U.S. Visas: H-1B Exempt

The H-1B (Exempt) visa is used for workers in specialty occupations i.e. professional occupations, as defined below, who are not subject to the U.S. government’s numerical cap on H-1B workers. This includes employees of higher education institutions and non-profit and government research organizations.

What are the Requirements for Filing an H-1B (Exempt) Visa Petition?
How Long is the H-1B Visa Valid?
What is the H-1B Cap and How Does it Affect my H-1B (Exempt) Petition?

What are the Requirements for filing an H-1B Visa Petition?

VISANOW can prepare and submit the H-1B visa petition if the H-1B Beneficiary is presently in the U.S. in valid status or if the Beneficiary is outside the U.S.

An H-1B specialty occupation must meet the following three requirements:

• Require theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge;
• Require attainment of a bachelor’s or higher degree or its equivalent in the specific specialty; and,
• Any one, or more, of the following:
  • A bachelor’s degree or its equivalent is normally the minimum entry requirement for the position
  • The degree requirement is common to the industry or, the position is so complex or unique that the work only can be performed by an individual with a degree
  • The employer normally requires a degree or its equivalent for the position; or
  • The nature of the specific duties is so specialized and complex that the knowledge required to perform the duties is usually associated with the attainment of a bachelor or higher degree.

An H-1B Beneficiary must either have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in the specialty field or its equivalent in work experience (3 years of work experience is equal to 1 year of education). Additionally, the Beneficiary must have a state license to practice in the occupation if such is required.

In order to qualify for an exemption from the H-1B cap, the employee must either:

• Work for an institution of higher education
• Work for a non-profit research organization
• Work for a government research organization
• Work for a primary or secondary education institution
• Work for a non-profit entity that engages in an established curriculum-related clinical training
• Be filing for the SECOND extension with the SAME employer
• Be filing to request an amendment to a petition without a request for an extension; or
• Be filing in order to correct a service error.

How Long is the H-1B (Exempt) Visa Valid?

An H-1B Beneficiary is initially admitted to the U.S. for up to three years. This 3 year period may be extended for an additional three years for up to a total of 6 years. Please note that this 6 year limit on H-1B status can be extended if the Beneficiary has progressed to a certain stage of the green card process.

VISANOW can also prepare the H-1B extension on behalf of the petitioning employer and the foreign national Beneficiary.

What is the H-1B Cap and How Does it Affect my H-1B Visa Petition?

The current annual cap on the H-1B category is 65,000. There are an additional 20,000 H-1B visas available for individual with Master’s degrees, or higher, from U.S. academic institutions.

H-1B (exempt) visa petitions are not subject to the annual cap. It is important to note that when an H-1B visa holder is transferring from cap exempt employment (i.e. working for a non-profit research organization) to non-cap exempt employment, that visa petition will be subject to the cap.