Specialty Occupations: H-1B visa

What is the H-1B Visa?

The H-1B visa is issued to skilled, professional, graduates workers for employment in their field of expertise in the U.S. This visa is granted by the US government to foreign workers who will enter the U.S. to work for a U.S. company. Foreign workers who qualify for this visa must work in a field requiring specialized knowledge and meet the job requirements that the employer was not able to find from a U.S. based worker.

Along with specialized professional workers, such as engineers, scientists, doctors, and the like, the H1B visa also applies to fashion models and Department of Defense cooperative research and development project workers.

This visa allows its holders to remain in the U.S. for 3 years and can be extended to up to 6 years. There are also exceptions to extend the visa for even more years depending on the type of work being performed, and your specific set of circumstances.

H-1B Visa Processing Time

Because of the increasingly high demand for the H-1B visa, the Immigration Authorities have developed different types of processes for this visa. The processing time you will have to wait for the completion of your visa application, will depend on the type of processing that is filed.

There are three types of processing:

• Regular H-1B visa processing: H1B visas are processed randomly with no order or preference. This selection is called the H1B visa lottery. The regular H1B visa processing time is approximately of 3 months to 1 year, but can take longer on specific cases depending on a variety of factors.
  
• Premium H-1B visa processing: For those employers that do not want to wait such a long time for processing, they can choose premium processing. Premium processing guarantees that the petition will be processed within 15 days of submission.
  
• Expedited H-1B visa processing: Expedited processing is only done on a case by case basis determined by USCIS, and it requires specific criteria.
• After our FREE Initial Legal Consultation I will be able to give you a more specific idea on how long should this Visa process be for your specific case, based on your particular circumstances.