March 10, 2021
Have you ever wondered whether you are a good candidate for H-1B?
Let us help you figure it out.
The H-1B visa is a work permit that allows foreign workers to come to the United States to work for American companies in specialty areas. The foreigner must specifically work in a field that requires specialized knowledge, for which the employer cannot find a US-based worker. To qualify for the H-1B visa category, the prospective H-1B employee must hold a U.S. bachelor’s or higher degree, or the equivalent from an accredited college or university. These jobs range from architect, engineer, mathematician, doctor, professor, accountant, graphic designer, software developer, marketing specialist, business analyst, and more.
Until 2020, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) requested that companies interested in applying for H-1B submit full applications during the first week of April. These applications were then submitted to the H1B lottery. The lottery is nothing but a “random selection process” used by USCIS to select the required number of H1B applicants from a larger pool of applicants. The lottery selection is done to select enough applicants to meet the H-1B Cap of 65,000 for Regular quota and 20,000 for Masters quota. On average, 200,000 applications were submitted.
Beginning in 2020, USCIS began what is known as the Electronic Registration Process. Rather than have companies prepare a full petition, USCIS asked that they submit the basic biographic information for the beneficiaries interested in participating in the lottery in a USCIS online account for a cost of $10 per beneficiary. This year, the registration period opened on March 9 at 12:00 EST. It will close on March 25 at 12:00 EST. All petitioners must have registered all beneficiaries and paid by this deadline.
To evaluate your eligibility, we closely review your immigration and education documents to make sure you qualify. We will also determine whether the proposed job is a specialized occupation. We do this as part of the pre-registration process, because the timeline is very short once registration is completed. USCIS will notify petitioners which beneficiaries have been selected on March 31. At that point, the petitioner has 90 days, until June 30, to submit a full petition to USCIS. Decisions come over the course of the late summer, early fall, with USCIS occasionally asking for additional evidence.
You might be able to get hired by an American company to do a job that is a great match for your qualifications. So, whether you are a graphic designer, business analyst, software developer and more, consider working with an employer to register for this year’s Electronic Registration Process. The possibilities are endless.
For more details, please join our Webinar on March 12, 2021!
Our attorneys will answer your questions during the live Q&A session.