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Are you looking to go to the United States for employment purposes? Work in a profession that involves services in specialty occupations? The application that may be most suitable for you is known as the H-1B Visa. Commonly used for employment purposes, this visa is only applicable for individuals in certain fields. Both the employer and employee will be involved in the application process. If done correctly, it could lead to you starting a successful business life in the United States.
H-1B visa is for people who will be working in what are known as “Specialty O+ccupations”. However, variants of the H-1B Visa can also include services of exceptional merit/ability that has to do with the Department of Defense co-operative research/development project, or if you wish to perform services as a fashion model with highly recognized abilities. These variants are known as H-1B2 Visa and H-1B3 Visa, and have a similar application process.
The H-1B Visa deals only with Specialty Occupations, which are professions that likely would have required some kind of formal post-secondary education in order to qualify. A Specialty Occupation should require at least one of the following types of education:
At the very least, a Bachelor’s degree will be needed (or what would be the equivalent of a Bachelor’s degree from other countries)
An additional degree that is either unique to the profession in question or unique to the general industry that the profession falls under
The employer would require a degree
A degree higher than the Bachelor’s degree due to the skill level required for the specific occupation
In order to actually be able to work in the profession, you must have a job offer from an employer. In order to accept the job offer, you would have to have a Bachelor’s degree (at the very least). This degree must be attained from a legitimate and recognized post-secondary institution in the United States (for example, this can be a college or a university). If you do not have a degree from the United States, you must have foreign credentials that are equivalent to one that could be gained studying in the United States. This may require having your credentials assessed by a US institution. If you do not have a bachelor’s degree, you may still be able to apply for the H-1B Visa. Instead, you would need to demonstrate that you have a license to practice. This license must be unrestricted and recognized by the state you wish to work in. If your job does not require a license, it may require some kind of formal registration or a certificate demonstrating that you are allowed to practice. Otherwise, you can demonstrate that you have some kind of experience or specialized training that would be equivalent to having a Bachelor’s degree. This is mostly measured in the amount of time you have in experience. For example, 3 years on work experience or in-the-field experience is usually considered to be equivalent to 1 years of college.
There are certain requirements you must meet before applying for the H-1B Visa in order to be considered eligible for it. Firstly, you must demonstrate that you have a clear employer-employee relationship in the workplace. This means that your working situation must be one in which the employer (who must be a U.S employer) has the ability to hire you or fire you, as well as is the one responsible for your salary and can supervise/control your work. In some cases, this can be established by the individual that is the owner or majority owner of the organization where you intend to work. It can also easily be established if your workplace has a board of directors, preferred shareholders, investors, or other specific individuals that are involved to manage the work of others. In order to demonstrate this employer-employee relationship, you may include several documents such as: a term sheet, voting agreement, stock purchase agreement, capitalization table, operating agreements, or other types of contractual or organizational documents. It is also important to include support letters from the employer that clearly states the relationship and what his/her responsibilities are in relation to you.
Another requirement to be eligible for the H-1B Visa is the education requirement, as discussed above. Generally, the Occupational Outlook Handbook that was created by the Department of Labour outlines what type of experience or education you would need for your specific occupation. Since this is the guideline that the US Citizenship and Immigration Services uses, it is highly suggested that you consult this handbook or ensure you are meeting the expected criteria to work in your field. Documents that you can include to demonstrate you have the required experience or education include: documents pertaining to your past work experience that dictate the minimum requirements needed, documents relating to your potential future job that state the duties involved and how this may require specialized skills, other job listings and letters from other employers in the same field, or letters from experts in the field describing the types of skills needed and degrees relevant. Moreover, you will need to demonstrate that the degree you have is not only required for the job but also relevant to the job. You can include additional documents to support this, such as online resources that state the relation between the degree and the job, or evidence from other companies that have similar positions.
The next requirement is that you be paid the actual or prevailing wage of your occupation. The prevailing wage is the wage that is paid to others in your position based on the geographic location of where you work; for example, the average wage of people with your job in New York. Information regarding the prevailing wage is available on the US Department of Labour’s website, as they have an entire database dedicated to calculating an accurate prevailing wage. Note that this may change over time, so it is important that you know what the current prevailing wage is. In contrast, the actual wage is the amount that is paid to others in your specific workplace. This would be the salary of others that have the same or extremely similar job requirements as you that work for the company where you work at (rather than anywhere in your workplace location). In order to apply for H-1B Visa, you must demonstrate that you are going to be receiving at least whichever is higher: the prevailing wage or the actual wage for you. You can demonstrate this by including documents such as your paystubs or W-2 documents. If you do not work there yet, you can include documents such as contracts that state the amount you will be paid. Furthermore, you will also be required to fill out a Labour Condition Application and submit it.
Finally, the last requirement is that an H-1Bvisa number is available. These numbers are issued by the Immigration Department. However, there is a cap on how many applications can be filed each year. Currently, only 65,000 visas are allowed to be filed for each fiscal year. If your application is not one of them, then a number will not be available and you will need to wait for the next fiscal year to apply. However, there are certain exemptions to this cap, so some applications may not be considered toward the 65,000 total. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services website announces when the cap has been reached, so ensure that you are constantly checking online.
Applying for an H-1BVisa may be a tricky endeavor, as a lot of specific forms and documentation is needed. If you are in the process of applying for one, feel free to contact Akrami and Associates. Our team of experienced and reliable professionals will be able to assist you through the application process and entertain any questions you may have.
With Akrami and Associates, there is always a way!
