Who’s Eligible for the H-1B Visa? Read To Find Out if You are Eligible

Employees hope to come to the U.S. may be eligible to use the H1-B. However, the majority of people will qualify as immigrant employees under the H1-B. You may be eligible for an H-1B based on your own professional skills or on the necessity of the job you will be filling.

There are 3 classes of future employees covered by the H1-B visa: H1-B for specialty occupations, H1-B2 for DOD Workers and Development researchers, and H1-B3 for fashion models. Most likely, you will be looking into filing the H1-B for specialty occupations which covers educated and qualified workers petitioning to enter the U.S. temporarily to work.

The H-1B visa for specialty occupations has some general requirements. If you qualify for the H-1B visa under this category, your prospective employer will need to petition for your labor certification. They will also need to petition for your employment using the I-129 form. For more information about the labor certification, see this site for more details. You can also find more information about what you will need to submit with your H1-B application on the page titled “the H-1B Application.”

To be eligible for the H-1B:

• at least a bachelor’s degree or its foreign equivalent
• the job requires you to have a degree
• the job is a skilled job that usually requires a degree
• work in this industry is specialized and skilled, usually requiring an educational degree

In addition to your prospective job needing to meet at least 1 of the above requirements, you as a worker must meet at least 1 of the following criteria:

• have received a U.S. bachelor’s degree or its foreign equivalent. You should be able to provide documentation for proof of educational attainment and demonstrate its relevance to your prospective employment
• hold a license or certification that allows you to fully practice your job in the U.S.
• have substantial relevant experience to the position that makes having a degree unnecessary for you to be able to complete the job. You should be able to provide some documentation of your employment history to demonstrate skilled professional experience.

H-1B2 workers also have certain eligibility requirements in order to qualify, but they do not need to submit the Labor Certification Application (LCA) and an employer does not need to petition on their behalf. This visa category is for Department of Defense researchers or Development workers. To be a qualifying position ,your prospective job offer should meet 1 of the following criteria:

• project commissioned in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Defense for development or research purposes
•   require a bachelor’s degree or higher, or its market equivalent.

In addition, you as a worker must meet at least 1 of the following points:

• at least a U.S. bachelor’s degree in a relevant field or the foreign equivalent to an advanced degree. Documentation of your education will be necessary to be granted your visa
• hold a state license or certification allowing you to practice and demonstrating knowledgeably in the field
• demonstrated relevant work experience substantial enough to take the place of an academic degree. You should be able to document your work experience.

The H-1B3 visa classification is for fashion models. Fashion models in this visa category must submit the Labor Certification Application and must have a petition for employment filed on his or her behalf by the prospective employer. If you are an experienced fashion model with respectable industry success you may qualify for the H-1B visa.

For more information about specialty occupations and the H-1B, CONTACT specialized immigration attorney Phillip Kim.