H-1B Visa

How It Works

The H-1B visa is the most common employment-based visa for skilled foreign workers. It allows a U.S. employer to sponsor a foreign national for a position that requires specialized knowledge and at least a bachelor's degree (or equivalent). The visa is valid for 3 years, extendable to 6 years. There is an annual cap of 65,000 new H-1B visas, plus an additional 20,000 for applicants with U.S. master's degrees or higher. Cap-exempt employers (universities, nonprofit research organizations, government research organizations) are not subject to the cap. In recent years, USCIS has received 3-4 times more registrations than available slots, making selection a lottery.

Related Terms

• Labor Condition Application (LCA), A DOL-certified form that employers must file before hiring an H-1B worker, attesting they will pay at least the prevailing wage and not adversely affect working conditions for U.S. workers.
• Prevailing Wage, The average wage paid to workers in a similar occupation in the same geographic area, employers must pay H-1B workers at least this amount to prevent undercutting U.S. wages.
• H-1B Lottery, The random selection process used when H-1B registrations exceed the annual cap of 85,000, determining which petitions USCIS will accept for processing.
• Specialty Occupation, A job that requires the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge and at least a bachelor's degree in a specific field, the threshold for H-1B eligibility.