The H-1B visa allows employers to hire foreign national professionals for specific occupations in the US for which qualified Americans are not available. Having said that, the whole process of applying for H-1B visa and getting through the regulatory requirements wouldn’t be easy, which is precisely why you need an experienced Dallas H-1B visa attorney. Immigration attorneys are experienced with the paperwork and procedural formalities, and they know what it takes to simplify things for their clients. In this post, we are discussing more on the H-1B visa requirements and other basic aspects.
Requirements for H-1B visa
- If you want to apply for specialty occupation H1B petition, you will need a bachelor’s degree, or equivalent experience.
- Your employer will need to complete the labor condition application (LCA) with U.S. Department of Labor, and its approval must be obtained before filing H1B petition with the USCIS.
- The employer, after getting approval for LCR, will need to file a petition for Nonimmigrant Worker (Form I-129) with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). For this, necessary documentation must be submitted through an online portal. A company can file as many as 250 petitions, and there is a flat fee to be paid for each petition. If selected, the company will have 90 days to complete full applications.
H-1B visa quotas and lottery
There is the H-1B visa lottery, which is limited to 65,000 new statuses each fiscal year. Additional 20,000 visas are available for petitions for beneficiaries, who hold a master’s degree or higher from institutions in the US. A foreign worker with an H-1B visa can work for three years in the US, and their visa can be further extended up to three years. Note that all H-1B visa holders should be paid the prevailing wage for that occupation by their employer. The current minimum salary for those working on H-1B visa is $60,000 per year.
Get an attorney
While the H-1B visa process and requirements seem easy on paper, it makes sense to talk to an attorney, who can guide through the process. Attorneys deal with immigration-related matters on a regular basis, and they know what it takes to avoid the mistakes that can impact H-1B visa petitions. If you are hiring a lawyer for the first time, don’t shy away from asking questions, and make sure that they have worked with clients with similar immigrated and H-1B visa-related circumstances like yours.
