H-1B · Specialty occupation
H-1B is an employer-sponsored non-immigrant work visa requiring a bachelor's degree (or equivalent) tied to the role and DOL prevailing wages. Each fiscal year offers 65,000 regular plus 20,000 US-master's-cap slots, allocated by a March lottery. Initial three years, renewable for three more.
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Eligibility
Process
Assess degree-to-role fit, employer eligibility, and whether the wage meets DOL Prevailing Wage (Level I–IV). Determine cap-subject vs. cap-exempt status. Decide on Premium Processing and any backup plan (O-1, L-1, cap-exempt employer).
Duration · 1–3 days
File LCA online via DOL FLAG. Confirm wage level ≥ Prevailing Wage, SOC code, and worksite precise to MSA / county. Multiple worksites require multiple LCAs.
Duration · 5–7 business days to certify
Register online with USCIS each March, $215 per beneficiary. Selection notifications go out by March 31. Selected registrants get an April 1 – June 30 filing window. Unselected may enter later rounds if announced.
Duration · Register early March; results by March 31
Define the job description, minimum education (bachelor's or higher), and salary (must meet Prevailing Wage). The description must truthfully reflect duties — do not inflate requirements to qualify the role.
Provide to counsel: articles of incorporation, EIN letter, recent tax returns (ability to pay), org chart, annual report / financials, and headcount (drives the ACWIA fee tier).
HR Director or executive signs on company letterhead: company background, role description, specialty-occupation argument, why the beneficiary qualifies, and salary / working conditions. Counsel typically drafts the first version.
Provide passport bio page, all diplomas and transcripts, credential evaluation (WES / ECE for non-US degrees), CV, I-94, and every prior I-797.
Fill out the attorney portal: personal info, education, employment history, current immigration status, dependents. Every entry must match the passport and degree certificates exactly — inconsistencies trigger RFEs.
Non-US degrees require WES or ECE evaluation. 3-year bachelor's degrees often need an expert opinion to establish US bachelor's-equivalency.
Duration · 2–4 weeks (WES standard)
After selection, assemble the petition: I-129 + H Classification Supplement + H-1B Data Collection Supplement, employer Support Letter, beneficiary credentials & work history, employer corporate documents, and a Cover Letter arguing both specialty occupation and beneficiary qualifications.
Duration · 1–2 weeks
File with the assigned USCIS Service Center within the filing window. If Premium Processing is elected, add I-907 + $2,805 — USCIS commits to a decision (approval, denial, RFE, or NOID) within 15 business days.
Duration · 1–2 weeks to receipt notice
Analyze USCIS concerns, gather supplemental evidence, and respond within the 84-day deadline. Common 2024–2026 themes: insufficient specialty-occupation showing, wage level too low, employer-employee relationship at third-party worksites.
Duration · ASAP after receipt; max 84 days
After LCA certification: (1) post the LCA notice at the worksite for 10 consecutive business days; (2) build and maintain a Public Access File; (3) actually pay wages ≥ the LCA wage. Violations bring fines, H-1B debarment, or criminal penalties.
Employer signs I-129 as petitioner, signs G-28 for attorney representation, and pays government fees. ACWIA and Fraud Prevention fees are legally non-passable to the employee.
On Approval Notice: confirm October 1 effective date or actual start, complete I-9 employment verification, and — if the beneficiary is abroad — coordinate consular stamping and entry.
Once counsel finishes the petition, audit every personal detail (name spelling, dates, addresses). Flag errors immediately — fixing them after printing is painful.
Premium Processing typically settles in 15 business days; regular cases take 3–6 months. Provide RFE supplements on counsel's timeline. Extensions and transfers also require recent paystubs proving continued employment.
(A) If in the US in valid status, status auto-changes to H-1B on October 1; (B) if abroad, attend consular interview with I-797, passport, DS-160 confirmation, employer letter, and current photos.
On I-797 receipt, notify employer and beneficiary. In-US beneficiaries auto-change status on October 1; those abroad need consular visa stamping. Archive the file for future transfer, extension, or amendment work.
Duration · 1–2 weeks post-approval
Documents
Employer signs as petitioner and pays the government fees; submit with the H Classification Supplement.
The H-specific addenda to I-129 — record position, wage, and cap category (Regular / Master's / Cap-Exempt).
Certified by DOL via FLAG. Wage level, SOC code, and worksite must match the I-129 exactly.
Signed by HR Director or executive on company letterhead: role description, specialty-occupation argument, why the beneficiary qualifies, salary and working conditions.
Required for non-US degrees. Three-year bachelor's degrees usually also need an expert opinion for US-bachelor's equivalency.
Pull the full I-94 history from the CBP site. Required for change-of-status and extension filings.
Include all dependents. Spell names exactly as on the form — mismatches trigger RFEs.
Proves continuous employment and wages ≥ LCA prevailing wage — almost always reviewed in extension and transfer cases.
Adds $2,805; USCIS commits to a decision (approval, denial, RFE, or NOID) within 15 business days.
Signed by attorney of record. Omit if filing pro se.
Number each exhibit. An organised index lowers the risk of an adjudicator missing key evidence.
Articles of incorporation, EIN, recent tax returns (ability to pay), org chart, employee roster (drives the ACWIA fee tier).
Timeline
| Stage | Duration | What can go wrong |
|---|---|---|
| H-1B registration (USCIS online portal) | A short window in early March | Missing the window means waiting another full fiscal year — only cap-exempt employers or a backup visa can salvage it. |
| Selection notification | Typically by March 31 | Not selected: regular-pool selection has run ~25–30% in recent years. Activate an O-1 / L-1 / cap-exempt-employer / EB-1A / NIW backup immediately. |
| I-129 filing window (cap-subject) | April 1 – June 30 | Soft wage level or thin job description — insufficient specialty-occupation showing is the most common RFE. |
| USCIS adjudication | Regular 3–6 months · Premium 15 business days | Common RFEs: insufficient specialty-occupation showing, wage level too low, employer-employee relationship at third-party worksites. |
| Consular stamping or change of status | Stamping 1 week–months by post; change of status auto-effective on October 1 | High-demand posts (Beijing, Shanghai, Mumbai, Hyderabad) have tight slots; 221(g) administrative processing can stretch for months. |
| H-1B employment begins October 1 | First day of the fiscal year | OPT expiring before October 1 relies on Cap-Gap auto-extension to September 30 — falls away if you were not selected. |
FAQ
H-1B is a degree-based work visa open to any qualified employer–employee match, gated each March by the lottery. L-1 is an intracompany transfer for managers (L-1A), executives (L-1A), or specialised-knowledge employees (L-1B) who have worked at a qualifying foreign affiliate for at least one of the last three years. L-1 has no cap, no lottery, and no degree requirement — but you must already work for a multinational with a qualifying US relationship.
O-1A targets individuals with extraordinary ability in sciences, business, education, or athletics; O-1B covers extraordinary ability or achievement in the arts and motion pictures/TV. There is no cap, no lottery, and the standard is higher than H-1B but lower than EB-1A. O-1 works well as Plan B when the applicant has multiple verifiable signals — peer-reviewed publications, named awards, judging records, high salary, named-role evidence. It does not work if your only credential is a strong degree from a strong school.
Four categories: (1) institutions of higher education, (2) nonprofit organisations affiliated with or related to an institution of higher education, (3) nonprofit research organisations, and (4) government research organisations. Cap-exempt employers may file H-1B petitions any time of year without entering the lottery. The "related/affiliated" prong is fact-intensive — academic medical centres, university-affiliated foundations, and certain hospitals often qualify even when "university" is not in the name.
After the 2021–2022 settlements that reset many policies, denial and RFE rates have stabilised below the 2018–2020 peaks. Persistent themes remain: specialty-occupation challenges for roles where the four prongs are not cleanly satisfied, wage-level scrutiny on Level I filings, and employer-employee relationship questions at third-party worksites. Practitioners report ~12–18% RFE rates at the moment, materially lower than the ~40% peak in 2019, but still high enough that you should plan time and budget for an RFE response.
H-4 dependents cannot work by default. An H-4 spouse becomes eligible for an EAD only after the H-1B principal's I-140 has been approved (i.e. the green card process has crossed the I-140 milestone), or in narrower AC21-based situations. File Form I-765 with category code (c)(26). Processing has been slow — typical waits of 6–12 months recently — so file as early as eligible. The EAD is open-market once issued: any employer, any role.
Yes — via H-1B Transfer (a new I-129 by the new employer). No re-entry into the lottery is required. Under AC21 §105 (portability), you can start work for the new employer as soon as the new petition is filed and USCIS issues a receipt — you do not have to wait for the approval. If the transfer is later denied, you stop working immediately. Most practitioners file Premium Processing on transfers so the decision arrives within 15 business days rather than months.
You have a 60-day grace period (or until the end of your authorised stay, whichever is shorter) under 8 CFR §214.1(l)(2). Within those 60 days you can: (1) get hired by a new employer that files an H-1B Transfer, (2) change status to another category (H-4, B-2, F-1, O-1, etc.), (3) leave the US. The clock starts on your last day of paid employment, not the layoff announcement, but track this carefully — staying past day 60 without a filed petition triggers unlawful presence.
Generally no, with a narrow exception. The default rule is that H-1B requires a bona fide employer-employee relationship — i.e. someone who can hire, fire, supervise, and control your work. If you wholly own the company you are also "your own boss", which breaks the relationship. The narrow exception, articulated in a 2010 USCIS memo and updated in 2024 guidance, allows founder-owners if the corporate structure (board, investors, or independent supervisors) can demonstrably hire, fire, and supervise the beneficiary. In practice this requires a co-founder, an independent board, or a venture investor with control rights, plus careful documentation of the supervisory chain.
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