H1B Visa Process 2021

What does the H1B visa process look like for an employer that’s filing an H1B on behalf of an employee that has never held H1B status before? The process is somewhat complicated, but I’m going to give you a brief overview of generally what to look for in the process.

The first thing that happens is in the first week of March, USCIS will open up its portal where you can register your company as an H1B employer. And then you can also add the employees that you want to file H1B applications for. That process is open for about three weeks and then USCIS will close their portal. And then they will run a lottery to determine if your H1B application is accepted. If your application is accepted in the lottery, then USCIS will email you and let you know that you can go ahead and file your H1B application.

The next step in the process is as the employer, you’re going to file what’s called the labor condition application. And that labor condition application will have attestations on it. Department of labor will basically set a salary amount that you have to pay the employee. And you are agreeing that you will pay that amount to the employee.

Once the labor condition application is certified, then what you will do is you will include that certified labor condition application with your H1B filing to USCIS, the actual filing to USCIS includes a lot of forms and a lot of documents. And I will do a separate video on what those documents are and what to include in those applications. But you will go ahead and file your application with the USCIS. They will send you a receipt that they have received the application.  And then several months later, typically it’s anywhere from two to five months later, USCIS will let you know if the application was approved.

If the application gets approved, then depending on how you set up your application, it should have said October one for the start date. And if the employee is in a different status and currently in the US like an F1 status, then the employer will, um, have the notification that says the application is approved for October one and basically the employee will automatically get converted into an H1B. And if the employee is not in the U S and they are overseas, then the employee will need to set up an interview at a us consulate and that process involves filing additional forms with the, with the local consulate. And then the consulate will hopefully approve the application. And then they’ll give your employee a stamp in their passport, basically saying that the employee is approved for H1B, and then the employee can begin working, can come into the US and began working for you on October 1st.

That’s generally the overview of how the H1B process works. If you have additional questions, you can feel free to reach out to us. Our contact information is in the box below. Thanks.