What are the main requirements for an H-1B visa?

The H-1B is the main U.S. work visa for professionals. Its requirements are short in number but they all have to line up at once: some concern the job, some concern the worker, and some are promises the employer makes to the government.

One point to settle at the outset. The H-1B belongs to the employer, not to the worker. A U.S. employer files the case, makes the wage commitments, and is the party held to them.

The requirements at a glance

  • The job is a specialty occupation.
  • The worker is qualified for that particular occupation.
  • The position is genuine and available on the requested start date.
  • The employer holds a certified Labor Condition Application from the Department of Labor.
  • The employer files the petition with USCIS — and, for most new cases, has already been selected in the annual cap registration.
  • The worker has time left on the six-year clock, or qualifies for an exception.

1. The job must be a specialty occupation

A specialty occupation requires the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge, and requires at least a bachelor’s degree in a directly related specific specialty as a minimum for entry into the occupation. Engineers, architects, accountants, physicians, scientists, teachers, financial analysts and lawyers are typical examples.

The phrase “directly related” is an important requirement. Under the rules in force since January 2025:

  • A position is not a specialty occupation if a general degree, with no further specialization, is enough to qualify for it.
  • A job may accept a range of degree fields, but every field on that list must be directly related to the duties.
  • “Directly related” means there is a logical connection between the required degree and the duties of the position.

The position must also meet at least one of four further criteria: that a directly related degree is normally the minimum for entry into the occupation; that it is normally required in parallel positions at similar organizations in the industry; that this employer, or the third party the worker will be staffed to, normally requires it; or that the duties are so specialized and complex that they require such a degree.

2. The worker must be qualified for that occupation

Holding a degree is not enough on its own. It has to be the right degree for this job. A worker may qualify by:

  • holding the U.S. bachelor’s or higher degree that the occupation requires;
  • holding a foreign degree determined to be equivalent to that U.S. degree;
  • holding an unrestricted state license, registration or certification authorizing them to fully practice the occupation and be immediately engaged in it in the state of intended employment; or
  • having education, specialized training and/or progressively responsible experience equivalent to the required U.S. degree, together with recognized expertise in the specialty.

If the profession is licensed

Where a state or local license is needed to fully perform the duties, the worker generally must already hold that license before the petition can be approved. Having applied for it is not enough. Narrow allowances exist for temporary licenses, and for situations where the worker may lawfully perform the full duties under supervision.

3. The position must be genuine and available

The current rule states it as a positive requirement: at the time of filing, the employer must show that it has a bona fide position in a specialty occupation available for the worker as of the start date requested.

Usefully, the regulation also says the employer is not required to set out specific day-to-day assignments for the entire period requested. Where the worker will sit at a client site, USCIS may still ask for contracts or work orders to satisfy itself that the position is real.

4. The employer must meet the Department of Labor wage rules

Before the petition is filed, the employer must obtain a certified Labor Condition Application (Form ETA-9035 or ETA-9035E) from the Department of Labor. In it, the employer attests to four things:

  • Wages. It will pay at least the higher of the prevailing wage for the occupation in the area of intended employment, or the actual wage it pays its other employees at the worksite with similar experience and qualifications for the same work. Benefits must be offered on the same basis as to U.S. workers.
  • Working conditions. Employing the worker will not adversely affect the working conditions of workers similarly employed.
  • No strike or lockout in that occupational classification at the place of employment.
  • Notice. It has given notice of the filing to the bargaining representative, or otherwise posted or provided notice to its workforce.

The comparison is to similarly situated employees doing the specific job at that worksite, not to the workforce at large. And a certified Labor Condition Application does not settle whether the job is a specialty occupation. The Department of Labor certifies the wage and working-condition attestations; USCIS decides the specialty occupation question separately.

5. The employer files the petition — and usually clears the cap first

The petition is Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, together with the H Classification Supplement. Premium processing is optional and is requested on Form I-907.

For most new H-1Bs there is a step before that. Congress caps new H-1Bs at 65,000 a year, with a further 20,000 reserved for people holding a master’s or higher degree from a U.S. institution of higher education. Because demand exceeds supply, an employer cannot simply file. It must first register the candidate electronically during a short window each spring and pay a registration fee, and only selected registrations may proceed to a full petition. For the fiscal year 2027 season the fee was US$215 per candidate, registration ran from 4 to 19 March 2026, and petitions could be filed from 1 April.

Selection is no longer a flat random draw. Beginning with fiscal year 2027, USCIS runs a weighted selection based on the wage level the offered salary meets: a candidate is entered into the pool once at wage level I, twice at level II, three times at level III and four times at level IV. The 65,000 regular cap is run first, and the 20,000 advanced degree allocation is run afterwards among those not already selected.

Not every case goes through this. Universities, affiliated or related nonprofit entities, nonprofit research organizations and government research organizations are cap-exempt and may file at any time, and a worker already counted against the cap generally does not re-enter the lottery merely to change employers. Our page H-1B Cap Exemptions and Alternatives to the Lottery works through the exemptions.

6. The worker must have time left on the six-year clock

H-1B status is normally granted for up to three years at a time, to a total of six. Time spent in L-1 status counts toward the same six years, so H and L time is added together.

Two important points regarding the six-year limit:

  • Recapture. Time spent physically outside the United States during the validity of an H-1B petition — any absence longer than 24 hours, for any reason, whether or not it meaningfully interrupted the stay — does not count against the six years and may be added back in a later petition. Unused L-1A and L-1B time may be recaptured as well. The employer must document it, typically with passport stamps and travel records.
  • Extensions beyond six years. Where an employment-based green card case is far enough along, H-1B status may continue past the sixth year: in increments of up to one year once a labor certification or immigrant petition has been on file at least 365 days, or in increments of up to three years where an approved immigrant petition cannot proceed because of per-country limits. The employer sponsoring the extension need not be the employer that filed the green card case.

Only where none of this applies must the worker spend a year outside the United States before a fresh six-year period becomes available. See seventh-year H-1B extensions and using the remainder of an unused six-year period.

A related point that often surprises people: time spent in H-4 dependent status does not count against the principal’s six-year H-1B maximum. See time spent in H-4 and L-2 status.

Two smaller H-1B categories

Most H-1Bs are specialty occupation cases, but the classification also covers two narrower groups:

  • Fashion models of distinguished merit and ability. They do not have to meet the specialty occupation test; the standard is national or international recognition.
  • Certain Department of Defense workers on a cooperative research and development or coproduction project under a government-to-government agreement administered by the Secretary of Defense. This reciprocity-based category calls for services of exceptional merit and ability, and it carries a ten-year limit rather than six.

Names that have changed

If you have read older material on this subject — you may see references to the INS reviewing H-1B job offers. The Immigration and Naturalization Service ceased to exist in 2003 and the term is now out of date. H-1B petitions are decided by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), part of the Department of Homeland Security. The Labor Condition Application is handled by the Department of Labor, visas are issued by U.S. consulates under the Department of State, and admission at the border is handled by Customs and Border Protection.

Related pages

Before you rely on this page

This page is general information, not legal advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It is current to August 2026. H-1B rules change frequently, cap figures and fees are set season by season, and several recent measures affecting H-1B employers are the subject of litigation. Please confirm the current position with Antao & Chuang before acting on anything here.

Immigration Topics
H-1B Visa