The H-1B visa is one of the biggest breakthroughs for people from around the world seeking to come and work in the United States. It affects skilled workers who can put their knowledge and abilities to use in America. As Immigration Times has repeatedly reported, the rapidly expanding economy in the U.S. cannot fill in the growing jobs quickly enough and has turned to overseas job markets for skilled specialists. Due to strict restrictions regarding immigration in the past decades, employers have been faced with numerous difficulties in bringing workers to America.

The Temporary Professional Visa, or the H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa, which allows professionals to come and temporarily work in the United States. It is for an initial period of three years and may lead to immigrant status. There is an annual quota of such visas and the availability falls short of the demand. While there are hundreds of thousands of job openings for skilled professionals, the annual quotas have not exceeded 65,000 in the past years. This year for the first time the U.S. Congress has raised it to 115,000 in an attempt to respond to pressure from large corporations who claim their business is suffering from lack of highly trained workers.

During the period of the H-1B visa you can apply for Lawful Permanent Resident status and take steps towards obtaining a green card. This will not affect your H-1B status and you can travel freely abroad.

According to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), for the period from October 1999 to February 2000, persons born in India have been the largest group of all H-1B visa holders coming at 43%. China, Canada, the United Kingdom and the Philippines come in next. As to occupations, computer-related specialties are the largest group of professions to be given H-1B visas, accounting for about 50% of the total petitions, followed by occupations in architecture, engineering and surveying (13%), occupations in administrative specializations (9.6%), occupations in education (6%) and occupations in medicine and health (almost 4%). 56% of H-1B visas are given to holders of Bachelor's degrees and 31% to holders of Master's degrees. Those with doctorate degrees account for 8% of the H-1B visas and workers with professional degrees: for 2%.

Requirements

It is important that you hold at least a Bachelor's degree in order to stand a better chance of obtaining a temporary professional visa. If your degree is not from a U.S. institution, the INS may require a credential evaluation.

You must also have experience in your field so that the employer hiring you will have sufficient reason to petition the INS for a work visa. Don't forget that when petitioning the employer is in effect saying that they cannot find a worker in the United States for the job for which you will be hired.

Employment

First you must find an employer in the United States who will hire you.

Get in touch with these companies directly or submit your resume through web sites such as Job Options, which you will find at www.USLotteryRegistration.com. You can visit their site with over 80,000 job listings, search for specific employers, post your resume, as well as register so that they can match you with a prospective employer.

Other ways for looking for employment include going through newspapers and magazines. You can find a large array of these at the U.S. Embassy in your country or the U.S. Information Center.

The offer of employment must be to work within a "specialty occupation" and will specify the education, knowledge and experience you must have in order to qualify. The offer of employment may be for full-time or for part-time employment.

The Process

The process of obtaining a temporary professional visa may sometimes be lengthy and frustrating. Even if you are already in the United States on another type of visa that does not allow you to work, you may not begin employment until the INS issues you the H-1B visa.

The employer must complete the Labor Condition Application procedure with the United States Department of Labor. This includes information on the job itself, the industry, as well as information on the worker's highest level of education, country of origin and salary. This is subject to approval by the Department of Labor.

The employer must also complete a Wage Determination Form with the State Department of Labor so as to show that the employer will pay the foreign worker cannot accept employment for lower pay than an U.S. worker. This Wage Determination Form must also be certified by the Department of Labor.

Another form, the Labor Condition Application (LCA) must also be filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. The LCA, or as it is otherwise known, form ETA 9035, must be certified by the Department of Labor before the H-1B petition is actually filed. There are also other forms to be filed, such as form I-129, I-129W and H supplement with the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

If at some point after you have already started work on an H-1B visa you find another employer willing to hire you that employer needs to file a new petition. You are not allowed to change jobs until the INS approves the petition. In this case the petition is likely to go through more quickly as it is not subject to quotas.

As you can see the temporary professional visa is a complex and lengthy procedure. Even if you are already in the United States, it is difficult to do it without the help of an attorney. An attorney can complete and file all forms for you and answer all questions you might have along the way.

Temporary professional visas can also be obtained by two other categories: artist, entertainer, fashion model of international acclaim and athlete.

Artist, entertainer, fashion model

This category is reserved for artists, entertainers and fashion models who have national or international acclaim and achievements.

They must have recognition as persons of "distinguished merit and ability." Again there must be proof that the candidate will be performing in events of significant reputation and that they will be paid accordingly.

The candidate must also show proof of national and/or international recognition, national and/or international awards or prizes for outstanding achievement, etc. This must be a person who is well established in their particular field and who can prove that they will contribute in a unique way to American entertainment.

Athlete

As in the previous category, this one requires proof that the foreign athlete petitioning for a temporary professional visa will perform at a specific athletic competition as an athlete either individually or as part of a team. The employer must file a copy of the contract by which the candidate will participate in a national or international competition of significant reputation. Again there must be proof that the athlete has exceptional ability and has received recognition as such.

According to the INS, the top 25 H-1B employers in America are as follows:

1. Motorola Inc.
2. Oracle Corp.
3. Cisco Systems Inc.
4. Mastech
5. Intel Corp.
6. Microsoft Corp.
7. Rapidigm
8. Syntel Inc.
9. Wipro Ltd.
10. Tata Consultancy Serv.
11. Price Waterhouse Coopers LLP
12. People Com Consultants Inc.
13. Lucent Technologies
14. Infosys Technologies Ltd.
15. Nortel Networks Inc.
16. Tekedge Corp.
17. Data Conversion
18. Tata Infotech
19. Cotelligent USA Inc.
20. Sun Microsystems Inc.
21. Compuware Corp.
22. KPMG LLP
23. Intelligroup
24. Hi Tech Consultants Inc.
25. Group Ipex Inc.

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