H-1B Visa Requirements: Specialty Occupation, Cap, and Fees

The H-1B visa requirements come down to three things working together: the job has to be a specialty occupation, the worker has to hold a related U.S. bachelor’s degree or its equivalent, and the U.S. employer has to commit in writing to paying the required wage and meeting other labor protections before filing the petition.¹ For most private employers there is also a fourth hurdle: getting picked in an annual lottery, because Congress caps new H-1B visas at 65,000 per fiscal year, with another 20,000 reserved for workers holding a U.S. master’s degree or higher.²

The Job Must Be a Specialty Occupation

Not every professional role qualifies. A specialty occupation is one that requires the theoretical and practical application of highly specialized knowledge, with a bachelor’s degree or higher in a directly related field as the normal minimum for entry.¹ Engineering, computer science, architecture, and accounting are typical examples. The category covers fields where you genuinely need the degree to do the work.

USCIS looks at the position, not just the person filling it. The employer has to show that the actual duties are complex enough to require degree-level knowledge, not merely that a degree holder happens to be in the seat. Acceptable evidence usually includes proof that the industry standard for the position involves a particular degree, or that the responsibilities are specialized enough that only someone with that background could perform them.³

The Worker’s Degree and Experience

The worker must hold at least a U.S. bachelor’s degree in a field directly related to the specialty occupation, or a foreign degree that a credential evaluation service has determined is equivalent.¹ USCIS accepts evaluations from accredited universities, recognized credential evaluation services, or nationally recognized professional associations that certify competence in the field.³

If you don’t hold the full degree, work experience can substitute. Three years of progressively responsible experience in the specialty count as one year of university education. Two years short of a bachelor’s? Six years of specialized experience can fill the gap.³ Partial education combined with experience also works, as long as the total adds up to a degree equivalent.

Occupations that require a state license, such as architecture, medicine, or nursing, add a second layer. The degree gets you H-1B eligibility. The license, imposed separately by the state where you’ll work, is what lets you actually practice.

What the Employer Has To Do Before Filing

Before the H-1B petition goes anywhere, the employer must obtain a certified Labor Condition Application from the Department of Labor using Form ETA-9035.⁴ The LCA is a binding set of promises. Chief among them: the employer will pay the worker at least the higher of the prevailing wage for the occupation in the geographic area or the actual wage paid to other employees in similar roles at the company.⁵ That rule exists to stop foreign hiring from undercutting domestic pay.

The employer also has to provide the same working conditions and benefits offered to similar U.S. workers, and cannot place an H-1B worker at a site with an active strike or lockout in the worker’s occupation.⁶

No Benching

H-1B workers cannot be put on unpaid leave when work is slow. If an employer-side decision leaves the worker without assignments, whether the cause is a project gap, a company shutdown, or a pending permit, the required wage still has to be paid.⁷ The rule bites hardest on staffing companies and consulting firms. Voluntary personal leave, such as a hospital stay, does not trigger the pay obligation.

The Employer Pays the Fees

Federal regulations bar the employer from passing petition costs to the worker. That includes the Form I-129 filing fee, any premium processing fee, and attorney fees. None of it can be deducted from the worker’s pay or recouped through any arrangement that would push wages below the required amount.⁸

The Annual Cap and the Lottery

Because demand far exceeds the 65,000 regular slots plus 20,000 advanced-degree slots, USCIS runs a lottery for cap-subject petitions. Employers must electronically register each prospective worker during a set window and pay a $215 registration fee per beneficiary.⁹ For FY 2027, covering employment starting October 1, 2026, registration ran from March 4 through March 19, 2026.

Selection is no longer a purely random draw. Starting with the FY 2027 season, USCIS uses a weighted system that favors registrations tied to higher wage levels relative to the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data for the job’s occupation and location. Higher-paid positions have a better statistical chance, though lower-wage roles can still be selected.⁹ The lottery is also beneficiary-centric: if several employers register the same worker, that worker can only be selected once, and every employer who registered them receives a selection notice. Workers with a U.S. master’s degree or higher get a first pass at the 20,000 advanced-degree slots and, if not picked, compete again in the regular cap.

Cap-Exempt Employers

Some employers can file petitions year-round without ever entering the lottery:

Public or nonprofit institutions of higher education.
Nonprofits related to or affiliated with a higher-education institution.
Nonprofit or governmental research organizations whose primary mission is basic or applied research.

A for-profit company can also file cap-exempt if the H-1B worker will spend most of their time at a qualifying nonprofit or research institution performing work that advances that institution’s mission.²

Fees and Forms

H-1B filings carry stacked government fees on top of the registration fee:

Fraud Prevention and Detection fee of $500, required for initial H-1B petitions and transfers to a new employer.
ACWIA training fee of $750 for employers with 25 or fewer full-time employees, or $1,500 for employers with 26 or more.
Asylum Program Fee of $600 for employers with more than 25 full-time employees, $300 for smaller employers, and $0 for nonprofits.¹⁰

Employers also file Form I-129 with a base petition fee. Optional premium processing costs $2,965 and guarantees a decision, a request for additional evidence, or a notice of intent to deny within 15 business days.¹¹ Standard adjudication takes several months. Attorney fees, which the employer must pay, typically run between $1,500 and $5,500.

The petition package pulls documents from both sides. The worker supplies a valid passport, educational transcripts and degree certificates, a credential evaluation for foreign degrees, a current resume, and any required professional licenses. The employer supplies the certified LCA, a detailed job offer letter with title, duties, salary, and location, and the company’s Federal Employer Identification Number. Everything feeds into Form I-129, the Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker.¹²

How Long You Can Stay

Initial H-1B admission runs three years. Extensions are available in increments of up to three years, with a total cap of six years.¹³ Time in any H status (except H-4) or L status (except L-2) counts against that six-year clock. Leaving the U.S. for 12 or more consecutive months resets it.

Extending Past Six Years

Workers pursuing a green card can stay beyond six years under the American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act. If at least 365 days have passed since the filing of a labor certification (Form ETA-9089) or an employment-based immigrant petition (Form I-140), the H-1B can be extended one year at a time. If the worker has an approved I-140 but cannot adjust status because their country’s visa quota is oversubscribed, the H-1B can be extended in three-year blocks until a decision is made on permanent residency. That second pathway is what keeps workers from India and China in status through green card backlogs that can run years or decades.

Changing Employers

H-1B status is tied to the sponsoring employer, but switching jobs does not mean starting over. Under the portability provision at INA section 214(n), you can begin working for a new employer as soon as that employer files a nonfrivolous H-1B petition on your behalf. You do not have to wait for approval.¹³ Work authorization continues until USCIS decides the new petition, and ends if the petition is denied. To qualify, you must have been lawfully admitted, the new petition must be filed before your current status expires, and you must not have worked without authorization since your last admission.

Family Members

A spouse and unmarried children under 21 can accompany the H-1B worker on H-4 dependent visas. H-4 status allows them to live in the U.S. and attend school. Working requires separate authorization.

An H-4 spouse can apply for an Employment Authorization Document by filing Form I-765, but only if the H-1B worker meets one of two conditions: an approved Form I-140 immigrant petition, or H-1B status granted beyond the six-year limit under AC21.¹⁴ The EAD must be approved and in hand before work begins. Current processing runs several months, and there is no premium processing option for Form I-765.

If the Job Ends

Losing an H-1B job does not mean leaving the country the next day. Federal regulations provide a grace period of up to 60 consecutive calendar days, or until authorized H-1B validity expires, whichever comes first.¹⁵ The grace period applies whether you quit or are fired.

During those 60 days you cannot work unless a new employer files an H-1B petition on your behalf, in which case you can start as soon as USCIS receives it. Other options include filing for a change of status to another visa category, or applying for adjustment of status if you have an approved immigrant petition. If none of these steps happen before the 60 days run out, you are expected to leave the country.¹⁵

An employer that dismisses an H-1B worker before the end of the authorized employment period must pay the reasonable cost of return transportation to the worker’s last foreign residence. That obligation applies regardless of the reason for dismissal. It does not apply if the worker resigns.¹³

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. H-1B Specialty Occupations
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. H-1B Cap Season
3
eCFR. 8 CFR 214.2 – Special Requirements for Admission, Extension, and Maintenance of Status
4
U.S. Department of Labor. Important Foreign Labor Certification H-1B, H-1B1 and E-3 Information
5
eCFR. 20 CFR 655.731 – What Is the First LCA Requirement, Regarding Wages
6
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 62 – What Are the Requirements to Participate in the H-1B Program
7
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 62I – Must an H-1B Employer Pay for Nonproductive Time
8
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 62H – What Are the Rules Concerning Pay and Deductions
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. H-1B Electronic Registration Process
10
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. H and L Filing Fees for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker
11
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS to Increase Premium Processing Fees
12
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1184 – Admission of Nonimmigrants
14
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Employment Authorization for Certain H-4 Dependent Spouses
15
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Options for Nonimmigrant Workers Following Termination of Employment