• Meet certain educational and work related requirements
• Employers must sponsor H1B holders and pay you the prevailing wage in order for you to get the visa
• As there are too many people applying, it is very important to apply as early as possible

Raw Transcript:

Introduction: You ask we answer your immigration questions, simple. And now your host immigration lawyer Jacob Sapochnick.

Jacob: Hello everybody this is Jacob here with another episode of Ask An Immigration Lawyer.

This question comes from our Facebook page from Jorge and Jorge is asking a very relevant question for this time of year and he says I am a graduating student and I would like to find an employer who’s going to get me an H1B visa but how do I know if I even qualify for an H1B visa? I just don’t know. Great. Well, that’s a good question and let’s just dive right in.

You will qualify for the visa if you meet certain educational and work related requirements. For example, you must have a bachelor degree or higher. It looks like you just graduated so I assume you have at least a bachelor degree or higher, assuming you went to university. You must work in a specialty occupation meaning that something that requires a degree. And you must be sponsored by an employer. So you definitely must find an employer, of course get a degree, have a degree, you must work in the specialty occupation.

Again, employers must sponsor H1B holders. It cannot be individuals. Your job must fit specific wage requirements or even if you find a job, even if you have degree, even if the person is willing to hire you but they’re not willing to pay you the prevailing wage you’re not going to be able to get the visa. The wage must be either what is deemed similar to other workers with the same qualification or what is the typical wage for that position in a certain geographical area. Important to find an employer who pay you prevailing wage.

You must have an H1B visa number meaning that … even if you get an employer, even if you get everything filed, visas are limited. And even if you file you may not be selected in the lottery because they do have a lottery because there’s just too many people applying. So it’s very important to apply as early as possible. Deadline is April 1st of the fiscal year.

If most of these criteria are met you must then apply for the visa with the US Department of State, get the prevailing wage and the labor condition application and then you must apply with the immigration service to get you a visa. Hopefully the snippet of qualifications will help people who are considering and wondering whether they qualify for the H1B visa.

Remember, this information is given as a service to the public. We’re not your lawyers until retained and make sure you consult your own attorney because immigration laws change very often. Alright?

Thanks for listening. You ask, we answer, simple. Keep sending your questions on our Facebook page or at askanimmigrationlawyer.com. Have a great day and see you at our next episode.

Closing: Thank you for listening to the Ask My Immigration Lawyer Podcast, the show that’s dedicated to answering your immigration questions – simple as that. See you next week for another round of questions and much needed answers.