The H-1B1 visa category was created in 2003, when President George Bush signed a Free Trade Agreement with Chile and Singapore. It is a subcategory of the H-1B specialty worker visa, a nonimmigrant (temporary) visa available to workers coming to the U.S. to work in occupations requiring highly specialized knowledge. The trade agreement set aside a total of 1,400 H1B1 visas for citizens of Chile, and 5,400 for citizens of Singapore. In most other ways, the H-1B1 is similar to the original H-1B.
H-1B1 Visa Benefits and Restrictions
The H-1B1 visa allows you to work legally in the U.S. for your employer/sponsor for an indefinite period of time. It is usually granted for one year at a time, with extensions possible upon the employer's application. You will have to prove "nonimmigrant intent," namely that you intend to return to your home country when your permitted stay in the U.S. ends.
Visas are available for your accompanying spouse and minor unmarried children, but they may not work, unless they qualify for a work visa on their own. They can, however, attend school in the U.S. without getting separate student visas.
If your employer dismisses you before your authorized stay is over, the employer must pay for your return trip to your home country. (If you quit voluntarily, however, you pay your own way home.)
H-1B1 Visa Requirements
The H-1B1 visa has the same basic eligibility requirements as the H-1B visa. You must be a worker with highly specialized knowledge or skills, who has been offered a job by a United States employer for a job that normally requires at least a U.S. bachelor's degree or its equivalent. You must have the correct background for the job you have been offered.
In addition, the H-1B1 visa is available to certain professionals who may not possess post-secondary degrees or the equivalent, but who work as agricultural managers or physical therapists (for Chilean nationals only); or disaster relief claims adjusters or management consultants (for both Chilean and Singaporean nationals).
The employer must meet wage requirements designed to prevent U.S. companies from hiring low-paid immigrants in place of American workers and thereby lowering wages in a given field of work.
As with all visas (and green cards), you and any family who will be accompanying you must prove that you/they are not inadmissible to the United States. The main grounds of inadmissibility prevent entry by applicants with criminal records, a history of belonging to a terrorist organization, or who carry a communicable disease of public health significance or a disorder that presents a danger to themselves or others.
H-1B1 Visa Application Process
First, you must have a job offer from a U.S. employer. Then your employer must submit a Labor Condition Attestatation to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). It will do this online, on Form ETA-9035, at www.lca.doleta.gov.
Unlike regular H-1Bs, your employer does not need to follow that up with a Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker (Form I-129).
Documents to Bring to Your Consular Interview
After the employer receives DOL endorsement of the LCA, applicants from Chile or Singapore must prepare or bring the following to their visa interview at a U.S. consulate in their home country:
- Printout of Form DS-160, which you'll fill out online at the State Department website.
- Job offer letter from U.S. employer
- Notice showing approval of LCA.
- Documents showing an intention to return to your home country, such as a home mortgage or letter from your current employer saying that it's holding your job open for you.
- Valid passport (for principal applicant and each accompanying relative)
- One photo, passport style (for principal applicant and each accompanying relative)
- If spouse and children will be accompanying you, proof of their family relationship to you, such as marriage and birth or adoption certificates.
- Receipt for having paid visa application fee.
- Visa issuance fee, if required of nationals of your country.
H-1B1 Visa Fees and Costs
In connection with your visa interview, you will be expected to pay an application fee and possible a visa issuance fee, depending on your country of origin. See the "Fees for Visa Services" page of the State Department website for the latest amounts.
Help From a U.S. Immigration Lawyer
Your employer is likely to hire an attorney to help with your case. However, if you have questions regarding your eligibility for this visa that your attorney is not able to answer, you should consult with an experienced immigration attorney on your own.
