H1B Employers and Workers

    H1B status is a highly desired by employers and equally by employees because it allows employment of highly skilled foreign national workers.  Physicians and other health care professionals, engineers, professors, and teachers, scientists, lawyers and many other professionalsare eligible work for U.S. employer upon approval of the petition.

Advantages of having an H1B immigration status:

    H1b worker can maintain lawful immigration stay for upto 6 years and more,

    Apply for lawful stay for dependent family members and

    Apply for lawful permanent residence.

Qualification:

    Bachelor or higher educational degree as a job requirement.  (Years of experience can substitute educational requirement.)

Filing Period:

    H1b preparation and planning should start early.

Employer Registration:

    H1B filing is initiated by employer registering with the USCIS.  Registration of employers as h1b initiation process began for the first time in Fiscal Year 2021 (October 1, 2020 through September 30, 2021).  Employers who intend to file h1b petitions to hire foreign nationals for the FY 2022 must first register with the USCIS first.  A selection process will then be conducted through random lottery picks, to fill the cap-subject H1bs.  Only the employers whose registration is picked in the lottery will then be able to submit the h1b petitions. 

USICS announced third lottery selection of the registered employers for the FY2022 h1b cap.  Selected employers may file their h1b petition until Feb 23,2022.

Wage-based selection is delayed

New Wage based selection process under the new rule dated 1/8/21 is postponed until December 31, 2021. 



The following h1b petitions can be filed anytime and are not cap subject:

Extension of stay

Change h1b employment terms

Change of h1b employer

Concurrent H1b petition  

Recapture of h1b time spent outside

What is recapture?     

    An H-1B visa holder is entitled to a full 6 year period of status from the date of initial entry in the status.  Any unused time e.g. 'days' spent outside U.S. by an H-1b holder do not count towards the allowable maximum period of stay and may be taken into account to extend the 6 year period by the same number of days.  This provision applies to L visa also.

Employer's Obligation:

    H1b employer must pay higher of actual wage or the prevailing wage prevailing in the area for the position, upon termination of employment pay return travel expenses among other obligations.  Call for advice.

American Competitiveness in the Twenty First Century Act (AC-21) porting

    7th year extension, beyond 6 years of your total h1b employment is possible in many cases.  Normally, allowed h1b work period is a total of 6 years, three years first and extendable to another three years.  AC21 allows the foreign national worker to continue in h1b status beyond 6 years under some circumstances! 

     Extension of H1B status beyond 6 years is possible for a year or three years, if a permanent residence petition is filed before the 5th year of h1b and pending.    

     Contact a knowledgeable attorney as early as possible for an uninterrupted and lawful stay and employment.  Ideally, you should contact my office as early as possible and before the end of your 4th H1B year with information about permanent residence petition.  

Premium Processing:

     Faster processing of h1b petitions is possible for an additional filing fee of $1440.  It requires the agency to take decisive action on an H1B petition within 15 days of its receipt.  Premium processing is optional. 

    For more information on planning for your immigration status, call to schedule a consultation.

Amendment of h1b:

Material changes in the h1b employment initially approved necessitates that the employer file an amended petition.  These could include organizational restructuring, significant changes in the job duties and changes requiring a new labor condition application. 

Call for advice if have questions whether the employer is required to file an h1b amendment petition.

Call if you need help and you are:

U.S. EMPLOYER and have found a qualified foreign national you would like to hire for a period of up to three years; or,

FOREIGN NATIONAL with a job offer from a U.S. employer and would like to:

Apply for authorized employment; or,

Know if you qualify for h1b; or,

Have your employer file h1b petition for you; AND... IF,

The position to be filled requires a Bachelor's Degree or higher as minimum educational qualification.

(All requests are first assessed whether H1B eligibility criteria can be met.)

 

Legal advice:

    Questions about initial h1b or extension eligibility with change of status or Consular Processing need;  Cap Exempt h1b Orgaizations;  Prevailing Wage;  Employer Obligation under Labor Condition Application or LCA;  Eligilibility to Pay;  h1b Fraud Inspection;  Relocation of job or of Employer;  Business Merger or Acquisition;  issues about h1b admission or change of status with impending international travel.

     Whether the employer institution qualifies to file cap exempt H1B requires an in depth analysis.  Normally, a non-profit or higher educational institution qualifies for this exemption but many other institutions may also qualify through affiliation.  Physicians, professors and researchers etc., seeking employment at a university or affiliated hospital or other institution can seek cap exempt H-1B status.

Myth Buster:

H1B employer need not be the one who had filed the Labor Certification for the employee.

EXPERIENCE:

    H1b cases worked on so far, in the following industries: Healthcare, Business Management, Building Construction, Education, Engineering: Information Technology, Pharmaceutical, Environmental, Automotive, Sports, Manufacturing, Electronics, Heating & Cooling, and communications.