Immigration Lawyer Blog
In this video, attorney Jacob Sapochnick discusses the top work visa alternatives to the H-1B visa for those who were not selected in the H-1B lottery for the FY 2025 cap season.
To learn more, please keep on watching this video.
Overview
As our readers may know, the electronic registration process for the H-1B work visa occurs every year during the month of March. During this period, U.S. employers petitioning for foreign workers must submit an electronic registration on behalf of each employee for a chance to be selected in the H-1B visa lottery.
Once the electronic registration period has closed, the H-1B lottery is conducted to select enough beneficiaries to participle in the program. Unfortunately, competition for the H-1B visa is fierce because only 65,000 H-1B visas are available each fiscal year, and another 20,000 are available for foreign workers possessing a U.S. master’s degree or higher.
Due to these numerical limits, the demand for H-1B visas far outweighs available visas, causing many to miss out on the visa.
As a result, U.S. employers and their workers should be familiar with alternative work visa options to provide relief in cases where they were not selected.
The H-1B Work Visa Alternatives
The O-1A Visa
The O-1A Visa is a nonimmigrant visa for individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary ability in fields such as the sciences, education, business, and athletics. It allows individuals with exceptional talents to work in the United States, if they can prove sustained national or international acclaim in their domain. It also enables their family members to accompany them to the United States on O-3 visas.
O-1 applicants must be petitioned for the visa directly by their employers or agents (employers are U.S. companies that direct the work the beneficiary will undertake in the U.S., while agents are individuals or entities acting on behalf of multiple employers). The employer or agent must provide an employment contract or agreement detailing the job offer, the applicant’s roles and responsibilities while in the United States, etc.