H-1B visas are issued to workers in specialized occupations and the professions, e.g. accountants, architects, computer specialists, doctors of medicine, engineers, lawyers, specialist nurses, professors/teachers and scientists. The position applied for must usually require a bachelor’s or higher degree or equivalent experience; applications made by those without a degree are subject to greater scrutiny and are much more difficult to obtain.

 

The H-1B visa program also includes certain fashion models of distinguished merit and ability and up to 100 people who will be performing services of an exceptional nature in connection with Department of Defense (DOD) research and development projects or coproduction projects.

 

Many professions in the US are licensed and controlled by individual states, resulting in 50 different licensing procedures for each profession. Where a license is an essential prerequisite, then it must be obtained by the applicant prior to the employer submitting a petition on his behalf. However, in most states, professionals such as accountants, architects, engineers and lawyers who work for a company rather than in the public sector, don’t require a license.

 

An employer must file a Labor Condition Application (LCA) with the Department of Labor before he can ‘sponsor’ someone for an H-1B visa. The prevailing wage for the position in the locality must be obtained from the Department of Labor or another source. The required wage for the position is the higher of the ‘actual wage’ paid to other employees in the same position or the ‘prevailing local wage’, which can be determined using one of the various wage surveys available, including the employer’s own wage survey. In general, almost all LCAs are approved, provided they aren’t incomplete or obviously inaccurate.

 

Contrary to popular myth, there’s no requirement that employers must prove they couldn’t find a US worker before hiring an H-1B Visa worker. In the case of ‘H-1B-dependent employers’ (e.g. those with over 15 percent of workers with H-1B visas), the law requires them to recruit US workers in ‘good faith’, but there’s no effective enforcement mechanism.

 

H-1B visas are issued for up to three years, although citizens of certain countries receive visas for shorter periods – from one month to two years. Extensions of up to three years may be granted, making a maximum of six years. It’s possible for an H-1B visa holder to change his status (‘adjust status’) to that of a permanent resident (Green Card) while in the US, provided an employer will act as a sponsor.

 

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