H-1B Professional Visa

The H1-B visa is for professionals – generally bachelor’s (or higher) degree holders and is limited to 65,000 visas worldwide per year, a quota which is woefully short of demand in recent years. The opening date for applications is April 1 each year,  for a work start date of October 1, six months later. In recent years, the H-1B quota has been exceeded in the first few days and applications are placed into a random computer generated lottery so it’s a matter of luck whether any particular application is chosen for processing.  Please see our ­News page for more details.

If you’re interested in taking your chances on an H-1B visa,  it’s advisable to prepare well in advance so your petition is ready to file on the first available date – April 1.  You must have a US professional job offer (one which requires a degree) and an employer willing to take the lottery risks and wait until October 1 (all going well) for you to begin working.

Employees of institutions of higher education or a related or affiliated nonprofit entity,  as well as those employed, or who will be employed, by a nonprofit research organization or a governmental research organization are exempt from the cap. There is also a quota of 20,000 H-1B visas for foreign workers with a U.S. Master’s or higher level degree.  Please see our ­News page for more details.