The H-1B is a "specialty occupation" U. H-1B visa occupations are professional-level jobs that typically require a university degree, the equivalent or higher. The H-1B visa is valid for three years , with one possible additional three-year extension, making six years' maximum stay in total.
They have a random selection process that they use. Because of the strict limits, H-1B visas are granted on a lottery basis. This means there is no guarantee that, even if you qualify for all H-1B visa requirements, you will be awarded your visa. Of course, if you do not apply, you can not win the lottery. We recommend you speak to one of our attorneys for advice on the cap. H-1B visa applications require a petitioner the employer and beneficiary employee.
You cannot apply for an H-1B visa unless you already have an employer or potential employer and a job offer in the United States. The beneficiary must meet a minimum of one of the following prerequisites:.
Do you have to have a degree to get an H-1B visa? Not always. So you can apply from April 1st, for entry in the year starting October 1st, Field may include but are not limited to the following.
If your area of work is not in one of the fields of work listed below, please contact us and we will be happy to advise. A further condition to H-1B applications is that the employer must assure that it will pay the visa holder a comparable wage to other workers who have similar qualifications. This is known as the prevailing wage. Determining the prevailing wage can be difficult, and is one of the most common areas where an application can be held up, so you are advised to get advice from an attorney as early as possible in the process.
Contact Online Visas to arrange your personal visa strategy session with one of our attorneys. We will discuss your options and costs, and help you decide on the best way forward. What is the cost of an H-1B visa? As with most visa types, many different fees can apply in an H-1B application.
Employers who are submitting multiple H-1B petitions at once can benefit from higher efficiencies. To understand which H-1B visa fees may apply to your case, we recommend you speak to your attorney in your consultation and they will give you the full breakdown. Denials for H-1B petitions are at an all-time high. Our strategic approach specifically analyzes and targets the main reasons why USCIS may deny an application. Here are the top five. Immigration attorney Jon Velie gives some tips on your H-1B visa application strategy, including credentialing, prevailing wage, and the lottery.
If considering a green card application, note that there is a rule that dictates that, if a green card application is submitted prior to the end of the 5th year on H-1B , the H-1B holder can continue to extend the H-1B in one-year increments.
For those who gain extraordinary skills during their stay, they may become suitable for the EB exceptional ability. Yes, your immediate family i.
They will be permitted to study but not work in the United States. No You cannot be self-employed under an H-1B visa. You must be employed by a US-based sponsoring company.
Yes, in principle, however you may need to have your credentials evaluated by an approved organization. We can advise and help with this. Often, employees can continue working while the LCA is pending. This type of work authorization requires that you have all necessary documents related to the job.
The documents need to show that the prevailing wage is being met, the position is a specialty occupation, and the assigned work covers the duration of the visa. Once the H-1B petition is filed, the selection process can take anywhere from four to six months, depending on whether the petitioner is subject to the cap or not. Cap-subject H-1B visa petitions have to be filed in the first five days of April to compete for the 65, available visas.
Once USCIS fills the 65, cap-subject slots, another 20, visa petitions are selected in a lottery designated for the graduates of U. The selection period often lasts through the middle of summer. We have even seen notice of selection received after the October 1st start date. If you have relevant work experience in you speciality field, you may qualify with equivalent experience. No, the visa itself is strictly limited to the initial 3 years plus possible 3-year extension.
However you may be able to stay longer if you apply for permanent residency Green Card while holding an H-1B visa. But, it is important you apply for the Green Card by the end of year 2 of your extension. To qualify for the H1B, you typically need minimum four years of study on a degree course. If you have completed more than one degree, it may be possible to combine the time spent on multiple degree-level courses.
You may also use a combination of university study plus progressive work experience. This is simply the process of assessing to what extent education or work experience gained outside the United States is equivalent to similar experience in the US.
Foreign education may be evaluated by evaluators outside the US, but work experience gained in other countries must be supported with documentation. It would adversely effect our tech, medical, science, higher education ad many others. US companies require the best and brightest to compete. We have massive numbers of jobs in the tech and other industries that can not find enough talented workers in the STEM fields. Jobs and companies would leave the US for more welcoming nations. International students will also drastically drop in numbers impacting US colleges and universities.
Yes, attending an interview is not considered work and not in violation of the F-2 or other visas that do not permit unauthorized work.
If you are offered a position. You may change your status to an H-1B subject to its filing procedures. You can port your H-1B if you are still working on the original H-1B, however if you left the first job went to another position and the previous H-1B has expired, you may have broken the chain.
I would need more information, please feel free to contact us directly to better address your situation. Determining the prevailing wage is one of the most common areas where an application can be held up. An O1 visa may be an option if you meet at least three of the following conditions:.
In order to protect the interest of US citizens and residents, the H-1B requires a Labor Condition Application LCA which is set in place to ensure equal opportunity, pay, and working conditions for foreign workers and US citizens and residents. Essentially, this is a requirement that the employer formally informed their employees and the public in writing that the LCA is being filed. When searching for jobs at other organizations, be sure it's in the same industry.
For example, if your organization is a power company, then you want to look for the same job at other power companies. Under the third criteria, you need to look at the educational qualifications of other people your company has hired for the same job to determine whether you've been consistent in requiring a specific degree.
If you have ten Marketing Assistants, for example, and nine of them had marketing degrees when you hired them, you likely can show that the job requires a degree. Finally, the fourth way to demonstrate that the job requires a specific bachelor's degree is somewhat nuanced and likely requires some type of supporting evidence, such as a letter from a professor, to justify why the job duties are so complex that you need to have a degree.
After demonstrating that the job being offered requires a specific bachelor's degree, the employer must make sure that the foreign national being sponsored for the H-1B visa has a relevant bachelor's from a college or university in the United States, the foreign equivalent of a U. For foreign degrees, it's often a good idea to have a professional credentials evaluation firm review the diploma and transcript and issue a formal report on the U.
Be aware that some countries offer three-year bachelor degrees, which will not qualify for an H-1B visa. If the prospective H-1B worker has relevant experience, however, you may be able to obtain an evaluation of the educational equivalency.
USCIS uses a three-for-one formula, whereby three years of progressive employment is the equivalent of one year of university studies. It therefore could be possible for someone with 12 years of progressive employment to qualify for an H-1B visa. There are some jobs, such as professional engineers, pharmacists, physicians, and public school teachers that legally require a state license to perform them.
In such cases, the employer will need to submit a copy of the prospective employee's license with the H-1B petition. In some cases, the state licensing agency will not grant the license until the employee is present in the U. Recognizing the circular nature of the problem, USCIS will approve the H-1B petition for one year to allow the employee to obtain the occupational license.
In most cases, one year is enough time to get the license and submit a petition to extend the employee's H-1B status. Employers should be clear in the H-1B petition about whether a license is necessary for the job.
For example, an engineer or accountant who works in-house for a company may not need a license. In that case, clearly state in the petition that a license is not required. Each federal fiscal year, a base amount of 65, new H-1B visas are made available. This amount is reduced by 6, for applicants from Chile and Singapore, under free trade agreements. However, the amount is, in effect, increased by a rule stating that the first 20, petitions each year filed for people with U.
This in effect brings the annual quota up to 85, The federal fiscal year runs from October 1 of the current year to September 30 of the following year. Employers may file H-1B lottery applications during the online registration period for the fiscal year when the employee is set to begin work. In the year , for example, the initial online registration period was set to run from March 9 to March 25, and USCIS scheduled to make its lottery selections by March If selected, employers have at least 90 days from April 1 to file their H-1B petitions.
In recent years, the entire H-1B quota has been exhausted before the end of the fiscal year. That has led to various attempts at allotting visas fairly. The latest lottery system is conducted in advance, as an electronic registration process.
Therefore, depending on the employer and employee's needs, it's prudent to be ready to file the complete petition as soon as USCIS announces registration selections. The cap does not apply to H-1B workers who will work for or at a university or affiliated nonprofit or research institute. Please be aware, however, that someone currently working at an exempt employer, such as a university, who then moves to a cap-subject employer most private sector organizations , becomes subject to the cap and will require one of the 85, visas.
Either could be changed by legislation, executive order, or internal process reviews. The H-1B visa holder can work only for the sponsoring employer or the visa will be revoked. The visa was created in when Congress expanded the Immigration and Nationality Act and is not a direct path to citizenship. IT, engineering, medicine, math, law, accounting, and other difficult-to-master occupations are eligible for H-1B visas. To obtain an H-1B visa, an employer must complete the following steps :.
Only new H-1B applicants are required to go through the lottery system — and petitions are selected at random to be evaluated.
Foreign workers who are still within the three-year limit of their H-1B visa are free to transfer to another employer without being subjected to the lottery pool.
However, for foreign workers who have exceeded the six-year limit on the H-1B visa may be required to re-enter the lottery system if they plan to return to work in the US after the one-year waiting period. H-1B cap-exempt workers include those who have been previously granted an H-1B status and are still within the six-year period.
Exemptions can also apply to workers in higher education, nonprofit organizations associated with a higher education institution, or nonprofit research or government organizations.
Since the rules can change frequently, consult the Department of Labor for the most recent updates. Individuals must have a relevant degree from a public or not-for-profit university located in the United States. The school must be properly accredited by a formally recognized accrediting organization such as the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools or the Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training.
Much attention has been drawn in the past decade to numerous instances of H-1B abuse. Contrary to popular belief, however, foreign national talent, including that working in the US under the H-1B visa program, has a net positive impact on the labor market, according to the American Immigration Council.
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