Congratulations! You have luckily been one of the 8-11% of H-1B applicants who ‘won’ the visa lottery! However, this is merely one step in the long process, so let’s just briefly go over what will happen next. Keep in mind this is not legal advice, and you are best advised to contact an immigration attorney to support you through this process of applying for your H-1B.
Time is of the Essence
Immediately after you are selected in the H-1B lottery, you have 90 days to complete your I-129 petition and submit it to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS). USCIS will ask you to demonstrate that you have the educational background and work experience to fill your company’s position—they will need items such as transcripts to prove your educational background, and may even ask for evidence of your research if you have a post-baccalaureate degree. Work experience will be verified via letters of employment from past supervisors; they will not only need to provide dates of employment, but also the breadth of your work duties. To ensure that your petition is processed without delay, it is imperative to gather all the evidential documents for submission as advised by your immigration attorney (*note, do not submit duplicate copies, which USCIS has warned will delay processing).
The filing fee (as of this writing) for the I-129 petition is $460USD, and with your I-129 that includes all the above mentioned evidence, you need to also include evidence of your selection for the lottery (e.g., the notice USCIS sent your employer about your winning the lottery). While you do not submit duplicate copies to USCIS, make sure you make a copy of your entire petition package for your own records.
After Submitting Your Petition
USCIS will review your application and sometimes, they may request additional information (RFE—a request for evidence). You will need to respond to this as soon as possible as your petition only has a 90 day review window and if you do not provide the additional evidence in their timeframe, your petition will be denied.
If you receive an I-797 from USCIS, congratulations are in order because your petition was approved! Make sure you are well aware of the validity period on your I-797 form and your I-94 form (the one which comes first!).
Validity Period
Your H-1B status is valid until the end date on your I-94 (your arrival/departure record) form or the expiration date on your H-1B I-797 notice of action, whichever comes first: so make sure you are well aware of the end date so you can apply for extensions if possible. Don’t forget, the H-1B is employer based — so if you leave your employer for whatever reason, you must consult your immigration attorney about transferring your H-1B to your new sponsoring employer.
If you have won the H-1B lottery and received an I-797 but want to change employers, FrogHire.ai can streamline your job search. Not only will it help you filter out the job postings which do not offer sponsorship (or have unclear sponsorship history) and therefore cannot accept your transferred H-1B, but it will also review your skill set to see how qualified you are for the position based upon your inputted skills and the requirements for the position.
TLDR:
There are numerous items to prepare in the 90 days after you win the H-1B lottery, as you have to gather evidence to submit with your I-129 petition for the H-1B visa. Make sure to consult an immigration attorney for support. Download the F1hire extension which will filter the sponsor-friendly companies for you, while also helping you enhance your resume to make you more marketable if you’re looking to transfer your H-1B to a new employer for career advancement!
