OCTOBER 11, 2019
If you are planning to apply for an H-1B visa for a job in the USA, the United States (US) Embassy has a piece of advice for you — apply for the visa 3 months in advance.
“Applying for your work #USvisa? You can apply up to 90 days before the employment start date noted on your I-797 form,” the US Embassy tweeted.
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issues different types of I-797 forms to communicate with visa applicants or convey an immigration benefit.
H-1B work visas are very popular among highly-skilled Indian professionals, techies in particular. The US government issues around 85,000 H1-B visas every year, out of which it is estimated that 70% go to Indians.
Currently, there are no country-specific restrictions for H-1B visa but earlier there were reports that the Trump government might place caps on H-1B work visas for nations that force foreign companies to store data locally.
The report was, later on, denied by the the US government.
Under its “Buy American Hire American” policy, the Donald Trump government has been trying to review visa rules.
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.
In 2016, there were 580,000 Indians in the US as resident non-immigrant workers. Of these, 440,000 were temporary workers, which includes those on H-1B visas and 140,000 were students.
India has recently complained to the US about the increased scrutiny and higher rates of denial of H1-B applications for Indians.
