New York City H-1B Visa and Green Card Attorneys

Helping Employers and Employees in New York City City and Worldwide

The Law Offices of Norka M. Schell, L.L.C. welcomes contact from employers and employees to discuss their visa immigration options that best suit your unique situation. Our H-1B lawyers can recommend our business clients the fastest way to bring professional foreign workers to the United States. Our H-1B lawyers also can devise a plan that would allow professional foreign workers to advance their career in the United States while keeping the options open for eventual transition to permanent residency.

Call 212-258-0713 or contact us online to schedule a consultation with our team today.

Essential Information About the H-1B Visa

• Educational Requirements & Duration of Stay: The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows a qualified professional foreign worker with a minimum of a bachelor’s degree to temporarily be granted a visa. Initially the visa is granted for up to three years, with the possibility of extension for another three years. In certain situations, extensions beyond the six-year limit may be possible.
• Employer Sponsorship: The U.S. employer must file a petition on behalf of the foreign worker. This includes submitting Labor Condition Application (LCA) to the Department of Labor.
• Specialty Occupation: The job position must qualify as a specialty occupation, meaning it requires theoretical and practical application of specialized knowledge.
• Wage Requirements: The employer must agree to pay the H-1B worker the prevailing wage for the occupation in the geographical area where the work will be performed.
• Family of Visa Holder: One of the benefits of entering the United States with an H-1B Visa, is that spouses and unmarried under the 21 years old children of the professional foreign worker may also come to the United States;

Understanding the H-1B Visa Process

The H-1B visa is a nonimmigrant visa that allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. A specialty occupation is one that requires the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge and a bachelor’s degree or higher in the specific specialty (or its equivalent) as a minimum requirement for entry into the occupation.

Examples of specialty occupations include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Architecture
• Engineering
• Mathematics
• Physical Sciences
• Biotechnology
• Medicine and Health
• Education
• Law
• Accounting
• Business Specialties
• Arts
• Entertainment
• Media
• Religion
• Research and Development
• Defense
• Manufacturing
• Writing

Key Considerations for H-1B Visa Quota and Deadlines

There is an annual numerical limit, or “cap,” on the number of H-1B visas that can be issued each fiscal year. Currently, the general cap is 65,000, and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) can also issue an additional 20,000 H-1B visas to foreign workers who have earned a master’s degree or higher from a U.S. institution of higher education.

Because the demand for H-1B visas often exceeds the annual cap, the USCIS uses a lottery system to randomly select the number of petitions required to meet the cap. The lottery is conducted in two stages: first, the USCIS randomly selects the number of petitions needed to meet the regular cap; then, any remaining eligible petitions are placed in a second lottery to meet the master’s cap.

There are certain H-1B petitions that are not subject to the annual cap, including those filed by institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations affiliated with institutions of higher education, nonprofit research organizations, and government research organizations. Additionally, H-1B workers who are petitioned for or employed at an institution of higher education or its affiliated or related nonprofit entities, a nonprofit research organization, or a government research organization are not subject to the annual cap.