H1B Visa Lawyer Transfer Extension Free Email or Phone Consultation

Initial visa, transfer or extension are basically the same process:

1. Prevailing wage request sent to SWA
2. If wage offered is equal to or above prevailing wage case can proceed
   1. If not wage can be disputed, or;
   2. Offered wage can be increased
3. I-129 petition prepared
4. Labor Condition Application (LCA) filed online
5. Certified LCA & I-129 petition sent to employer for signature
6. Complete I-129 petition (with LCA and evidence) filed with USCIS
7. If approved:
   1. Consular processing where employee is out of the United States
   2. Employee can begin work*
8. If not approved:
   1. Appeal
   2. Refile
   3. Abandon

*If employee is transferring from one H1B employer to another H1B employer the employee can begin when USCIS receives petition.

Please note: The annual cap has not been reached. Initial H1B visas and exempt visas are currently available.

Visas that are automatically cap exempt are:

• Teachers and professors and others that are offered a job at an institution of higher learning
• Researchers at an institute of higher learning or a non-profit research insitution affiliated with
  an institute of higher learning or a government research agency
• J-1 waiver recipients through the State 30 program
• Current H1B visa holders transferring to a different employer or extending their current visa
• Spouses and children of current H1B visa holders are allowed to obtain H4 visas

The H1B visa program allows US employers to file for a temporary (non-immigrant) visa for an employee that meets certain educational and occupational standards. The minimum requirement for an H1B visa is that the employee have a Bachelor's degree (from either a US or foreign university) and that the job offered is a "specialty occupation" that requires that specific Bachelor's degree. It is also possible for a prospective employee that lacks a Bachelor's degree to be found to have the equivalent of a Bachelor's degree using a combination of experience and education.

H1B visas are generally obtained in three-year increments. The visa may be extended up to six-years maximum. However, if the employee has a labor certification application on file, it is possible to extend the H1B visa beyond the six-year limit.

H1B visas are fairly flexible. They allow for part-time employment under the visa, employment with multiple employers (although this requires multiple H1B visas to be filed), and movement to a new employer upon filing of a new H1B visa.

Except for "cap-exempt" categories, such as transfers and extensions, H1B visas are limited in number so it is important to begin exploring the process as soon as possible.

Many H1B visa holders proceed with the "labor certification" process while here on an H1B visa and are granted Permanent Resident status before their H1B status expires.

Contact our office with any questions. We offer free email or phone consultations and can help you successfully meet the legal and technical requirements of the H1B visa.

*not responsible for accuracy of content

H1B filings, LCA problems & Timing by justin
Posted on 11 Mar 2010 at 8:07pm The icert system isn’t great to say the least but to file for an H1B visa you must have an approved LCA. Many employers are not in the system and it can take up to or over a week to find that out, a week to fix it, and a week to get an LCA [...]

H1B Update: H1B visas still available. by justin
Posted on 22 Apr 2009 at 10:51am WASHINGTON?U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced an updated number of filings for H-1B petitions for the fiscal year 2010 program. USCIS has received approximately 44,000 H-1B petitions counting toward the Congressionally-mandated 65,000 cap. The agency continues to accept petitions subject to the general cap. Additionally, the agency has received approximately 20,000 petitions for [...]

H1B cap not reached in first 5 business days after April 1. by justin
Posted on 9 Apr 2009 at 6:29am In a trend that tracks the economic realities of the moment the USCIS has announced that they have only received about 1/2 of the number of petitions that would count towards the cap. There will be no lottery for any petition unless it is filed on the day that the USCIS receives enough to meet [...]

USCIS Press Release: Premium Processing for I-140 forms (reprinted in full) by justin
Posted on 24 Feb 2009 at 5:20pm Office of Communications Fact Sheet Feb. 24, 2009 PREMIUM PROCESSING SERVICE FOR CERTAIN FORM I-140 PETITIONS BEGINS MARCH 2, 2009 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will expand Premium Processing Service for designated Forms I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker to include alien beneficiaries who have reached or are reaching their limitation of stay in H-1B nonimmigrant status. Currently, [...]

Help! I was on an H1B and I got laid off!!! by justin
Posted on 25 Jan 2009 at 4:57pm It?s pretty clear that the economy is bad with only a few holdouts are denying it at this point. So what to do when you are on an H1B visa and you get laid off? Well first of all don?t panic. You likely have a visa that lasts for years at this point so you are NOT [...]

Microsoft attempting to get H1B visa cap increased or removed by justin
Posted on 4 Apr 2007 at 4:37pm Microsoft corporation and other technology companies are trying to convince congress to raise or remove the H1B visa cap. They’ll likely have more luck getting congress to add some additional visas to the cap than they will have getting congress to eliminate the cap – at least in the short term. The damage being done [...]

H1B visa cap reached by justin
Posted on 4 Apr 2007 at 7:09am The USCIS announced that 150000 H1B visa petitions were received on April 2nd. They will reject H1B visa petitions received after April 3rd (except for the cap exempt petitions) and the petitions received on April 2nd and April 3rd will be subject to a lottery drawing to determine which petitions will receive a visa number. Cap [...]


Justin Randolph - H1B Visa Assistance

Bender's Immigration Bulletin
Bender's Immigration Bulletin -- Immigration Law News

USCIS Reminds Petitioners to Provide Approved Labor Condition Applications "As of March 10, 2010, USCIS will reject any H-1B petition filed without an LCA certified by DOL." USCIS, Mar. 10, 2010.

USCIS to Accept H-1B Petitions for Fiscal Year 2011 Beginning April 1, 2010 "U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it will begin accepting H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year (FY) 2011 cap on April 1, 2010. Cases will be considered accepted on the date that USCIS takes possession of a properly filed petition with the correct fee; not the date that the petition is postmarked." USCIS, Mar. 8, 2010.

Eleanor Pelta on EPI’s Latest “Study” of H-1B and L Usage: The Danger o... "The latest salvo in the war against H-1B workers and their employers (and this time, they’ve thrown L-1’s in just for fun,) is the Economic Policy Institute’s briefing paper by Ron Hira, released last week, which concludes that the practice of using H-1B and L-1 workers and then sending them back to their home countries is bad for the economy. While Hira’s findings are certainly headline-grabbing, the road that Hira takes to get there is filled with twists, turns and manipulations and simply lacks real data."


Justin Randolph - H1B visa Assistance

Joel Stewart on PERM Labor Certification


Justin Randolph - H1B Visa Assistance