An H-1B visa is a visa that allows U.S. employers to hire applicants in specialty occupations. The visa has a relatively low bar in that the job must require a Bachelor’s Degree (BA).
A full set of H-1B requirements can be obtained by clicking here.
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) just announced that they will freeze premium processing of H-1B petitions filed after April 3rd for 6 months. Premium processing is a service where an applicant can pay $1225 to have their petition adjudicated in 15 calendar days. If an applicant does not pay this fee, then the government does not guarantee any processing time and the review could take several months. In fact, the stated reason for the suspension of the premium processing is a backlog of H-1B petitions where the delay has exceeded 240 days. While the premium processing has been suspended, an applicant can request premium processing if they meet the “expedite criteria” which you can find by clicking here.
The premium processing suspension will apply to ALL (Cap, Cap Exempt & Transfers) H-1B petitions filed after April 3rd so will include all of the petitions related to the H1-B FY18 petitions.
