The H-1B visa category applies to foreign nationals employed in specialty occupations that involve theoretical and practical application of highly specialized knowledge and which require a bachelor's degree or its equivalent in work experience. A college degree alone does not qualify a foreign national as a specialty worker; the job must require a degree related to the foreign national's particular field and the college degree that the foreign national earned must be a normal requirement for comparable jobs in the industry and with the prospective employer. All of the H-1B visa petitions filed by May Law Group, LLC, have been approved.*
An employer must file a labor condition application with the Department of Labor before the employer can apply for an H-1B visa with the U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services. The prospective employer must post a notice of filing the application in two conspicuous locations at the employment site for a period of at least ten business days. If an employer meets the requirements for an extension, the H-1B visa holder is allowed a maximum six-year stay in the United States. A seventh year is available under certain circumstances. These circumstances are: a labor certification for the applicant has been pending for over one year or an I-140, Alien Worker Petition, has been approved, but per country limitations on visas do not permit the filing of an adjustment of status application. May Law Group has successfully filed for seventh year extensions of H-1B visas numerous times. Eligible H-1B time not initially granted or spent outside of the United States may also be recaptured by H-1B visa holders through the filing of a recapture petition.
The H-1B cap for the fiscal year, which extends from October 1 of each year to October 1 of the following year, was met within two days of the opening of the filing period (April 1 of each year) in 2007. In the most recent filing period, a lottery was held to select which applications filed in those two days would receive H-1B visas. Absent congressional action to increase the cap on the number of H-1Bs available, applicants who miss the initial filing period prior to the cap being reached or are not selected in the anticipated H-1B lottery must wait until a new filing period. However, certain H-1B applications are cap exempt. These cap exempt H-1Bs include H-1Bs who work for universities or governmental nonprofit research organizations and their nonprofit affiliates. H-1B renewals are also cap exempt. A foreign national who holds an H-1B visa can work for a new employer as soon as the new employer files a “nonfrivolous” application with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. An additional number of H-1B visas are available each year for those applicants who hold United States Master's Degrees. H-1B visa applicants from Singapore and Chile also have visas set aside for them in the H-1B visa pool.
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*Past results cannot guarantee future results due to variations in the facts of each case.
May Law Group
Henry W. Oliver Building | Suite 908 | 535 Smithfield Street | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
Phones: 412-291-4400 or toll-free 1-877-LAW-USIM or cell 412-496-8930 | Facsimile: 412-291-4401 | E-mail
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