H-1B VISA

The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa in the United States under the Immigration and Nationality Act,
section 101(a)(17)(H). It allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty
occupations. If a foreign worker in H-1B status quits or is dismissed from the sponsoring employer, the
worker must either apply for and be granted a change of status to another non-immigrant status, find
another employer (subject to application for adjustment of status and/or change of visa), or leave the
United States. Effective January 17, 2017, USCIS modified the rules to allow a grace period of up to 60
days. In 2016, there were over 230,000 applicants for the H-1B.
The regulations define a "specialty occupation" as requiring theoretical and practical application of a
body of highly specialized knowledge in a field of human endeavour including but not limited to
biotechnology, chemistry, architecture, engineering, mathematics, physical sciences, social sciences,
medicine and health, education, law, accounting, business specialties, theology, and the arts, and
requiring the attainment of a bachelor's degree or its equivalent as a minimum (with the exception of
fashion models, who must be "of distinguished merit and ability"). Likewise, the foreign worker must
possess at least a bachelor's degree or its equivalent and state licensure, if required to practice in that field.
H-1B work-authorization is strictly limited to employment by the sponsoring employer.
On March 3, 2017 the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service announced on their website that starting
from April 3, 2017 they would temporarily suspend premium processing for all H-1B visa petitions until
further notice. On April 18, 2017 President Trump signed a "Buy American, Hire American" Executive
Order which sets broad policy intentions directing federal agencies to propose reforms to the H-1B visa
system. By 2017, 85,000 high-skill foreign workers a year had "obtained three-year permits to work for
companies in the US".

DURATION OF STAY
The duration of stay is three years, extendable to six years. An exception to maximum length of stay
applies in certain circumstances:

If a visa holder has submitted an I-140 immigrant petition or a labour certification prior to their fifth
year anniversary of having the H-1B visa, they are entitled to renew their H-1B visa in one-year
increments until a decision has been rendered on their application for permanent residence. This is
backed up by the Immigration and Nationality Act 106a).
If the visa holder has an approved I-140 immigrant petition, but is unable to initiate the final step of
the green card process due to their priority date not being current, they may be entitled to a three-year
extension of their H-1B visa until their adjustment of status can finish. This exception originated with
the American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act of 2000 section 104a (AC21 104a).
The maximum duration of the H-1B visa is ten years for exceptional United States Department of
Defence project related work.
A time increment of less than three years has sometimes applied to citizens of specific countries. For
example, during her time as an H-1B visa holder, Melania Trump was limited to one year increments,
which was the maximum time allowed then per H-1B visa for citizens of Slovenia, which Melania Trump
was then a citizen of.
H-1B holders who want to continue to work in the U.S. after six years, but who have not obtained
permanent residency status, must remain outside of the U.S. for one year before reapplying for another H-
1B visa if they do not qualify for one of the exceptions noted above allowing for extensions beyond six
years. Despite a limit on length of stay, no requirement exists that the individual remain for any period in
the job the visa was originally issued for. This is known as H-1B portability or transfer, provided the new
employer sponsors another H-1B visa, which may or may not be subjected to the quota. Under current
law, H-1B visa has no stipulated grace period in the event the employer-employee relationship ceases to
exist.
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DEPENDENTS OF H-1B VISA HOLDERS
H-1B visa holders can bring immediate family members (spouse and children under 21) to the United
States under the H-4 visa category as dependents.
An H-4 Visa holder may remain in the U.S. as long as the H-1B visa holder retains legal status. An H-4
visa holder is allowed to attend school, apply for a driver's license, and open a bank account in the United
States.
Effective May 26, 2015, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services allows some spouses of H-
1B visa holders to apply for eligibility to work in the United States. The spouse would need to file Form
I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, with supporting documents and the required filing
fee. The spouse is authorized to work in the United States only after the Form I-765 is approved and the
spouse receives an Employment Authorization Document card.

APPLICATION PROCESS
The process of getting a H-1B visa has three stages:

The employer files with the United States Department of Labour a Labour Condition Application
(LCA) for the employee, making relevant attestations, including attestations about wages (showing
that the wage is at least equal to the prevailing wage and wages paid to others in the company in
similar positions) and working conditions.
With an approved LCA, the employer files a Form I-129 (Petition for a Non-immigrant Worker)
requesting H-1B classification for the worker. This must be accompanied by necessary supporting
documents and fees.
Once the Form I-129 is approved, the worker may begin working with the H-1B classification on or
after the indicated start date of the job, if already physically present in the United States in valid status
at the time. If the employee is outside the United States, he/she may use the approved Form I-129 and
supporting documents to apply for the H-1B visa. With a H-1B visa, the worker may present himself
or herself at a United States port of entry seeking admission to the United States, and get a Form I-
94 to enter the United States. (Employees who started a job on H-1B status without a H-1B visa
because they were already in the United States still need to get a H-1B visa if they ever leave and
wish to re-enter the United States while on H-1B status.)

IMPACT OF H-1B VISA ON INDIAN IT COMPANIES

Roughly 70% of H1B visas were given to workers from India. So any reforms in the H-1B program will
have effects on Indian IT companies located not only in United States but in India too. The possible
impact can be

Companies would have to pay more than double the amount of the Indian employees, which
would result in decreasing profits.
The likely chances of many Indian employees being laid off if the companies could not
digest the financial pressure.
The reservations for H1B visa for startups with less than 50 employees will decrease the
number of visa available for Indian firms.
Remittances from US would decline hurting the balance of payment.
Less Opportunities for individuals to work on offshore location.
Less access to US markets for Indian companies and they may lose hold in the US.

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 This move may force IT giants to create fundamental changes in their strategies in terms
of hiring, salaries, jobs etc. and this will affect employees in India too.
It will add more pressure on Indias software services industry in terms of profitability
and revenue
Work will be impacted as they are forced to take locals who are not as competitive as
Indian labour
Burden on the Indian workers who will be transitioning their job through phones and
video conferences as the mobility to move to US is gone now.This results in decline in
quality of the work cause further damage
Less Opportunities for People to work on offshore location