U.S.A. H-1B Visa: A Comprehensive Guide for Foreign Workers

Liberalized economic conditions and far sightedness of the rulers of the U.S.A., introduced H 1-B visa enabling brilliant young people with adequate qualification like graduates in eminent fields like STEM, medicine, accountancy etc to avail the opportunities offered there and settle down legally in U.S.A., and contribute its eminence as the leading country in technology, and science.

Yes, the time has come to learn the full details of H1-B visa. The web site of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, part of the American government will be used extensively to unearth the wisdom. (USCIS)

What is the H1B visa?

It is the non-immigrant visa that allows U.S. companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations. These positions encompass a higher degree of expertise, adequate experience, and a willingness on the part of the brilliant young minds to live in U.S.A., mingle with the best talents of the world and contribute/learn in high tech engineering and other evolving new lines. It is the most popular visa among the international students who study in graduate/master’s degree there.

Let me narrate it in simple terms.

What type of visa?

Non-immigrant visa

Validity

Three years and can be extended for another three years if willing U.S. employer could be found to sponsor.

Known as speciality occupations, the positions do require specialized knowledge, both theoretical and practical, which are adjudged equal to graduate level knowledge of a U.S.A., graduate or Master/s qualifications.

Are there any numerical limitations in the award of this visa like annual, repetitive etc?

Yes, an annual cap of 60,000 visas for graduate level and 20,000 for Master’s level education/experience. (exemption)

Obviously, so far due to demand overtaking the supply of the visa, a lottery system has been in vogue since its inception in 1990.

Is it not exciting to unravel the multi-step process that required meticulous planning, thorough documentation, and application of the minds of advocates/engineers/management consultants/finance executives? Let me numerically enumerate the complete process for a novice.

1. Secure a job offer

2. Submit your labour condition application (LCA) with the department of labour. Yes, it demonstrates firmly that no displacement of the U.S. workers and the pay will be on a par or more than the prevailing wages. This aspect alone invited a large number court cases against Indian corporates which once thought of getting the cheap talent from India and avoid paying a decent salary for these exceptionally talented professionals.

3. The employer files the Form – 129, a petition for non-immigrant worker with USCIS. This petition contains detailed information about the job, the employee, and the employer’s commitment to complying with all H-1B regulations. It is crucial to ensure complete and accurate documentation.

4. The employer will need to submit Form I-129 along with documents like LCA approval notice, the company’s financial statements.

5. The USCIS reviews the petition which normally involves a couple of months, and issue a Request for Evidence (RPE), if additional information is required.

6. Lottery has been conducted for decades since the number of petitions exceeded the annual cap, currently 85000(65000+20000)

7. Approval or denial is the next step. An approval notice form I -797 enables the employer to proceed with further steps.

What will happen for an employee living outside the U.S.A.?

They will have to apply for H-1B visa at a U.S. consulate or an embassy in their home country. A visa interview with the consular officers is the next step. It is to assess their eligibility for approval.

More about interview in the embassy or consulate situated outside U.S.A.

• Visa Application and Interview (if applicable)
• • If the employee is outside the United States, then they apply for an H-1B via consular processing. This step is primarily for applicants outside the U.S. or those in the U.S. who need to travel internationally
  • The applicant submits Form DS-160 (Online Non-immigrant Visa Application)
  • Pays the visa application fee
  • Schedules and attends a visa interview at a U.S. embassy or consulate
  • During the interview, a consular officer will review the application and may ask questions about the applicant’s background, job offer, and intentions in the U.S.
  • The officer will decide whether to approve or deny the visa application

What documents one brings for the interview at embassy/consular office? (A sort of suggestion to you as a candidate to be interviewed)

• Your passport. This should be valid for at least six months beyond your intended date of entry to the United States
• A printout of the confirmation page from your Form DS-160.
• A copy of your approved I-129 petition and your I-797 approval.
• Receipts showing you have paid your application fees. A passport-sized photo of you that follows U.S. State Department requirements

After the approval of the visa which has been a difficult affair for a long time, the employee can enter the U.S., and begin the employment with the sponsoring employer.

The above visa has attracted both the talented as well as others with evil intentions to reach the goal of getting the coveted H 1-B visa

It is very essential to learn the basics related to various words used in this article.

Much more about H 1 B

Examples of speciality occupations

In all these occupations, Bachelor’s degree is a must. Master’s degree gets special preference among 20000 exception quotas.

What are the costs involved either at employer or employee levels? Yes, these show increasing trends in recent times.

for the employer

Premium processing fee – $2805,

Basic filing fee $780; $ 460 for small employers

USCIS anti- fraud fee $500

Registration $215

ACWIA Education fee $750, less than 25 employees, $1500 for more than 25 employees.

Normal processing time

Regular  – 3-6 months

Premium – 15 calendar days

What are the H 1-B Documents prepared by the employer?

For employer

Form I -129, labour condition application, employee’s business information, job offer letter, LCA.

For the employee

Degree certificates, transcripts, resume CV, PASS PORT, PASSPORT PHOTOS as prescribed by the American government which is not generally the one which we presume to be.

Let me give an actual H 1-B processing time as available from the state university of Ohio for sponsoring the same visa for their institution.

From their web site (directly reproduced to give a feeling of real situation)

“H-1B Step by Step Process

An Ohio State Department who wishes to hire a foreign national on an H-1B status submits materials to the Office of International Affairs to prepare an H-1B petition. See Inviting Scholars to Ohio State for the forms and related materials. It takes 5-8 months to get an H-1B approval notice after the Office International Affairs receives your materials. The amount of time varies primarily because government agencies’ processing times fluctuate and change without notice. Other factors also impact the time such as whether a department chooses to pay an additional fee to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for quicker processing or if there are problems with the offered salary or materials submitted. The steps below describe the process.

Step 1: Initial Check

The petition materials are checked for the required items to begin processing and information is entered into an OIA database.
(Estimate: 1 week)

Step 2: Detailed Analysis

The petition materials are analyzed by an Immigration Specialist/Coordinator to ensure compliance with federal regulations.
(Estimate: 1 week)

Step 3: Prevailing Wage Determination

OIA submits position description information to U.S. Department of Labor for a prevailing wage determination to comply with labor laws regarding the offered wage.
(DOL estimated processing time is 3-5 months)

Step 4: Labor Condition Application

OIA prepares a Labor Condition Application if the offered salary meets, or is greater than, the prevailing wage determination.

Steps 5: Employer Posts LCA

The department is required by law to post the LCA at the work site(s) for 10 business days.

Step 6: DOL Certification of LCA

The department verifies the LCA has been posted and OIA submits the LCA to DOL to get their official certification of approval.
(DOL estimated processing time is 7-10 days)

Step 7: Completion of I-129 forms

OIA completes I-129 forms and compiles the certified LCA and related supporting documentation for submission to the United States and Immigration Services (USCIS).
(Estimate: 1 week)

Step 8: Case is Submitted to USCIS

OIA will express mail the H-1B petition to USCIS.

Step 9: USCIS Processes H-1B Petition

USCIS’ estimated processing time is 8-11 months when paying the standard processing fee. For quicker processing, the employer can pay an additional “Premium Processing Fee” to USCIS for processing in 15 days. (Please note that paying the USCIS Premium Processing fee will not quicken processing of the steps listed above.)

Step 10: USCIS Approval of H-1B Petition

USCIS mails the approved H-1B Petition to OIA and OIA will forward the approval and related materials to the department and employee.”

An actual situation has been given above to know that really it takes nearly 8-11 months as processing time and it may increase depending upon the local atmosphere in U.S.A.

Presumably, I got H 1-B visa and what about my educated wife and my child/children who would love to accompany me and thrive in the most competitive country, namely, U.S.A.

Dependents (source- State University of Ohio, one of the most advanced universities, and highly ranked for education and offering the services since 1873 for its students. Only 152 years old. Ohio State enrolled 6,984 international students from more than 110 countries in 2023. The top three countries of origin include China with 3,761 students, India with 955 students and South Korea with 385 students.

“A spouse or child of an employee holding H-1B status may obtain H-4 dependent status. Those holding H-4 status may not work, unless they have authorized work permission from USCIS in the form of an EAD card, but are permitted to attend school. Dependent children may hold H-4 status until age 21.

Family members accompanying the H-1B to the U.S. should apply for H-4 dependent visas. Only spouses and children under 21 years of age are eligible for H-4 visas. Proof of relationship to the H-1B (marriage and birth certificates) will be required as well as the original H-4 Approval Notice (I-797) if applicable in addition to all the items listed in the section on Getting a U.S. Visa Stamp(opens in new window). Dependents coming to the United States. for the first time will not have H-4 I-797 approval notices.

If an H-4 Dependent is entering the United States without the H-1B, make an H-1B Appointment with an OIA immigration specialist for specific instructions.”

What are the statistics related to receipt of H 1B visa indicate?

From USCIS, government web site,

*The count of eligible registrations excludes duplicate registrations, those deleted by the prospective employer before the registration period closed, those denied for having invalid passport or travel document information, and those with failed payments.

However, the actual visas issued were 65000+20000 = 85000 visas only.

With the decreasing trend in getting unfair advantage in H-1-B Cap registration, the beneficiary- centric selection process has been improving.

How do we conclude our discussions on H 1-B visa issue?

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in its web site, after explaining the detailed procedure for issue of above visa, has concluded as under.

“Based on evidence from the FY 2023 and FY 2024 H-1B cap seasons, we have undertaken extensive fraud investigations, denied and revoked petitions accordingly, and continue to make law enforcement referrals for criminal prosecution. We are also reviewing the FY 2025 data and will review the FY 2026 data for any attempts to gain an unfair advantage through the beneficiary-centric selection process. If applicable, we will deny or revoke any petitions and make law enforcement referrals for criminal prosecution accordingly.”

My conclusion

I totally agree with the massive efforts of the Government of U.S.A., in its efforts to get the best talents from the rest of the world in updating its technical excellence. While the rest of the world my copy the H 1B for upgrading their human resources.

Caution

As you might have noticed, since 1990, thousands of the best minds of the excellent professionals have gone there on merit, learnt the advanced knowledge and contributed the over all growth of the world rather than U.S.A. only. Please get the best legal minds to prepare the documents, undergo the lengthy process and enjoy the fruits at the end.

Reference

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a department of the United States government web site

https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/temporary-workers/h-1b-specialty-occupations/h-1b-electronic-registration-process

Ohio state university web site

 https://oia.osu.edu/international-scholars/h-1b-workers/dependents