How to apply for a Work Visa?

 Every year United States allows 65,000 work visas to be issued to various professionals. Finding of a willing sponsor is just the beginning of the long road, which is followed by filing of work visa application with USCIS(United States Citizenship and Immigration Services).

USCIS allows filing of H-1B visa applications six months prior to the commencement of next fiscal year. Fiscal year in united states starts from October 1. For the fiscal year 2009-10, H-1B application can be filed with USCIS on 01 April 2009.

Due to overwhelming response, generally within few days of its opening, quota of 65k is oversubsribed. In a scenario of oversubsrciption, USCIS picks up the successful candidates through computer generated programs on random basis. Application of the unsuccessful candidates are denied and returned along with the application money paid by them. After the selection of successful candidates, approval of application generally takes a few months time. However, if the application is filed by paying an additional fee to USCIS with a 'Premium Processing' request, it can be processed within few weeks from the date it is filed.

In addition, USCIS issues 20,000 H-1B visas also to those who have earned advance degree in US. According to the USCIS  announcement on tuesday, april 8,2008, they received more than 65000 applications in regular cap numbers as well as 20000 U.S. earned advanced degree cap numbers for the fiscal year 2008-09. When the USCIS receives more than 20000 cap numbers for U.S. earned advance degree cap H-1B pletitions. Then those U.S. earned cases, which failed to be selected within the 20000 numbers, are added to the pool of regular cap cases and the agency goes through the random selection process for the 65000 regular cap cases. It is thus obvious that the U.S. earned advance degree cap filers learn their luck or bad luck ahead of the regular cap filers.