H-1B Visa

For professionals with a specialty occupation and a sponsor company who need specialist for business immigration.

‍

Qualifications

• A minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in a specialty field required for the position
• Salary at or above the fair prevailing wage (check here)
• Must demonstrate an employer-employee relationship (startups can also do this)
• Must be selected in the annual lottery capped annually at 85,000 petitions per year: 65,000 Regular Cap and additional 20,000 for Foreign Nationals with U.S. Master’s degrees

‍

Timeline

• Average USCIS processing time (if selected in lottery): 4-6 months; 2 weeks when filed with Premium Processing and if there is no Request for Evidence. (it may take 7-10 days to prepare the paperwork for filing)
• H-1Bs are filed for 3 years extendable up to 6 years. (There are exceptions from 6 years limit for these in green card process).
• New H-1B visa lottery in March each year. Selected H-1B cases, if petition is approved, start on October 1.