H-1B1 is a non-immigrant visa options available for nationals of Chile and Singapore who would like to come to the U.S. and work in specialty occupations. The workers need to have an offer from a U.S. employer and need to have at least a Bachelor’s degree.
What is an H-1B1 Visa?
H-1B1 is a non-immigrant visa available for nationals of Chile and Singapore who would like to come to the U.S. and work in specialty occupations.
There are 1,400 visas available for nationals of Chile and $5,400 visas available for nationals of Singapore every year.
Is an H-1B1 visa similar to H-1B Visa? If I qualify for both, which one should I apply for?
Yes, the H1B1 visa is very similar to the H1B visa. If you are a national of Chile or Singapore, applying for an H1B1 visa may be a better option, as there is no lottery for this type of visa (meaning that because the annual quota for these visas is not met, the companies do not have to go through any lottery system).
On the other hand, companies that want to sponsor workers on an H1b visa first need to go through an H-1B lottery system – if their registration is selected in a lottery that is ran every March, they can then sponsor the employee for an H1b visa. There is a chance though that the H1b registration will not be selected (for example, in FY2023, around 480,000 registrations were submitted and only 85,000 registrations total can be selected). To sum up, if you do qualify for an H1b1 visa, you should definitely take advantage of this visa category.
What does the U.S. employer need to do?
If the applicant is outside the U.S. and wants to apply for an H-1B1 visa abroad, the U.S. employer will first need to file a Labor Condition Application (“LCA”) with the Department of Labor. The LCA will need to be certified by the Department of Labor. Please note that the U.S. employer will need to pay the employee a prevailing wage to the H1B1 worker. The U.S. employer does not need to file an I-129 Petition with USCIS if the applicant is applying for a visa abroad, instead the supporting documentation will be presented to the Consular officer at the interview.
Please note that if the employer is filing a change of status or extension of status petition with USCIS, the employer would need to file an I-129 petition, all relevant H1B1 supplements and pay for associated fees to USCIS.
Does the employee need to have a degree? What qualifications must the employee meet?
The H1B1 worker must be coming to the U.S. to work in a specialty occupation. Please see the definition of Specialty Occupation here. The employee has to generally have at least a Bachelor’s degree in the field in which they are planning to work in the U.S. (or in some cases the workers could qualify through work experience, but this is not that common).
At the interview, the employee will need to present the following evidence to the Consular Officer: Certified signed LCA from the Department of Labor, Employment letter signed by the U.S. employer containing details about the job the worker will do in the U.S., the original degree and transcripts (and if degree was not obtained in the U.S., a credentials evaluation of the degree).
The H1B1 employee will be admitted for period of one year, and this period can be renewed in 1 year increments. Each time the employee applies for a visa, he/she will have to demonstrate that his/her stay in the U.S. is temporary and they don’t plan to work in the U.S. permanently.
Can employee’s dependents come to the U.S.?
Yes, the employee’s spouse and unmarried child under the age of 21 can apply for H-4 visas and come to the U.S.
FREE H-1B / E-3 Visa Resources
Click on the buttons below in order to claim your free H-1B / E-3 Visa Guide, sign up for our free H-1B / E-3 Visa Webinar, or watch our H-1B / E-3 Visa videos.
Set up an H-1B / E-3 Visa Consultation
For a dedicated one-on-one H-1B / E-3 Visa consultation with one of our lawyers, click on the button below to schedule your consultation.
This website and blog constitutes attorney advertising. Do not consider anything in this website or blog legal advice and nothing in this website constitutes an attorney-client relationship being formed. Set up a one-hour consultation with us before acting on anything you read here. Past results are no guarantee of future results and prior results do not imply or predict future results. Each case is different and must be judged on its own merits.
