Attention employers and professionals! Soon you will have one chance this year to apply for an H-1B visa number! The H-1B classification is the most popular temporary work status for professional positions. This news is important for both employers who plan on hiring foreign-national professionals and foreign-nationals who have a U.S. job offer and a Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent work experience).
The application should be submitted April 1, 2016 (the government will reject applications submitted earlier.) If approved, work authorization will begin October 1, 2016. It is important to prepare these applications packages thoroughly.
To ensure timely filing of an H-1B application – and to avoid a rush service fee – be sure to engage our office by January 25, 2016.
Submission timing is critical as there are a limited number of H-1B visa numbers available. If recent history repeats as expected, the government will hold a lottery to determine which applications are further adjudicated. In recent years, a significant number of applications (last year, more than 50%!) did not win the lottery.
We also recommend that you request that your submission be adjudicated by US Immigration’s premium processing service. For an additional fee, the application is more likely to be adjudicated by a more senior officer, and a decision will be made in approximately 1 month. Previously, a number of H-1B applications were not adjudicated by the October 1 start date (so many of these applicants ended up requesting premium processing anyway.) Anecdotal evidence also suggests that premium processing results in a better chance of obtaining an H-1B visa number, although officially premium processing should not affect the lottery.