General Information
The H1B Visa is one of the most important non-immigrant visas available to qualified foreign persons who desire to come to the United States in order to work. The administrative regulations defining this visa state that an H1B classification applies to an alien who is coming temporarily to the United States to:

1. Perform services in a specialty occupation, and for whom the Secretary of Labor has determined and certified to the Attorney General that the prospective employer has filed a labor condition application.

2. Perform services of an exceptional nature requiring exceptional merit and ability relating to a cooperative research and development project provided for under a Government-to-Government agreement which is administered by the Secretary of Defense.

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Duration of Stay
The H1B visa is issued for three years and may be extended once. This provides a maximum stay of six years. Visas that are issued for work on a Department of Defense project are valid for five years. (Exceptions do exist -- see the US State Department Web site.

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Employee’s Requirements for a Specialty Occupation
In order to qualify as a specialty occupation, the employee must meet one of the following criteria:

• Hold a United States baccalaureate or higher degree as required by the specialty occupation from an accredited college or university.

• Hold a foreign degree determined to be equivalent to a United States baccalaureate or higher degree as required by the specialty occupation from an accredited college or university.

• Hold an unrestricted state license, registration or certification which authorizes full practice of the specialty occupation and be immediately engaged in that specialty in a state of intended employment. (e.g., Physical Therapists, Architects)

• Have education, specialized training, and/or progressively responsible experience that is equivalent to completion of a United States baccalaureate or higher degree in the specialty occupation and have recognition of expertise in the specialty through progressively responsible positions directly related to the specialty.

• An evaluation from an official who has authority to grant college-level credit for training and/or experience in the specialty at an accredited college or university which has a program for granting such credit based on training and experience.

• The results of a recognized college-level equivalency exam or special credit programs such as the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) or Program on Non-Collegiate Sponsored Instruction (PONSI).

• Evidence of certification or registration from a nationally recognized professional association for persons who have achieved a certain level of competence.

• A determination by The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) that the equivalent of the degree required by the specialty occupation has been acquired through a combination of education, training and/or experience. For the purposes of determining equivalency to a baccalaureate degree, three years of specialized training and experience are required by the INS for each year of college-level training that the alien lacks. In addition, the INS requires the alien to produce at least one type of documentation such as recognition of expertise in the specialty occupation by at least two recognized authorities in the same specialty occupation, membership in a recognized association, published materials by or about the alien in professional publications, or achievements recognized to be significant contributions to the field of the specialty occupation.

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