H-1B Visa
for Specialty Occupations and Fashion Models

H-1B visa is the most popular nonimmigrant work visa in the U.S. As an H-1B nonimmigrant, you may be admitted for a period of up to three years. Your time period may be extended, but generally cannot go beyond a total of six years, unless you are in the process of PERM or leave the U.S. for one year.

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The H-1B Cap

The H-1B visa has an annual numerical limit "cap" of 65,000 visas each fiscal year. An additional 20,000 are allotted for Beneficiaries who possess U.S. Master’s degrees (or a higher level of education) from an eligible and accredited institution. Additionally, Beneficiaries who are petitioned for or employed at an institution of higher education or its affiliated or related nonprofit entities or a nonprofit research organization, or a government research organization are not subject to this numerical cap, which means they could get their H-1B visas without the lottery process.

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Criteria of Specialty Occupation

The most common request we see in Request for Evidence (RFE) in our practice is whether the position is a “specialty occupation”.  According to Title 8, Code of Federal Regulations, the job must meet one of the four criteria to qualify as a specialty occupation:

• Bachelor’s or higher degree or its equivalent is normally the minimum entry requirement for the position.

• The degree requirement for the job is common to the industry or the job is so complex or unique that it can be performed only by an individual with a degree.

• The employer normally requires a degree or its equivalent for the position.

• 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’s or higher degree.

 

We could help employers to overcome this requirement by submitting job postings from the employer and other companies in the same industry with similar size, indicating that this degree is normally required in this industry; proving the job duties are of a complexity that only someone who has attained this degree could handle.

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Application Process

First we will submit LCA to Department of Labor on behalf of employer for wage certification.
Then we will prepare all the paper and send to employer for review and signature, including Form I-129, Form G-28, certified LCA, and other supporting documentation.

Finally, we will mail out the whole application package to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on or before March 31. USCIS publishes the deadline of receiving H-1B petition on their website every year. USCIS usually starts to take H-1B petition on April 1, and stops to receive on April 7, which means your H-1B petition could only be delivered to USCIS between this week, otherwise your petition will be rejected which will result in significant delay.