How to get h1b visa.
What Is An H1b Visa?
H1b is a non-immigrant working visa for foreign nationals who wish to work in USA. H1b visa gives authority to foreign national to work in specialized field. Foreign workers should work in specialized field and the US employer should also prove that they could not find anyone of that specialization from USA. The applicant will be sponsored by US employer. The US employer will file the application on behave of the h1b candidate and also send all the related documents to USCIS.
USCIS definition of h1b visa:
This visa category applies to people who wish to perform services:
- In a specialty occupation, services of exceptional merit and ability relating to a Department of Defense (DOD) cooperative research and development project.
- Or services as a fashion model of distinguished merit or ability.
For more info please visit. uscis.
How to get h1b visa?
Getting an H1b visa is not that difficult if you follow these steps.
Step 1. You Need to Find a Sponsor.
This is the first criteria to get an H1b visa. This is because you can not apply h1b visa by yourself. Therefore you need a sponsor. The sponsor means, you need to find an employer in the United States who can find an job for you and sponsor your h1b visa.
Step 2. Employer will Submit Labor Conditions Approval (LCA)
After you find your sponsor. The sponsor will have to file LCA for that particular position you will be working. The US employer begins the H1b application process by filing LCA and send the LCA to DOL (Department of Labor). The LCA is filled electronically. The US employer will have to mention the wage and the duration of project in the application. The LCA takes 7 working days to get approved.
Step 3. Employer will Submit Form I-129
Once your LCA gets approved. The next step is filing I-129. I-129 is the petition for non immigrant worker. In this application the employer will have to mention everything like fees, experience, training. They need to attach all the educational documents, applicant’s resume, job contract, client letter etc. Your application will be sent to USCIS office. USCIS will start accepting application from April 1st.
Step 4. Lottery
This is the painful part of h1b visa process. Lottery will be held mostly on 1st week of April in every year. No matter whatever you do, your destiny depends on luck. There are thousands of applications. USCIS will choose 65,000 candidates based on lottery. Your luck is the key player here.
Step 5. Visa Stamping and Interview
Once your application gets approved. This will be the final step in which applicant will go for visa stamping and visa interview at a US Embassy or Consulate. Please keep your all documents ready for this. Also go through some h1b visa interview question. Follow this link for h1b visa questions. H1b visa Interview questions and answers 2019 | Quick solutions
For documents and stamping process. Click here.
Two ways to get H1b Visa
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Already working outside the USA.
If you think you fall under the category defined by USCIS. You can try for it. As an individual you can not apply for it. You need someone to sponsor you. You should look for companies having subsidiaries in USA.
You should tell while joining that you want go to USA. There are so many small consultancies in India and everywhere in the world who send their employees to USA on h1b visa.
- Higher education in the USA. If you have done your graduation from outside USA. You can peruse your masters in the USA. Getting admission in colleges here is not that tough. Once you complete your masters here, you can work on OTP. Meanwhile you can also ask your employer to apply h1b visa. In fact during Mr. Trump’s rule, having masters in usa is an advantage. You can get h1b visa easily.
Educational Requirements for H1b visa.
An advance degree or bachelor’s degree must be from an accredited university or college. The degree is necessary to relate to the H-1B specialty position. If your degree was obtained from outside the United States, it must be equivalent to an available U.S. degree.
U.S. Employer Requirements for h1b visa.
Your USA employer must fulfill these below requirements.
- Your US employer should have the funds necessary to pay the foreign professional.
- Your US employer should provide an official job offer.
Work Experience Requirements:
If you have done masters then 1 year of work experience may work for you. But it is always good to have good work experience. If you have done only bachelors then you need to have at least four to five years of work experience in current scenario. If you have more work experience, chances of getting h1b visa will be high.
How to apply for h1b visa?
how to get h1b visa section clearly explains what you should do to get h1b visa. USA gives 65000 h1b visa every year to foreign nationals. If the number of visa applications are more than 65000.
USCIS will use lottery system to allocate visa. If you are lucky, you will get it. Every year around April 5th USCIS accepts visa application for next financial year.
Your consultant or company where you are working currently will file your application. You have to provide your all educational certificates, experience letter and passport details. Your employer will send the application to USCIS.
What is next after h1b visa approval.
If you are lucky enough to get a visa in lucky draw. You will get h1b visa receipt as a proof. It will tell you that your application for h1b visa was picked up in the lottery. And you can go for stamping when you get your original i797 documents. Click this link for more info. I got h1b visa approved whats next.
Can i apply for h1b visa own my on?
As an individual, you can not apply for h1b visa. You need to find a sponsor for you. This is the only way to get h1b visa and enter USA.
To know more about different types of US work visas. Please visit. what are the different types of us work visas.
Hello, my company White Contruction specializes in building Golf courses. We have a worker in Mexico we would like to do specialized work for our company. How do I get the correct forms to fill out? are there links I can have sent to me to complete?
Thanks in advance, Patricia White