1H-1B in 60 Seconds
The H-1B visa is a US work visa that lets American employers hire foreign professionals in "specialty occupations." If you've ever searched "what is an H-1B visa," "what is an H1B visa," or "how does H-1B work," the answer is simpler than most immigration sites make it sound.
Your employer files the paperwork. You do the work. The visa is tied to the job, not to you personally. If you leave the company, the visa doesn't follow you (though you can transfer it to a new employer, which is covered in our H-1B transfer guide).
A "specialty occupation" means a job that requires at least a bachelor's degree (or equivalent experience) in a specific field. Software engineering, accounting, architecture, data science, mechanical engineering. If the role needs specialized knowledge, it probably qualifies.
- Duration: 3 years initially, extendable to 6 years total
- Who files: The employer, not the worker. You can't self-petition.
- Cost to you: Zero. The employer pays all filing fees.
- Work authorization: Valid only for the sponsoring employer (unless you transfer)
2How the Sponsorship Process Works
Labor Condition Application (LCA)
The employer files an LCA with the Department of Labor. This document certifies that hiring you won't negatively affect US workers. It states the job title, work location, and the wage they'll pay you (which must meet or exceed the "prevailing wage" for that role in that area). LCA processing takes about 7 business days.
I-129 Petition with USCIS
Once the LCA is certified, the employer files Form I-129 (Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker) with US Citizenship and Immigration Services. This is the actual visa petition. It includes your credentials, the job details, and proof that the role qualifies as a specialty occupation. Standard processing takes 3-6 months. Premium processing (15 calendar days) is available for an extra fee.
The H-1B process has two main steps. Both are filed by your employer, not by you. Your role is to provide documents and wait.
3Two Filings, One Attorney
That's it. Two government filings, both handled by the employer's immigration attorney. Your job is to provide your degree transcripts, passport copies, and prior immigration documents. The attorney handles the rest.
4What It Costs Employers
H-1B Filing Costs (Employer-Paid)
I-129 base filing fee: $460 ACWIA training fee: $750 (small companies) or $1,500 (25+ employees) Fraud prevention fee: $500 Public Law 114-113 fee: $4,000 (companies with 50+ employees, 50%+ H-1B/L-1) Premium processing (optional): $2,805 Attorney fees: $2,000-$5,000 Total range: roughly $5,000-$15,000+ per petition
One reason some companies avoid sponsorship: it's not cheap. Here's the breakdown of what your employer pays to file a single H-1B petition.
5Why Some Companies Hesitate
The total depends on company size and whether they opt for premium processing. Large tech companies absorb this without blinking. A 20-person startup might feel it. That's why smaller companies are more hesitant. Not because they don't want to hire you, but because $10K+ is real money on a tight budget.
For context: the average cost of hiring a new employee in the US (recruiting, onboarding, training) is around $4,700 according to SHRM. So sponsorship roughly doubles the upfront hiring cost. Companies that sponsor regularly have already budgeted for it.
6The Annual Cap and Lottery
Here's where it gets competitive. Congress set an annual cap on new H-1B visas: 65,000 regular slots plus 20,000 slots reserved for applicants with a US master's degree or higher. That's 85,000 total.
The demand is much higher than 85,000. In recent years, USCIS has received 400,000+ registrations for those 85,000 slots. So they run a lottery. Your employer registers you in March, USCIS runs the random selection, and selected petitions can be filed for an October 1 start date.
Not everyone goes through the lottery, though. Cap-exempt employers (universities, nonprofit research organizations, government research labs) can file H-1B petitions year-round with no cap. If you work at a university hospital or a nonprofit research institute, the lottery doesn't apply to you.
- 65,000 regular cap (all nationalities combined)
- 20,000 additional slots for US master's degree holders
- Registration period: Early March each year
- Lottery results: Usually announced by late March
- Start date for new H-1Bs: October 1
- Cap-exempt employers can file any time, no lottery required
7How Many H-1B Holders Are in the US?
Roughly 600,000+ workers hold active H-1B status in the US at any given time. That number includes initial petitions, extensions, and transfers. The program is the primary path for skilled foreign workers to enter the US labor market.
The global interest is massive. India alone accounts for about 41,000 monthly searches for H-1B visa information. That gives you a sense of the scale: hundreds of thousands of professionals worldwide are researching, applying for, or currently working on H-1B visas.
Top industries for H-1B employment: technology (by a wide margin), consulting, financial services, healthcare, and engineering. Top employers by filing volume: the large IT services firms (Infosys, TCS, Cognizant, Wipro), followed by Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Meta, and Apple.
8How to Find Employers Who Sponsor
The Department of Labor publishes every LCA filing. That means the data on which companies sponsor (and for which roles) is public record. The challenge is that raw DOL data is messy, spread across multiple databases, and hard to search.
ShouldApply pulls this data and makes it searchable. Every company in the system has an H-1B profile showing their filing history, approval rates, and the specific job titles they've sponsored for. You can filter your job search to only show results from companies with confirmed sponsorship history.
You can also check individual companies using the H-1B Sponsorship Checker. Type in a company name and see whether they've filed H-1B petitions, how many, and for what roles.
ShouldApply flags H-1B sponsors on every job listing. No more guessing which companies will sponsor your visa.
Search H-1B SponsorsWritten by
Jesse Johnson
Founder, ShouldApply
Founder of ShouldApply. I write about job search strategy, hiring, and how to spend your time on opportunities that actually fit. Full bio →
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Frequently Asked Questions
The H-1B is a US nonimmigrant work visa that allows American employers to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations. These are roles requiring at least a bachelor's degree in a specific field. The visa is employer-sponsored, lasts up to 6 years, and is tied to the specific job and employer.
The employer files a Labor Condition Application with the Department of Labor, then submits an I-129 petition to USCIS. The employee provides documentation (degree, passport, prior immigration records) but doesn't file anything themselves. The employer pays all fees and typically uses an immigration attorney.
Total costs range from about $5,000 to $15,000+ per petition. This includes the I-129 filing fee ($460), ACWIA training fee ($750-$1,500), fraud prevention fee ($500), optional premium processing ($2,805), and attorney fees ($2,000-$5,000). Larger employers with 50+ employees may pay an additional $4,000 fee.
Approximately 600,000+ workers hold active H-1B status at any given time. The annual cap allows 65,000 new regular visas plus 20,000 for US master's degree holders, but extensions, transfers, and cap-exempt petitions mean the total active population is much larger than the annual cap suggests.
The statutory cap remains 65,000 regular slots plus 20,000 slots reserved for holders of a US master's degree or higher, totaling 85,000. Cap-exempt employers (universities, nonprofit research orgs) can file year-round without being subject to this limit.
The LCA takes about 7 business days. Preparing and filing the I-129 petition takes 1-2 weeks. Standard USCIS processing is 3-6 months. Premium processing guarantees a decision within 15 calendar days for an additional fee. For cap-subject petitions, add the lottery timeline: registration in March, results by late March, filing window April through June, start date October 1.
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