H1b

H1b - Work visa

The H1b visa is for graduate level employees (at least undergraduate) that have expertise in `cool fields’ (e.g. IT, finance, law, math, science, etc.). This `cool’ part is completely up to interpretation. Unlike the F1 visa, you do not need a financial statement, because hopefully you’ll make money off of this. It lasts for 3 years per petition (incidence), with an option to do it again, going up to a maximum of 6 years. An interesting trait of this visa is that there is an annual cap, meaning that you may not get the visa just because you qualify. For 2020, the cap is set at 85,000 people, where 65,000 was for regular employees, and 20,000 reserved for advanced degrees, for people with a master’s of higher. This generally means that people with more advanced degrees are more likely to get the h1b.  There are, of course, exemptions. Some employers are exempt from this cap, meaning that they can hire foreigners without the restriction of the annual cap. These employers are:

1. Institution of higher education or a related affiliated nonprofit entity

2. Nonprofit research organization or governmental research organization

These places include universities and nonprofit organizations. Luckily, my employer is a research facility, so I didn’t have to worry about my h1b being restricted by the cap. But for other people who are in regular corporations, it’s quite a substantial uncertainty. As mentioned above, they would get the job with an OPT, and hope that they get the h1b before the OPT expires, which means that they have about 3 tries (if you’re a STEM major) to try for the h1b visa. If you fail all three times, you have no choice but to go back. Messed up, right?

 

The procedure of getting an h1b. Largely, this procedure is divided into two - getting your I-797, and getting your visa stamping (depends on your situation). As mentioned above, you don’t have to get your visa stamping, if you’re already in the US. Usually, the difficult parts would be handled by your company’s employer, but it doesn’t hurt to know, right?

 

Well first, like the F1, you need a sponsor first.  When you get a job offer, and everybody is in understanding that you need an h1b to work, the company will start the application procedure. For non-exempt companies, the times they can apply are limited. The application starts from April 1st, and continues until the cap is reached. If your company is an exempt employer, you (or most likely the immigration lawyer in your company) can file your petition whenever. 

 

After you have your sponsor, they first have to submit a Labor Condition Approval (LCA), which is to the Department of Labor. Your employer tells DOL the details of your position, like pay and working conditions. This process, for me, took about 2 weeks (from application to receipt).

 

After the LCA approval, the employer now files the `Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker’, or from I-129. This file is basically a large portfolio of why the employer needs you to work here. It demonstrates your expertise, and that the company supports you. This process usually can take about 3 months. However, you (or your employer) can pay an extra $1,410 to receive a decision in 15 calendar days (premium processing). This could either be an approval, denial, or request for more information. Once you get the I-797, which is the `notice of action’, by the USCIS, you have now established legal working status within the US. 

 

Getting your visa stamp for your h1b is quite similar to the procedures for your F1. You basically get all your documents together, make the reservation, and do the interview. This time, you’d bring your I-797 (along with many other documents) for your interview. Once you pass the interview, they ship you your passport with the visa on it.

 

Note that your h1b visa is connected to your employer, meaning that you are in the US to work for your employer only. You can’t be driving an Uber, or working at McDonalds at night. You can do other things that do not pay you, but you cannot work elsewhere. However, there are little things you can do that generate `passive income’. This is a gray area, where a consultation with an expert is a must, but you can earn extra income through non-work, like dividends, bank interest, rent. 

 

All in all, after all this treacherous journey, you’d have an h1b visa, and you’re good for the next three years. You might get an extension from your employer for another three years, but after that, you have to take the next step, which is towards a green card (permanent resident).

 

Green Card

Like a visa, there are a lot of paths to getting a green card. I’ll list some common ones:

1. Getting married 

2. Having a relative that is a US citizen

3. Job-sponsored green card (EB-2, EB-3)

4. You’re an exceptional scholar / researcher / athlete etc. (EB-1)

5. Investing ~$1,000,000 in a US company and generate ~10 permanent US jobs

 

I cannot really talk about any of them, since I have no experience with them. This is just to say that there are many paths to this.