US Work Visa – H-1B Visa Application

United States is a nation with rich and diverse culture, it is the dream destination of many around the world. A lot of people from different parts of the world dream of relocating to the U.S. to work and get themselves established there.

As a foreign national seeking to enter the United States to work, you would need a visa known as H-1B visa. The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows United States employers hire foreign workers with advanced degrees or highly skilled foreign employees in specialty occupations to come to the U.S. to work for a period of time.

The H-1B visa is a dual intent visa meaning that it is non-immigrant visa that has a pathway to Lawful Permanent Residency. It is important to note that for a U.S. employer to hire a foreign employee for a certain position, there has to be no U.S. citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident that is qualified enough or willing to work in that position.

Who is Eligible for a H-1B Visa?

To be eligible for a H-1B visa, you need a U.S. company to employ you in a job position that requires:

An advanced educational degree such as Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctorate Degree (PHD)

High specialty skills on Information Technology (IT), Medicine, Accounting, Law, Architecture, Business Management, Astronomy, Research, Biotechnology, Education, etc.

Professional Training or Certifications.

Also fashion models internationally recognized with distinguished merits and abilities are also eligible for a H-1B visa.

H-1B Visa Cap

Each Fiscal Year, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services approves 65,000 petitions from different U.S. companies to bring in foreign workers into the United States for the purpose of working in specialty occupations.

From the 65,000 approved petitions, the USCIS reserves 6,800 petitions for the H-1B1 visa program, which allows Chile and Singapore nationals to come to the U.S. to work in specialty occupations, and from the 6,800 petitions reserved for the H-1B1 program, the USCIS reserves 1,400 petitions for Chile nationals while they allocate the remaining 5,400 for Singapore nationals.

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Also the USCIS approves additional 20,000 petitions for foreign employees with advanced certificates such as Master’s and Doctorate Degrees (PHD). This makes a total of 85,000 petitions that the USCIS approves every FY for foreign workers.

Registration Dates for H-1B for Fiscal Year 2025

The H-1B electronic registration for Fiscal Year 2025 will open at 12 noon Eastern on March 06, 2025, and run through 12 noon Eastern on March 25, 2025. Before this period, prospective H-1B petitioners are to create registrant account on the USCIS website on March 1, 2025.

By March 31, 2025, the USCIS will have notified the selected entrants and from April 1, 2025, selected entrants can proceed with there H1-B visa application.

H-1B Visa Application Process

For a foreign worker to successfully get a H-1B visa approved, they must follow the following process:

Get employed by a U.S. company in specialty occupation

Get the U.S. employer to file a Petition for a Non-immigrant Worker to the USCIS

Get the Petition for a Non-immigrant Worker approved by the USCIS

Apply for a H-1B visa

Prepare your required documents

Attend the H-1B visa interview at the U.S. consulate in their home country.

Required Documents to file a Petition

For a U.S. employer to file a Petition for a foreign employee at the USCIS to come to the U.S. to work in specialty occupation, the U.S. employer must have ready the following required documents –

Proof that the foreign employee meets the educational qualification for the position (copies of Bachelor’s Degree, or equivalent, Master’s Degree, Doctorate Degree).

A copy of the alien worker international passport.

A copy of the contract document signed by the U.S. employer and the alien worker.

Internal Tax Return of the company.

A copy of the prevailing wage gotten from the National Prevailing Wage Center. Although this is not required but it is advisable to get this document.

H-1B Visa Petitioning Process for a U.S. Employer

Before a foreign worker applies for a H-1B visa in his or her home country, a foreign worker employed by a United States employer must have the United States employer file a petition on their behalf.

If you are a United States employer seeking to bring an alien worker into the United States to work for you in specialty positions, follow the below steps to successfully file a petition for an alien worker.

- Submit a Labor Condition Application (Form ETA-9035/9035E): This is the first step in filing a petition for an alien worker. You must submit a Labor Condition Application to the U.S Department of Labor (DOL).

- - The essence of submitting and getting this form approved by the Department of Labor is to ensure that as an employer, you will pay the alien employee a full prevailing wage and create a conducive working environment and condition for the foreign employee.

- Form I-129, Petition for an Alien Worker: After the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) approves the Labor Condition Application, the United States employer can proceed to filing the Petition for a Non-immigrant Worker at the USCIS.

- - The alien worker can’t proceed with the H-1B visa application until USCIS approves the petition. After USCIS receives the petition, they will issue a case number to the petition. The foreign worker can use the 13 digit case number to check the status of the petition in the USCIS portal.

Form I-129, Petition for a Non-immigrant Worker Approval

After the employer submits the petition to the USCIS for approval, they must wait for USCIS to review the petition before taking any further steps. If the petition is approved by the USCIS, a Form I-797 will be issued to the employer indicating that the petition has been approved.

The USCIS makes use of Form I-797 to communicate receipt or approval of an application or petition. After the approval of the petition, the U.S. employer can instruct the foreign worker to begin the H-1B application in the U.S. consulate office in his or her home country.

Fees the U.S. Employer will pay while filing the Petition

The U.S. employer must pay a lot of fees in the course of filing a Petition for a Non-immigrant worker to the USCIS. If you are a U.S. employer that is seeking to bring in a foreign worker to the U.S. to take up specialty occupation, below is the list of fees you must pay to successfully file a petition and also get an approval.

H-1B Registration fee

The registration fee for Fiscal Year 2025 registration period is 10 USD.

Form I-129 filing fee

As a U.S. employer, if you are filing a H-1B or H-1B1 petitions, the offline filing fee is 780 USD while the online filing fee is 730 USD. If you are filing as a Small Employer or a Non-profit, the paper filing fee is 460 USD while the online filing fee is also 460 USD. Employers can waive this fee by filling and submitting the Form I-912.

American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act (ACWIA) Training Fee

U.S. employers seeking to bring in foreign workers into the U.S. for specialty occupations have to pay this fee. For employers with 25 and below full time employees, the fee is 750 USD. For employers with 26 and above full time workers, the fee is 1500 USD.

Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee

The U.S. employer must also pay this fee for the foreign worker and the fee is 500 USD.

Public Law 114-113 Fee

The United States employer has to pay a 4,000 USD Public Law 114-113 Fee, if the employer has more than 50 employees with more than 50% of the employees on H-1B and L-1 visas. However, USCIS may exempt this fee.

Form I-907 Fee

As a U.S. employer, if you want to use the premium processing service provided by USCIS to speed up the processing of your H-1B petition, use this form to request for a premium service.

Using the premium service, the processing of your petition is usually complete within 15 working days and the fee for this service is 2,805 USD.

Form G-28, Notice of Entry of Appearance as Attorney or Accredited Representative

As a U.S. employer, if you have a lawyer or any accredited representative, kindly make use of this form to request assistance from USCIS. There are no fees attached to this form but kindly be aware that the attorney will charge you for services rendered.

Asylum Fee

The USCIS introduced this new fee in April 2024. This fee helps cover the cost of asylum adjudication in the United States. So as a United States employer, you have to pay this fee. For employers with 26 and above full-time staff, they are to pay a fee of 600 USD. For employers with 25 and below full-time staff, they are to pay a fee of 300 USD, while non-profit organizations do not pay this fee

H-1B Visa Application Process for a Foreign Worker

After the U.S. employer files the petition with USCIS and the petition gets approved, the alien worker will have to proceed with the visa application at the U.S. consulate in his or her home country.

As a foreign employee, below are the steps to follow to successfully apply for a H-1B visa.

DS-160 Form, Online Nonimmigration Visa Application

As a foreign employee, this is the first step you have to take to apply for a H-1B Visa. Fill and complete the Online Nonimmigration Visa Application form and make sure you supply your correct information to avoid a visa denial. After completing the form, ensure that you print out the confirmation page.

Pay the H-1B Visa Fee

After completing the DS-160 form, pay the H-1B visa fee and then print out the payment receipt.

Schedule a Visa Appointment

After paying the H-1B visa fee, proceed and schedule an appointment at the United States consulate in your home country. Ensure that you print out the appointment letter that the U.S. Consulate will send to you.

Arrange all the Required and Supporting Documents in a File

While you wait for your H-1B appointment date, it is important that you arrange all your required and supporting documents in a file.

Attend your Visa Interview

During your visa interview, the consulate officer will ask you questions relating to the job position you will be taking up in the U.S., so you must have an extensive knowledge about the position that you got hired for.

You must also prove to the consulate officer that you possess high skills in that position. The consulate officer will also ask you questions about your U.S. employer, so prepare for these questions. Make sure you do not submit any forged document because it can get you a visa denial and a visa ban.

Required Documents for a H-1B Visa Application

As a foreign employee applying for a H-1B visa, below are the required documents that you have to go along with to your visa interview.

International Passport: You must have an international passport and it must be valid for at least six months beyond your intended period of stay in the U.S.

Passport Photograph: You need to have two 2×2 passport photograph and it must meet with the U.S. visa photo requirements.

DS-160 Confirmation Page: You must have a confirmation page of your DS-160 form.

H-1B Visa Fee Receipt: You must have the receipt of the H-1B visa fee that you paid.

Proof of Educational Qualification for the Job Position: You must make available your degrees or certifications to prove to the visa officer that you meet the educational requirements for the position you got hired for.

Original and one Photocopy of Form I-129

Printed Form I-129 receipt number

Printed H-1B visa appointment letter

Job offer letter from U.S. employer describing your job position and responsibilities.

A copy of Form I-797

A copy of your Curriculum Vitae

Bank Account Statement

Fees a Foreign Employee will pay while Applying for H-1B Visa

Below are the fees that you must pay for a H-1B visa application process.

H-1B Visa Fee: The H-1B visa application fee is 205 USD.

H-1B Visa Issuance Fee: The H-1B visa issuance fee varies from consulate to consulate and from country to country, so kindly check at the consulate that will be issuing your H-1B visa to know the issuing fee.

What is a H-1B Visa Lottery?

The USCIS implemented a H-1B visa lottery system that randomly selects petitions to receive a H-1B visa. The essence of this random selection system is to help tackle the issues faced when the numbers of petitions for each Fiscal Year exceeds the H-1B visa cap of 85,000 petitions.

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Employers have the registration date timeframe to submit their petitions. After the registration date is closed, the petitions are put into a digital random selection system and employers whose petitions are randomly selected will be notified to take the next step.

H-1B Visa Validity Period and Extension

The H-1B visa remains valid for 3 years, and holders can extend it for another three years, totalling six years. After that period, the foreign employee needs an employer to sponsor them for an employment-based Green Card. But, If the foreign worker doesn’t find any U.S. employer to sponsor him or her for an employment based green card, consequently he or she must leave the United States.

After the first three years of H-1B visa validity period, an extension process involves almost the same procedures with that of the initial application process. Your U.S. employer would have to initiate the H-1B extension process by filing an extension petition with the USCIS.

As soon as the U.S. employer files the extension petition, USCIS automatically gives the alien worker a 240 days grace period to remain in the United States lawfully until the extension process is completed. Therefore, It is very important for an employer to begin this process early.

Required Documents for H-1B Extension

As a U.S. employer seeking to extend the H-1B visa validity period of a foreign worker, following below are the required documents for filing a H-1B extension petition with the USCIS.

Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker

Copy of the H-1B visa holder’s current Form I-797, Notice of Action

Updated job contract confirming renewal of employment, detailing the new terms.

Approved Labor Condition Application from the department of labor

Foreign employee international passport

Proof that the foreign employee meets with the educational requirement for the position or has the required specialty skills needed for the job (Degrees, Certifications, etc.)

H-1B Visa Holder Dependents (Spouse and Children)

As a foreign employee working in the U.S. with a H-1B visa or H-1B1 visa, you can bring your spouse and eligible children to the United States as H-4 visa program makes this possible. It is important to note that the U.S. government does not allow H-4 visa holders to work.

H-4 visa holder can file Form I-165, Application for Employment Authorization, with the USCIS to be able to work in the United States. If the application is approved by USCIS, the H-4 visa holder will be issued an Employment Authorization Document (Form I-766/EAD). This document authorizes them to work in the U.S. for a specific period of time.

In addition, only children of a H-1B visa holder under the age of 21 years old are eligible for a H-4 visa.

We will be talking about H-4 visa in details in a different article and we hope that you find this article very helpful. If you need any of our services, get in touch with us and one of our consultants will assist you.