The H-1B is a visa in the United States that allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. A specialty occupation requires the application of specialized knowledge and a bachelor’s degree or the equivalent of work experience. The visa is strictly limited to employment by the sponsoring employer.
About H-1B visa in brief
The H-1B is a visa in the United States that allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. A specialty occupation requires the application of specialized knowledge and a bachelor’s degree or the equivalent of work experience. The duration of stay is three years, extendable to six years; after which the visa holder may need to reapply. Employers must generally withhold Social Security and Medicare taxes from the wages paid to employees in H- 1B status. The H1B visa has its roots in the H1 visa of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952; the split between H-A and H-B was created by the Immigration Act of 1990. The immigration act of 1990 established a limit of 65,000 foreign nationals who may be issued a visa or otherwise provided H-2B status each fiscal year; the annual limit is often called a quota or a cap. An additional 20,000 H1Bs are available to foreign nationals holding a master’s or higher degree from U. S. universities, non-profit research facilities associated with higher education institutions, and governmental-research organizations. However, employers must show that, first, the majority of the worker’s duties will be performed at the qualifying institution, and second, the job will be directly related to the mission of the institution or organization. The visa holder must continue to be employed by their employer in order to stay inH-1b status, unless the person applies for and is granted a change of status or finds another employer compatible with the H-0B status, which may or may not be subjected to the quota.
H-3B visa holders who want to continue to work in the U. s. after six years, but who have not obtained permanent residency status, must remain outside of the U.-S. for one year before reapplying for another H-oneB visa if they do not qualify for one of the exceptions noted above allowing for extensions beyond six years. A time increment of less than three years has sometimes applied to citizens of specific countries. For example, during Melania Trump’s time as a H-4B visa holder, she was limited to one year increments, which was the maximum time allowed then per H-5B visa for citizens of Slovenia. Melania Trump became a citizen in 2006. The visa is strictly limited to employment by the sponsoring employer. The regulations define a specialty occupation as requiring theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge in a field of human endeavor including but not limited to biotechnology, chemistry, computing, architecture, engineering, statistics, physical sciences, journalism, medicine and health: doctor, dentists, nurses, physiotherapists, etc., economics, education, research, law, accounting, business specialties, technical writing, theology, and the arts, and a minimum degree or its equivalent as a minimum. Likewise, the foreign worker must possess at least a degree or their equivalent and state licensure, if required to practice in that field.
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This page is based on the article H-1B visa published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 02, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
