The H-1B temporary worker visa is a US work visa for professionals. The H-1B visa is one of the most sought after US work visas for foreign nationals who want to live and work in the US in a specialty occupation.
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa. It provides authorization for you to reside, be employed, and bring your spouse and family in to the United States for a temporary period.
Each year a total of 85,000 H-1B temporary visas are made available to workers in occupations requiring highly specialized knowledge. Unfortunately, there are never enough H-1B visas to supply all the workers who want them – which is why it is important to hire a lawyer to insure that your application is completed effectively and efficiently the first time.
With the correct guidance and legal team behind you, this process can be made simple with little effort on your part. The Orlando H-1B visa attorneys at Vazquez & Poudat, PLLC pride themselves on taking the burden from you and providing a seamless service.
We frequently receive questions about the H-1B visa. In an effort to help you obtain as much needed information as possible, we have compiled the questions that we think are the most common ones, so please feel free to visit our H-1B Visa Frequently Asked Questions page to find more information on this subject.
To qualify for an H-1B visa, you must first have a job offer from a US employer for duties to be performed in the United States.
To obtain an H-1B visa, the following requirements apply:
The position must also meet certain criteria, including at least one of the following:
If you don’t have a bachelor’s degree, but will be attempting to qualify through work experience, USCIS usually wants to see specialized training and/or work experience for every year of college that you would have attended.
The non-immigrant H1B visa is issued for an initial period of three (3) years and allows the foreign national to work in the US in specialty occupations during that period of time. The visa can be extended for a maximum of six (6) years. It is important to note that any time the person spends outside of the US does not count. In fact, US immigration law allows H-1B holders to “recapture”the time lost as a result of international travel time so they can take advantage of the full six-year maximum.
The H-1B visa requires a sponsoring US employer. The initial step would be for the employer to file a Labor Condition Application (LCA), which can be submitted up to six months before you plan to start working. An LCA is similar to a sworn declaration or a written oath. It is advisable to use an Orlando H-1B Visa Attorney to assist you in this process, as this can be a complex and time consuming process.
Even after the LCA has been accepted, the employer must have a copy of each H-1B worker’s LCA and supporting documents available at its offices for public inspection. The file must also contain information about the company's wage system, benefits plan, and more. This is one reason many employers seek the help of Attorneys in an effort to be in full compliance with these requirements.
The next step would be for the employer to file a visa petition to the USCIS. Based on the USCIS petition approval, you may then proceed to apply for the H-1B visa.
Vazquez & Poudat, PLLC in Orlando, FL, has an experienced team in place to assist you and your employer with assembling all the necessary elements for the H-1B visa petition and application.
Please feel free to visit our H-1B Visa FAQ page to obtain answers for the most frequent asked questions our US Immigration attorneys get from our clients on this subject.
The H-1B visa process is complicated and usually confusing. Suzanne E. Vazquez and Maud Poudat, our Board Certified Immigration Attorneys in Orlando, help individuals and businesses with all of their migration needs, including H-1B visa petitions and applications. Call us today at (407) 674-6968. If you have an emergency after office hours please call or text us at (407) 925-2554 and we will contact you shortly. You may also fill our online form provided on this page or send us an e-mail at info@VPImmigration.com and we will get back to you shortly.