Empowering Skilled Professionals to Thrive in the U.S.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant U.S. work visa for highly skilled professionals, which allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations commonly in the technology, engineering, science, medicine, and other specialized fields.

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Duration:

• The H-1B visa is initially granted for up to three years and can be extended, generally for a maximum total stay of six years.
• The H-1B is capped on an annual basis with 65,000 visas issued, plus an additional 20,000 visas for foreign professionals with advanced degrees from U.S. institutions.
• There are exceptions to the H-1B cap available to employees of certain institutions which are exempt from the annual H-1B limit. Cap-exempt employers can submit H-1B applications to USCIS at any time of the year, and include universities, non-profit research organizations, government research organizations, teaching hospitals.

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Timeline and Process:

• March: Each year, the H-1B lottery registration opens in early March. The initial registration period is for a minimum of 14 calendar days each fiscal year.
• April - Oct: Lottery selections are released on a rolling basis. Typically, USCIS only notifies candidates that have been selected. Therefore, registrants can assume not selected unless otherwise notified.
• Oct 1: This is when the H-1B visa goes into effect and serves as the start date for approved workers on their new H-1B

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If selected for the lottery, the follow-up process is typically ~3-7 weeks:

• Register employer EIN in advance of the Labor Condition Application. This step is typically approved within 1-5 days. This step only needs to be done once per employer.
• Draft and Submit Labor Condition Application (LCA) upon onboarding completion with the State Department. Typically the government takes 1-2 weeks for this to be approved and certified). This step must be completed for each foreign worker that an employer is hiring.
• In parallel, prepare and complete the H-1B application. Upon LCA approval, submit the H-1B Change of Employer application online.
• Doing so online will ensure the fastest time to receipt notice (typically 24-48 hours). Pending the candidate's level of comfort, they can start working as soon as there is a receipt notice issued by USCIS.
• With premium processing, wait up to 15 business days for an outcome from USCIS.

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Additional notes:

• The H-1B visa is a dual-intent visa and visa holders have paths to pursue permanent residency while on this visa
• Spouse and unmarried children under 21 can accompany the H-1B worker under H-4 visa status. For work authorization, the principal H-1B worker must pursue and be approved for an I-140 immigrant application.