|
H-1B Specialty
Occupation (Professionals) Visas
The H-1B is a temporary visa category for
nonimmigrant workers that includes specialty
occupations which require a bachelor’s degree or
higher and fashion models of distinguished merit and
ability.
A specialty occupation is one that requires highly
specialized knowledge and a bachelor's or higher
degree in the specialty occupation. If a state license
is required to practice the occupation, the employer
must also provide evidence of that license to the INS.
If the prospective employee does not hold a Bachelor's
degree it is possible to substitute experience. In
order to do this, the employer must show that the
foreign national has experience in the specialty that
is the equivalent of the bachelor or higher degree
needed to perform the job. In these situations, the
employer must also show recognition of expertise in
the specialty. This is demonstrated by showing that
the prospective employee has been promoted through
progressively more responsible positions. Typical H-1B
occupations include architects, engineers, computer
programmers, accountants, doctors and college
professors.
Initially, the maximum period of admission for an
H1B1 employee is three years, which may be extended
for an additional three years. If the position is
terminated by the employer prior to the petition
expiration date, the employer is required to pay the
reasonable cost of an airline ticket to repatriate the
foreign national employee. This does not have to be
paid where the foreign national leaves the U.S.
voluntarily, finds other H1B1 employment, or changes
to another non-immigrant visa category.
The H1B1 process has several steps:
1) the employer obtains a prevailing wage
determination either through the State Employment
Security Agency or through a survey
2) The employer files a Labor Condition Application
(LCA) with the regional office of the U.S. Department
of Labor
3) When the LCA is returned from the Department of
Labor, the employer can file the I-129H petition and
the necessary supporting documents. This stage of the
process can take anywhere from 30 to 120 days.
Typically, as part of the H1B process, the following
materials are also required:
- letter of offer including job description, dates
of proposed employment, and salary;
- evidence that the wage offered is the prevailing
wage;
- evidence that the employer is paying similarly
employed workers the prevailing wage;
- evidence the employer is able to pay the offered
wages;
- a letter in support of the filing summarizing
the position offered and the alien's credentials
- evidence that the foreign national (if in the
U.S.) has maintained status including: copies of
passport, I-94, and other current and previous
immigration documents; and
- evidence of the alien's credentials, .including
a credential evaluation if the degree was earned
abroad
4) The INS adjudicates the H1B1 petition. If
approved and the foreign national is in the United
States and entitled to a change of non-immigrant
status, his/her status will be changed to H1B1. If the
foreign national prospective employee is abroad, he or
she will proceed to the U.S. Consular Office listed on
the H1B petition tp pick up his or her H1B1 visa and
proceed to the United States.
5) When the new employee begins work, the employer
and the employee must complete the I-9 process as
required under IRCA.
Medical Doctors and the H1B1. Generally, physicians
may be granted H1B1 status only if their employment
involves only research and teaching, with any patient
care incidental to such duties. The bar on rendering
patient care has been eliminated for physicians with
an appropriate state license, and who have passed the
FLEX examination or USMLE Parts I, II, and III and ECFMG English test
if applicable.
Back
to Temporary Working Visas
|
|
