Chicago H Visa Lawyers

H visas include a broad category of visas that covers employment and training in the United States. Included within this category are specialty occupations (H-1B), temporary or seasonal agricultural employment (H-2A), temporary non-agricultural employment (H-2B), and some forms of training (H-3). Each of these petitions must be filed by an employer on behalf of an employee with specific qualifications and must be accompanied by evidence demonstrating the nature of the employment and the employee’s eligibility for such employment. The availability of each of these classifications is subject to quotas within a specific fiscal year, necessitating careful planning to meet the employer’s intended hiring objectives. Employers in many industries benefit from these classifications, including agriculture, hospitality, financial services, law, medicine and healthcare, accounting and business, among others.

H-1B Visas

H-1B Visas are issued to specialty workers and allow U.S. companies to recruit and hire individuals from overseas. These visas are obtained on a worker’s behalf (the beneficiary) for the purposes of employment, and an individual may not apply for an H-1B visa. H-1B visas are often used by U.S. companies to hire computer programmers, engineers, or scientists, as well as people in other professions.

There are several requirements involved with obtaining an H-1B Visa, including the following:

• An employer-employee relationship must exist with a U.S. employer – In order for this requirement to be met, an employer must be able to hire, terminate, pay, oversee, or otherwise control the work performed by the individual for whom they are seeking a visa.
• The position must qualify as a specialty occupation – In order to qualify as a specialty occupation, one of the following criteria must be met: a degree is required for the position, the employer normally requires a degree or its equivalent for the position, the degree requirement is common for the position or the job is so complex that it can only be performed by a person with a degree in the field, or the duties required are so specialized and complex that the knowledge required to perform them is generally associated with obtaining a bachelor’s degree or higher.
• The position must be in a specialized occupation related to the beneficiary’s field of study – This can be established through the presentation of evidence, including an explanation of the position or opinions from experts describing the way in which the degree is related to particular job duties.
• The wage must be at least the actual or prevailing wage for the occupation, whichever is higher – This is determined by looking at the position in which a person will be employed and the geographic location in which the position is.
• There must be H-1B Visas available at the time of filing – There is a numerical limit for the number of H-1B visas that can be issued in a given fiscal year.