How to apply for H-1B visa 2016? Step by Step guide

For H-1B visa, prospective employer should file petition on behalf of employer, before United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and it should be approved by the US government.

The petition Form I-129 must be approved by USCIS before applying for work visa at Embassy or Consulate. Once petition is approved, employer will receive Notice of Action, Form I-797 that is petition’s approval notification. During interview, the counselor will verify proved petition through Department of State’s Petition Information Management Services (PIMS).

Make sure to carry I-129 petition receipt number and a copy of Form I-797 for the interview for verifying petition’s approval.

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When to apply?

Embassy/Consulate process H-1B visa application up to 90 days prior to the beginning of employment status as noted in Form I-797.  Due to Federal regulations, use the visa to apply for entry to the United States starting ten days prior to the beginning of the approved status period as noted on your I-797.

How to apply?

Step 1

Complete the DS-160 form. Read the Guidelines for Completing the DS-160 Form carefully. All information must be correct and accurate, and you cannot make changes once the form is submitted. For assistance, consult an immigration lawyer or immigration consultants.

Step 2

After completing DS-160 form, you need to pay Visa Fee. To pay your visa fee, read the Bank and Payment Options page.

Step 3

Login to the profile with the credentials used for visa fee payment. On the Dashboard, Go to schedule Appointment, which can be seen on the left-hand side menu. First schedule appointment for visa interview at the Embassy.

Second, schedule your appointment at a Visa Application Centre. This appointment will allow you to go to one of the five Visa Application Centre locations to have your fingerprints and photo taken. This appointment must be at least 1 day before your visa interview appointment at the Embassy or Consulate. You will need three pieces of information in order to schedule your appointment:

·         Your passport number

·         The date you paid your fee

·         The ten (10) digit barcode number from your DS-160 confirmation page

Step 4

For your Visa Application Centre appointments carry following documents

·         A passport valid for travel to the United States with validity dates at least six months beyond your intended period of stay in the United States (unless country-specific agreements provide exemptions). If more than one person is included in your passport, each person desiring a visa must submit an application.

·         Your DS-160 confirmation page.

·         Your appointment confirmation page.

·         One photograph as per U.S. visa specifications if the applicant is under 14 years of age. See the Photos and Fingerprints page for more details.

Step 5

Following your visit to the Visa Application Centre to have your photo and fingerprints taken, you will then visit the U.S. Embassy or Consulate on the date and time of your visa interview. You must bring: 

• A printed copy of your appointment letter,
• Your DS-160 confirmation page 
• Your current and all old passports
• Supporting Documents as per your visa type
• If you are an L-1 applicant on a blanket petition, you must pay a fraud prevention and detection fee (more information about this fee is here).
• The receipt number printed on your approved I-129 petition.

Applications without all of these items will not be accepted.

What is H1B Visa?

The H1B visa is an employment-based, nonimmigrant visa category for temporary workers. For such a visa, an employer must offer a job and apply for your H1B visa petition with the US Immigration Department. This approved petition is a work permit which allows you to obtain a visa stamp and work in the U.S. for that employer.

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Eligibility

The H1B visa is issued for a specialty occupation, requires theoretical and practical application of a body of specialized knowledge and requires the visa holder to have at least a Bachelors degree or its equivalent.

Total Quota:

• Based on the H1B Quota numbers of previous years, the H1B Cap for the fiscal year 2010 is expected to be 65,000. Note: The H1B quota has not been filled for 2010. The filing started on April 1, 2009. As of September 25, 2009, approximately 46,700 H1B cap-subject petitions and approximately 20,000 petitions qualifying for the advanced degree cap exemption were filed with the USCIS.
• This has been the first time in the history of H1B visa petitions. Last year the quota of 65,000 was filled within days and a lottery system was followed to deal with the high number of applications.
• According to news reports, the USCIS will continue to accept petitions until a sufficient number of H1B petitions have been received to reach the quota limits.
• There is an additional 20,000 quota for qualified people who have completed a Masters degree from USA. This quota is independent and additional to general 65,000 quota.

What is the USCIS Fee for filing for H1B Petition?

The filing fee for H1 B petition is paid by the employer/H1 Sponsor. The fee ranges from $1570 to $2320. Please look at the table below for an accurate breakup:

Fee components	For employers with 1 to 25 full time equivalent employees	For employers with 26 or more full time equivalent employees
Base Fee	$320	$320
American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act of 1998 (ACWIA) fee:	$750	$1500
	$1070	$1820
Fraud Fee	$500	$500
Total	$1570	$2320
Premium Processing Fee	$1000 (optional)	$1000 (optional)

You may need to incur additional lawyer's fee:

	Limit of H1B visa Total stay is limited to 6 years. Initial approval is for 3 years, which can be extended for increment of up to 3 years.
	H1B- Restamping A new stamping can be done in any other country at any American consulate, based on the H1B extension approval.
	Multiple Employers H1B aliens may work for more than one U.S. employer, but must have a Form I-129 petition approved by each employer.
	Travel H1B visa can be a multiple entry visa, which allows a person to travel in and out of USA for any number of times, within the specified visa validity period.
	Work H1B aliens may only work for the petitioning U.S. employer, and employer may place the H1B worker on the work site of another employer.
	Vacation An H1B alien can go on vacations, sick/maternity/paternity leave or on strike. There is no issue as long as alien is associated with the employer.
	Family Status The spouse and unmarried children (under the age of 21) of H1B professionals are allowed to stay in the United States under the H4 category for the same duration as the H1B status.
	Permanent Residence (Green Card) An H1B holder is eligible to seek permanent residency to USA.
	Changing Employer? H1B can be transferred to a new employer. You can also start working for new employer upon the receipt of H1 transfer case.
	Investments/Finance H1B visa holder can buy or sell real estate or any other property in USA. H1B visa holder can purchase lottery tickets H1B visa holder can invest in the stock market as well. Immigration Support Services

Should the H1B holder be working at all times?

As long as the employer/employee relationship exists, an H1B holder is still in status. An H1B alien may work in full or part-time employment and continue to be in status. An H1B alien may

• apply for vacation
• apply for sick/maternity/paternity leave
• go on strike
• or otherwise be inactive without affecting his or her status

A lot depends on the work relationship of the visa holder. Just like other employees, the H1 B visa holder can enjoy all the benefits of employment.

Change of circumstances

So long as things are smooth and steady, there is no need to worry. However, every now and then, the H1B visa holder thinks: what next? or what should I do if circumstances change?

Source: path2usa.com

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Employers Using E-Verify: Get Ready to Download Your “Historic Records Report” by Year-End

U.S. employers enrolled in E-Verify -- the electronic system of employment eligibility verification -- should prepare to download and preserve all E-Verify data submitted to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) before January 1, 2016.

On an annual basis, USCIS must dispose of E-Verify records that are 10 years old every January 1st  in order to comply with the National Archives and Records Administration’s  disposal requirements.  To allow E-Verify users to preserve their 10-year-old records, USCIS has therefore created a new “Historic Records Report.”

E-Verify participation, however, does not allow an employer to dispense with Form I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification)  requirements.  All employers must properly complete a Form I-9 for every employee hired on or after November 6, 1986.  Employers are also required to a retain a completed Form I-9for either three years after the employee’s date of hire or one year after the employee’s date of termination, whichever date is later.

While the creation and retention of Form I-9 records by employers is mandatory for all businesses, participation in E-Verify is voluntary in most situations -- unless the company is located in a state requiring enrollment in E-Verify or the employer is a party to a federal contract containing a mandatory E-Verify enrollment provision.

E-Verify access is available to business entities which sign a Memorandum of Understanding with U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The E-Verify system compares information from an employee’s Form I-9 against data held by DHS and the Social Security Administration in order to confirm the individual’s identity and employment eligibility.

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Two federal agencies are authorized to investigate and enforce compliance with U.S. immigration laws governing the worksite -- The Justice Department’s Office of Special Counsel for Unfair Immigration-Related Employment Practices (OSC) investigates employers suspected of violating provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act which prohibit a variety of unlawful forms of discrimination, while the DHS component, U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement  (ICE), investigates employer-compliance practices in the completion and retention of Form I-9. While conducting their investigations, both the OSC and ICE routinely demand  to review the employer’s E-Verify records.

To comply with orders or subpoenas issued by ICE or the OSC, and to preserve important employee data in the ordinary course of business, employers enrolled in E-Verify with records created on or before December 31, 2005 should download the new “Historic Records Report” and do so no later than the last day of 2015. The report will include all transaction records for cases more than 10 years old. The report will also contain information about all E-Verify queries which will otherwise be automatically purged from the database on January 1, 2016.

When logging into E-Verify, employers will find instructions on how to download the report, export it to Excel, and save it externally. Only cases associated with the particular Employer or E-Verify Employer Agent ID of the user account will be displayed in the report.  Note that employers using the service of a vendor of I-9 “electronic signature and storage” software may instead be able to access the same historic data from their vendor.

Source: linkedin.com

When to apply for H-1B Visa 2017?

What will be H-1B Visa 2017 Start Date?

USCIS would start accepting visa applications for the year 2017 from April 1, 2016. 

What will be H-1B 2017 Cap?

65,000 for regular and 20,000 in advanced quota. There have been speculations about the increase in H-1B Regular quota to 110,000 and Advanced quota to 25,000, however, as of now, the quota remains same as last year. 

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What is the prediction for H-1B visa 2017? 

Going through the previous year’s data, in 2017 year too there will be lottery again. If you have not started yet, then it is the right time to go on for preparations of H-1B Visa 2017. Be ready with all your documents prepared before March of 2016.

How to find an H-1B visa sponsor

If you are coming from outside USA then the path is not very easy. If you are working for an MNC like TCS, Infosys etc. then your company can apply for your H-1B. If you are studying in US and willing to apply for H-1B, then wait for my next blog which would explain in detail regarding the steps to apply.

Latest updates about H1-B Visa for 2016

On April 13th 2015 USCIS conducted the lottery for H1-B 2016 as it received more petitions than the quota of 85000 ( 20000 for Advanced Degree Cap and 65000 for general).
On April 14th, USCIS updated that the H1-B Cap premium processing will began from April 27.
Regular processing has been started and people are receiving their receipts.
There has been a significant increase in the number of applicants in the recent years. In 2015, USCIS received 172,500 applications.  In 2014 it received nearly 124,000 petitions. Still the quota is same, however, petitions received by USCIS department is increasing over years. 

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