Overview: H-1B Visa is a non-immigrant visa which allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign professionals in specialty occupations for three years, extendable to six years, if U.S. citizens or residents are not available.

Family: Spouse and unmarried children under 21 years of age could apply for H-4 non-immigrant visa. They do not have work authorization under H-4 status.

Green Card Intent: Dual Intent is permitted.

Statistics: In fiscal year 2010, USCIS received 147,937 applications for H-1B visa, approved 117,409 of them, and denied 30,528, waived or overcome 26,902.

Department of Labor(DOL) typically certifies more than 3 times the number of foreign work requests than the number of H-1B visas issued by USCIS.

H1B Visa Qualification
To qualify for H1B Visa, the foreign professional must hold a bachelor's or higher degree from an accredited college or university in the specialty occupation. If the foreign professional holds a foreign degree, then that degree must be determined to be the educational equivalent of a U.S. bachelor's degree.

The foreign professional may also obtain an educational equivalence through a combination of education, specialized training or progressive work experience. Three years of specialized experience is generally considered equivalent to one year of college education.

For example, if a foreign professional has a three year associate degree, he or she must at least have 3 year of relevant post-graduate experience to be qualified for H1B Visa.

H1B Visa Occupation

Who Qualifies for an H-1B Visa?

The H1B visa is a temporary worker visa in specialty occupations. To qualify for it, you must meet one of the following three education requirements:

• You hold a bachelor's or higher degree in the specialty occupation from an accredited college or university.
  
  
• You have 12 years of progressively responsible work experience in the specialty.
  
  
• You have a combination of education and related professional work experience in the specialty. Three years of specialized experience is generally considered equivalent to one year of college education.
  
  For example, if you have a three year associate degree, you must have at least 3 year of relevant post-graduate experience to be qualified for H1B Visa.
  
  The USCIS and Department of Labor use a point system to determine if an applicant qualifies for H1B Visa or not. The applicant must have at least 12 points:
  • 1 year of college education: 3 points
  • 1 year of professional work experience: 1 point

If the degree was earned in a foreign country, the degree must be evaluated by a third agency to determine if it is a U.S. equivalent 4 years bachelor's or higher degree from an accredited college or university.

In addition, if the offered job is in the occupations that require licensure or professional credentials (e.g., doctor, dentist, CPA, attorney, registered nurse), you must already hold such qualification before the H1B visa petition can be filed or the licensure requirement has been waived.

If you qualify for H1B Visa, please search our Visa Sponsor Database and contact them directly!

If you do not qualify for H1B Visa, please check other Work Visa programs. You might qualify for other visa like H2B visa.

H-1B Application Process

1. Employer Submits Labor Certification Application to the Department of Labor.
2. Employer Submits Form I-129 to USCIS.
3. Prospective Workers Outside the United States Apply for Visa and/or Admission.

H1B Visa Filing
H1B Visa petition(Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker) must be filed by U.S. employers, who may begin applying for the H1B visa six months before the actual start date of the visa.

For example, the beginning of the fiscal year 2012 is October 1, 2011, employers can apply as soon as April 1, 2011 for the fiscal year 2011 cap, but the beneficiary(foreign professional) cannot start working until October 1st, 2011.

H1B Visa Fee
The filling fees include the standard H1B Visa filing fee of $320(Form I-129), Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee of $500, ACWIA(training) fee of $1,500 and optional premium processing fee of $1,000.

Border Security bill passed in August 2010 increased H1B Visa Filing Fee and Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee by $2,000 for employers employing 50 or more employees in the United States and more than 50% of the employees are H1B Visa or L1 Visa holders. The Indian IT consulting companies were among those being hit the hardest.

ACWIA(Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act) fee will be used in training of American workers. If the employer has 25 or less employees, it only has to pay half of the price($750).

The following organizations are exempt from the ACWIA fee: primary or secondary educational institutions, institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations related to or affiliated with any institutions of higher education, a nonprofit organization that engages in established curriculum-related clinical training of students registered at any institutions of higher education, nonprofit research organizations, a governmental research organizations.

On April 1, 2012, USCIS will start acceptting cap-subject petitions for new H-1B specialty occupation workers seeking an employment beginning on or after October 1, 2012.

Annual CapThe current annual cap of H1B Visa is 65,000, but not all foreign professionals holding H1B Visa are subject to this annual cap.

1. U.S.-Chile and U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreements allow up to 6,800(1,400 for Chilean nationals and 5,400 for Singapore nationals) be set aside from the cap during each fiscal year. Unused numbers in this pool are made available for H1B use for the next fiscal year.
2. Laws exempt up to 20,000 foreign nationals holding a master’s or higher degree from U.S. universities from the cap on H1B Visas.
3. Laws also exempt all H1B non-immigrants who work at universities and non-profit research facilities from the cap on H1B Visas.

FY 2012 H-1B Cap Count On November 22, 2011, USCIS received a sufficient number of petitions to reach the statutory cap for FY 2012. USCIS also received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions on behalf of persons exempt from the cap under the advanced degree exemption as of October 19, 2011.

USCIS will reject cap-subject petitions for new H-1B specialty occupation workers seeking an employment start date in FY 2012 that are received after November 22, 2011. USCIS continues to accept cap-exempt petitions, DOD petitions and Chile/Singapore H-1B1 petitions requesting an employment start date in FY 2012.

2012 Top 100 H1B Visa Sponsor 2012 Top H1B Visa Sponsors by Status 2012 Top H1B Visa Sponsors by Job Title 2012 Top H1B Visa Sponsors by Work State 2012 Top H1B Visa Sponsors by Work City 2012 Top H1B Visa Sponsors by Occupation 2012 Top H1B Visa Sponsors by Industry H1B Visa Cap Update Blacklist: Debarred/Disqualified Employers Blacklist: Willful Violator Employers more h1b visa job reports Immigration Attorney