An H-1B visa is a temporary U.S. work visa that lets American employers hire foreign professionals for jobs requiring at least a bachelor’s degree in a specific field. Congress caps new H-1B visas at 85,000 per year: 65,000 standard slots plus 20,000 reserved for people who hold advanced degrees from U.S. institutions.1Federal Register. Weighted Selection Process for Registrants and Petitioners Seeking To File Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions Demand almost always exceeds those numbers, so the visa is competitive and heavily time-driven.
Who Qualifies
The H-1B is built around the idea of a “specialty occupation.” The job has to be complex enough to genuinely require a bachelor’s degree or higher, and the degree has to connect to what you’ll actually be doing day to day. A generic diploma won’t do.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1101 – Definitions
USCIS asks whether a degree is standard for that role in the industry, whether the duties are specialized enough that only a degreed professional could do them, or whether the employer has historically required a degree for the position. Meeting one of those tests is enough.
You don’t have to hold a formal bachelor’s degree. Federal regulations let three years of specialized professional experience substitute for each missing year of college. Someone with no degree would need about twelve years of directly relevant experience to equal a four-year degree. Partial college credits, certifications, and work history can be combined, though those cases usually need a formal credentials evaluation.
The Annual Cap and the Lottery
Each fiscal year offers 65,000 H-1B visas under the regular cap and another 20,000 for holders of U.S. master’s degrees or higher. Because registrations routinely outnumber slots, USCIS runs an electronic selection process.
Employers register each prospective worker during an annual window that typically opens in early March and pay a $215 registration fee per person. If registrations exceed available slots, USCIS runs the selection. The agency has moved toward a wage-level-weighted model that favors higher-paying positions over pure random chance.1Federal Register. Weighted Selection Process for Registrants and Petitioners Seeking To File Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions Selected registrants get a notification and then at least 90 days to file a full petition. For cap-subject petitions, the H-1B employment start date is usually October 1.
Not every H-1B goes through the lottery. Universities, colleges, nonprofit research organizations, and government research entities are cap-exempt and can file year-round. A nonprofit with a formal affiliation agreement with a university can also qualify. A worker hired by a cap-exempt employer who later moves to a cap-subject employer would need to go through the lottery for that new petition.
The Employer’s Role and the Labor Condition Application
The H-1B is employer-driven. You cannot apply on your own; a U.S. employer has to sponsor you. Before filing anything with USCIS, that employer must get a certified Labor Condition Application from the Department of Labor.
In the LCA, the employer commits to paying you the higher of two figures: the actual wage it pays other employees in the same role, or the prevailing wage for that occupation in the geographic area where the work happens.3U.S. Department of Labor. Labor Condition Application (LCA) Specialty Occupations with the H-1B, H-1B1 and E-3 Programs The employer also attests that hiring a foreign worker won’t harm working conditions of existing staff and that there’s no strike or lockout at the worksite, and it must notify its current workforce about the filing for ten business days.
Federal law is strict about who pays for the process. Employers cannot make you reimburse the ACWIA training fee, the $500 fraud prevention fee, or attorney costs tied to the LCA or the H-1B petition itself. Any deduction that would push your pay below the required wage is prohibited, and employers cannot impose financial penalties on you for leaving early.4U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 62H – What Are the Rules Concerning Deductions From an H-1B Workers Pay
How Long You Can Stay
An initial H-1B is granted for up to three years. You can extend in increments up to a cumulative maximum of six years.5Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM). 9 FAM 402.10 – Temporary Workers and Trainees – H Visas Time you spend physically outside the United States can sometimes be “recaptured” and added back, stretching the clock past six calendar years.
The six-year ceiling isn’t always the end. Under the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act, workers stuck in the green card process can extend further. If 365 or more days have passed since a labor certification or immigrant petition was filed on your behalf, USCIS can approve one-year H-1B extensions. If you already have an approved immigrant petition but can’t adjust status because visa numbers aren’t available in your category, you can receive three-year extensions indefinitely. That’s the lifeline for workers from countries with long green card backlogs.
One feature that sets the H-1B apart from most temporary visas is “dual intent.” You don’t have to prove you plan to leave. You can hold H-1B status and pursue a green card at the same time without either process undermining the other.
Changing Jobs or Losing One
Your H-1B is tied to your specific employer, but you can move. If a new company wants to hire you, it files a fresh H-1B petition, and under portability rules you can start work as soon as that petition is filed with USCIS. You don’t have to wait for approval. You do have to have been lawfully admitted, the new petition has to be filed before your current stay expires, and you can’t have worked without authorization at any point.6U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Options for Nonimmigrant Workers Following Termination of Employment
Job loss is where the H-1B gets precarious. After your employment ends, you have a grace period of up to 60 consecutive days, or until your petition’s end date if that comes sooner, to find a new sponsor, change to a different visa status, or leave the country. You cannot work during that grace period unless a new employer has already filed a petition for you. The 60 days are discretionary rather than guaranteed, and you only get one grace period per authorized validity period.
If your employer fires you before your authorized admission period ends, the employer must pay the reasonable cost of your return transportation home. That obligation applies even if you were terminated for cause. It does not apply if you quit voluntarily.
Spouses and Children
Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 can come with you on H-4 dependent visas. H-4 holders can attend school and live in the U.S. for as long as you maintain valid H-1B status, but by default they can’t work.
There’s one important exception. Certain H-4 spouses can apply for an Employment Authorization Document that allows unrestricted work for any employer. To qualify, the H-1B worker must either have an approved I-140 immigrant worker petition or be on an AC21 extension beyond the normal six-year limit. The work authorization runs only as long as the H-1B principal keeps valid status, and the H-4 spouse has to reapply for each extension.
What It Costs to File
Government filing fees add up quickly, and the totals depend on the employer’s size and type.
- Base I-129 filing fee: $460 for employers with 25 or fewer employees; $780 for larger employers.
- Fraud prevention and detection fee: $500, on initial petitions and change-of-employer filings.
- ACWIA training fee: $750 for small employers; $1,500 for larger employers. Nonprofits affiliated with higher education institutions are exempt.
- Asylum Program Fee: $300 for small employers and nonprofits; $600 for larger employers.
- Premium processing (optional): $2,805, which gets USCIS to act within 15 business days.
- Registration fee: $215 per beneficiary at the lottery stage.
For a larger for-profit employer filing an initial H-1B, mandatory government fees alone come to $3,380 before optional premium processing. Small employers pay less, and qualifying nonprofits are exempt from the ACWIA fee. None of this includes attorney fees, which commonly run $2,000 to $5,000 depending on the complexity of the case. Workers who are outside the United States after approval also pay a $205 visa application fee at the consulate, with some countries owing additional reciprocity fees.