Professional Foreign Workers (H-1B Visas)

The most common type of work visa, the H-1B, is a nonimmigrant visa for foreign workers in “specialty occupations”, such as accountants, computer professionals, physicians, therapists, market research analysts, financial analysts, teachers, architects, etc. In order to qualify, the foreign national must be sponsored by an employer and must have at least a Bachelor’s degree or its equivalent, the field of study must be related to the job being offered to the foreign national, and the job offered must usually require at least a Bachelor’s degree or higher. If the employee does not have a 4-year Bachelor ’s degree, sometimes professional experience may count toward the Bachelor’s degree requirement.

An H-1B visa is usually granted for 3 year periods, renewable for up to 6 years. If the employee has a labor certification application pending the foreign national may extend the H-1B visa for additional 1 year increments.

The H-1B Cap

There is a restrictive annual cap on H-1B visas that is now usually filled well before they are even made available, at the beginning of the U.S. fiscal year (October 1st). This means applications must be filed well in advance (before April 1st) and makes approval into a game of chance. (Some visas are set aside for professionals from Chile, Singapore, and those with advanced degrees from U.S. institutions of higher education.)

Note however that institutions of higher education, non-profit organizations related to institutions of higher education, non-profit organizations related to institutions of higher education, and non-profit or governmental research organizations may be exempt from the H-1B cap. In addition, employers may hire professionals with H-1B visas working for other companies without being subject to the cap.