H1B visa explained
The H-1B is the main route for a skilled worker to move to the United States for a professional job. It is a temporary work visa, it is tied to a specific employer, and for most applicants it is decided by a lottery rather than by merit alone.
It is also one of the most misunderstood visas in the world, partly because you cannot apply for one yourself. An employer applies for you. This guide explains what the H-1B actually is, who qualifies, how the cap and the lottery work, how long you can stay, and what has changed recently.
Everything below reflects the position as at September 2026. The H-1B has seen unusually heavy change in the last year, including a new selection method and a disputed six figure fee that is currently tied up in the courts, so check the official sources at the end before acting on anything here.
What the H-1B visa is
The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa that lets a US employer hire a foreign worker in a “specialty occupation” for a fixed period.
Three features define it.
It is employer sponsored. You cannot self-petition. A US company must offer you a job and file a petition on your behalf, and your permission to be in the country is attached to that employer and that role.
It is temporary but renewable, and unusually it is a dual intent visa. Most temporary US visas require you to prove you intend to leave. The H-1B does not. You can hold one while pursuing permanent residence, which is why it is the most common stepping stone to a green card through employment.
It is capped. Congress limits how many new H-1B visas are issued each year, and demand has exceeded that limit every year for well over a decade. That is why the lottery exists.
What counts as a specialty occupation
A specialty occupation is a role that normally requires at least a US bachelor’s degree, or its equivalent, in a specific field directly related to the job.
Two conditions have to be met. The position itself must genuinely require that level and type of education, and you personally must hold the degree, an equivalent foreign qualification, or a combination of education and progressive experience that USCIS accepts as equivalent.
The usual rule of thumb for experience is that three years of relevant professional experience can substitute for one year of university education, so twelve years of experience can stand in for a four year degree. This is assessed by a credential evaluation rather than assumed.
The most common H-1B occupations are in software and IT, engineering, finance and accounting, architecture, medicine and the sciences, and university teaching and research. The most common reason for a refusal is not the applicant at all: it is the employer failing to demonstrate that the role is specialised enough, or that the degree field is closely enough connected to the duties.
Note that a general degree with no obvious link to the job is a weak point. A computer science degree for a software engineering role is straightforward. A general business degree for a specialised analytics role invites questions.
Who the employer has to be, and what they must do
The employer carries almost the whole process.
First they file a Labor Condition Application with the Department of Labor. In it they attest that they will pay you at least the higher of the prevailing wage for that occupation in that geographic area, or the actual wage they pay similar employees, and that hiring you will not harm the working conditions of existing staff.
The prevailing wage is set at one of four levels by the Department of Labor, from Level I for an entry level role up to Level IV for a fully competent one. That wage level used to be a compliance detail. As of 2026 it also determines your odds in the lottery, which is covered below.
Once the Labor Condition Application is certified, the employer files Form I-129 with USCIS along with the supporting evidence: your qualifications, the job description, the company’s details and the fees.
The cap, the lottery and the new weighted selection
There are 65,000 new H-1B visas available each fiscal year under the regular cap, plus a further 20,000 reserved for people holding a master’s degree or higher from a US university. That second allocation is usually called the master’s cap or the advanced degree exemption.
Registration happens once a year, in March, for jobs starting the following October. The employer registers you electronically and pays a registration fee of $215 per person. Registration is deliberately light: no full petition, no evidence, just enough detail to identify the employer and the beneficiary. Only if you are selected does the employer file the full petition.
The selection method changed for the 2026 registration season. Previously every registration had an equal chance in a purely random draw. Under the weighted selection rule finalised in early 2026, the number of entries you receive depends on the Department of Labor wage level of the job you are being offered:
| Wage level | Entries in the draw |
|---|---|
| Level IV, fully competent | 4 |
| Level III, experienced | 3 |
| Level II, qualified | 2 |
| Level I, entry level | 1 |
The practical effect is significant. Higher paid roles now have up to four times the chance of selection, and entry level offers, which is where many recent graduates sit, have the lowest odds. The registration is still beneficiary-centric, meaning multiple employers registering the same person does not multiply that person’s chances.
If you hold a US master’s degree or higher you are entered into the master’s cap draw first, and if you are not selected there you go into the regular cap draw as well. That is why the advanced degree route carries meaningfully better odds.
Cap-exempt employers
Not every H-1B goes through the lottery. Some employers are exempt from the cap entirely and can file at any time of year.
The exempt categories are institutions of higher education, non-profit organisations related to or affiliated with such an institution, non-profit research organisations, and government research organisations. Certain roles physically located at a qualifying institution can also qualify even when the employer itself is not exempt.
This matters more than most people realise. If the lottery has not gone your way, moving to a university, a teaching hospital or a research institute is often the most realistic way into H-1B status, and you can move to a cap-subject employer later.
How long you can stay
An initial H-1B is normally granted for up to three years, and can be extended for a further three, giving a standard maximum of six years in H-1B status.
Beyond six years, extensions are possible under the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act, usually called AC21. In broad terms, if your employment based green card process has passed certain milestones and is being held up by backlogs rather than by you, you can keep extending in one year or three year increments while you wait. This is the mechanism that allows people from heavily backlogged countries to remain lawfully in the US for many years past the notional six year limit.
Time spent physically outside the United States can be recaptured and added back, and if you leave the country for a full year the six year clock resets.
Changing employer
H-1B portability allows you to move to a new employer. The new employer files a fresh petition, and in most cases you can begin work as soon as that petition is properly filed rather than waiting for approval.
If you lose your job there is a grace period, generally up to 60 days or until the end of your authorised stay, whichever is shorter, during which you can find a new sponsor, change to another status, or leave. It is short, and it starts from the last day of employment rather than the day you are told.
Family members
Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 can accompany you on H-4 dependent status for the same period as your H-1B.
H-4 spouses can apply for work authorisation in some circumstances, most commonly where the H-1B holder has an approved Form I-140 immigrant petition. As at September 2026 the H-4 employment authorisation remains available. It is worth knowing that the Department of Homeland Security has placed a possible rescission of that rule on its regulatory agenda, but no proposed rule has been published, and nothing has changed for people who currently hold or qualify for it.
H-4 children can attend school but cannot work.
Costs
The H-1B is expensive, and most of the cost sits with the employer by law rather than by custom.
The components are the $215 registration fee, the Form I-129 petition fee, an ACWIA training fee of $750 for employers with 25 or fewer full time employees and $1,500 for larger ones, a $500 fraud prevention and detection fee on initial petitions and change of employer petitions, and an asylum program fee that varies by employer type and size. Premium processing, which buys a decision within a set number of business days, is optional and costs extra.
The employer must pay the ACWIA training fee and the fraud prevention fee, and cannot pass on any cost that would take your pay below the wage promised on the Labor Condition Application. Premium processing can sometimes be paid by the worker where it is genuinely for their own benefit rather than the employer’s.
Because USCIS revises its fee schedule periodically, check the current amounts on the USCIS fee schedule rather than relying on figures quoted anywhere else, including here.
The $100,000 fee, and where it currently stands
In September 2025 a presidential proclamation introduced an additional payment of $100,000 attached to certain H-1B petitions. It was aimed at petitions for people who were outside the United States, and did not apply to extensions, amendments, or petitions filed by cap-exempt employers.
Its legal status has been unsettled ever since. A federal district court in Massachusetts vacated the policy in June 2026, holding that the agencies had acted beyond their statutory authority. The fee was briefly reinstated days later, and then the First Circuit Court of Appeals declined to restore it in July 2026. As at September 2026 the fee is not being collected, the litigation has not concluded, and the proclamation itself is due to expire on 20 September 2026 unless it is extended.
This is the single most volatile part of the H-1B landscape right now. If you are advising on it, or budgeting for it, verify the position on the day rather than relying on any guide.
From H-1B to permanent residence
Because the H-1B allows dual intent, most people who settle permanently in the US through employment start here.
The usual path runs through an employer sponsored green card: a labour certification with the Department of Labor in most categories, then an I-140 immigrant petition, then adjustment of status or consular processing once a visa number is available. The wait for that visa number depends on your category and your country of birth, and for applicants born in India or China it can run to many years, which is exactly why the AC21 extensions described above exist.
If the H-1B does not work out
The lottery odds mean many qualified people are never selected. The realistic alternatives depend on your circumstances.
The L-1 route covers transfers within the same company group, for managers and executives or workers with specialised knowledge, and has no cap. The O-1 covers people with extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics, and is evidence heavy but uncapped. The TN category is available to Canadian and Mexican citizens in listed professions. The E-2 covers nationals of treaty countries investing in a US business. And cap-exempt employment, as described above, sidesteps the lottery entirely.
Common mistakes
- Assuming you can apply for an H-1B yourself. You cannot. You need an employer first.
- Registering with several employers in the belief it improves your odds. It does not.
- Treating the wage level as a formality. Since 2026 it directly determines your lottery odds.
- Missing the March registration window and losing a full year.
- Booking travel or resigning a job before the petition is approved.
- Assuming the six year limit is absolute. It often is not, if a green card process is underway.
- Overlooking the 60 day grace period after a job ends, and how quickly it runs out.
FAQs
What is an H1B visa?
It is a temporary United States work visa for specialty occupations, roles that normally require at least a bachelor’s degree in a specific field. It must be sponsored by a US employer, lasts three years initially and can usually be extended to six, and for most applicants it is allocated by an annual lottery.
Can I apply for an H-1B visa myself?
No. Only a US employer can file the petition. There is no self-sponsored version of the H-1B, although other categories such as the O-1 can work for people who qualify on their own merits.
How many H-1B visas are issued each year?
65,000 under the regular cap, plus 20,000 reserved for holders of a US master’s degree or higher. Employers that are cap-exempt, such as universities and non-profit research organisations, are not counted against those limits.
How does the H-1B lottery work now?
Employers register candidates electronically each March for a $215 fee. Since the 2026 season, selection is weighted by the Department of Labor wage level of the offered role: Level IV receives four entries, Level III three, Level II two, and Level I one. Selection is per person rather than per registration.
How long can I stay on an H-1B?
Three years initially, extendable to a total of six. Extensions beyond six years are available under AC21 where an employment based green card process is under way and delayed by visa backlogs.
Can my spouse work on an H-4 visa?
In some circumstances, most commonly where the H-1B holder has an approved I-140 immigrant petition. H-4 work authorisation remains available as at September 2026.
What happens if I lose my job on an H-1B?
You generally have a grace period of up to 60 days, or until your authorised stay ends if that is sooner, to find a new sponsoring employer, change to another status, or leave the United States.
Does an H-1B lead to a green card?
It can. The H-1B is a dual intent visa, so you can pursue permanent residence while holding one. Most people do so through an employer sponsored green card, though waiting times vary enormously by country of birth.
Is the $100,000 H-1B fee still being charged?
As at September 2026 it is not. A federal court vacated the policy in June 2026 and an appeals court declined to reinstate it in July 2026. The litigation is unresolved and the underlying proclamation is due to expire on 20 September 2026 unless extended, so the position should be checked on the day.