states that if the applicant makes a request to port on or after January 17, 2017, the applicant must submit Form I-485, Supplement J. An attorney may still send a cover letter and an occupational-comparison memo alongside the form, but the letter alone is no longer a valid request.

How much does Form I-485 Supplement J cost to file?

Nothing. USCIS Form G-1055, the agency's fee schedule, lists the fee for "I-485J, general filing" as $0 — confirmed on the 05/29/26 edition of G-1055. There is no biometrics fee attached to it either. If any service asks you to pay a government fee for Supplement J itself, that money is not going to USCIS.

When am I allowed to file Supplement J to port to a new job?

Only after all three conditions are met — you have properly filed a Form I-485 based on an approved or still-pending Form I-140 that names you as the beneficiary, that I-485 has been pending with USCIS for 180 days or more since the receipt date, and you have a new permanent job offer from a US employer in the same or a similar occupational classification. The Policy Manual counts every calendar day from the day the I-485 was properly filed until the day USCIS receives your porting request. The instructions add that USCIS will reject a portability Supplement J filed before day 180.

Who fills out which parts of Supplement J?

On the 01/20/25 edition, the applicant completes Parts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 — Part 4 only if an interpreter helped and Part 5 only if someone else prepared Parts 1 through 4. The employer confirming the existing offer or making the new one completes Parts 6, 7, 8 and 9, with Part 9 used only if the employer used an interpreter. Part 10 is shared overflow space. USCIS will reject an unsigned form, so both signature blocks matter.

Do I have to file Supplement J if I filed my I-485 and I-140 together?

No. USCIS is explicit that if you are filing Form I-485 together with a Form I-140 that names you as the beneficiary, you do not need to file Supplement J. You file it if you submit the I-485 separately based on a previously filed I-140, if USCIS sends you an RFE or a NOID, or if you are requesting portability later. Applicants seeking or granted an EB-2 National Interest Waiver or EB-1A extraordinary ability classification do not need to file Supplement J at all, because those categories are not tied to a specific job offer.

What happens to Supplement J if my sponsoring employer withdraws the I-140 or goes out of business?

There are two independent 180-day clocks and either one can save you. If USCIS receives the withdrawal request 180 days or more after the petition was approved, or your I-485 has been pending 180 days or more, the petition generally remains valid for priority-date retention and you may still be eligible to port — USCIS will typically issue a NOID, and Supplement J is how you respond. If the petition has been approved fewer than 180 days and the I-485 has not been pending at least 180 days, USCIS automatically revokes the approval and portability does not apply. Business termination follows the same architecture.

How long does USCIS take to process Supplement J, and can I check on it?

USCIS issues a receipt number when it accepts a Supplement J, and you can track it in Case Status Online. If you filed Supplement J to request job portability, USCIS instructs you to wait 120 days from the date on the Supplement J receipt notice before contacting the USCIS Contact Center about it. If you filed it together with the I-485, wait until the posted I-485 processing time has passed. USCIS may also run your employer through VIBE, its business-verification tool, so the EIN, NAICS code and physical address in Part 6 should match what public records say about the company.

Eight pages, no fee, and a four-year priority date riding on whether two job descriptions are close enough. Walk the form yourself so you know what it says — then have an attorney make the "same or similar" call, especially if the move involves management, self-employment, or a change of industry. F1Jobs works with international professionals through employer changes on the green card track, from evaluating the offer to timing the paperwork.