The H-1B visa category caters to skilled professionals in specialized fields who aim to work in the U.S. temporarily, typically for a span of up to six years. To qualify, applicants should hold at least a bachelor’s degree or its foreign equivalent, or a combination of tertiary education and relevant work experience. Fields like engineering, academia, research, software development, among others, often fall under the H-1B umbrella. Given the annual quota set by USCIS at 65,000 applications, there’s unpredictability around when this cap might be reached. As a proactive measure, it’s advisable to submit applications on or immediately after April 1, which is the inaugural acceptance date each year.

Given the stringent cap and looming deadlines, the H-1B visa should typically be considered when other visa options are impractical. If the H-1B visa emerges as the only viable route, applicants should be primed to lodge their application by April 1 of the desired year, ensuring their potential U.S. entry post-October 1 of that year. With the intricacies surrounding the H-1B process intensifying, it’s pivotal for organizations wishing to onboard overseas skilled professionals to seek insights from an immigration specialist.