North America
USCIS & US Department of Labor Foreign Labor Certification
US H-1B Specialty Occupation Visa Immigration Guide
The H-1B is the primary US specialty occupation work visa. Cap-subject petitions are submitted through the annual March lottery, while universities, government research labs, and non-profits are cap-exempt year-round.
Statutory Threshold
Prevailing wage for occupation and metropolitan area (typically $95k–$190k+)
Processing Time
15 calendar days (Premium Processing) to 3 months
Path to PR
Dual-intent visa allows direct transition to Green Card (EB-2/EB-3)
Available Roles
763+ Active
Candidate Eligibility Criteria
- Job offer in a 'specialty occupation' requiring theoretical and practical application of specialized knowledge
- Bachelor's degree or higher (or equivalent work experience: 3 years per missing college year)
- Certified Labor Condition Application (LCA) from the US Department of Labor
- Employer sponsorship for USCIS Form I-129 petition
Common Eligible Occupation Categories
Software Developers, Applications & Systems
Computer Systems Engineers & Architects
Data Scientists & Machine Learning Engineers
Information Security Analysts
Employer Sponsor Obligations
- Pay the required wage (the higher of the prevailing wage or actual employer wage)
- Cover all mandatory USCIS filing fees and Fraud Prevention fees
- Maintain a Public Access File (PAF) at the worksite
Countries Sponsoring US H-1B Specialty Occupation Visa
Frequently Asked Questions
Key answers regarding US H-1B Specialty Occupation Visa sponsorship and immigration rules.
Cap-exempt employers include higher education institutions, non-profit entities affiliated with universities, and non-profit or governmental research organizations. They can sponsor H-1B petitions year-round without entering the annual lottery.