The H-1B is the main US work visa for skilled professionals, but it’s really three processes stacked on top of each other: a lottery just to register, a full petition once selected, and — for most holders — a multi-year path toward permanent residence. This guide covers the mechanics end to end. If you’re specifically applying from India, see our H-1B from India guide for the corridor-specific detail on the 2025–2026 policy changes; this page focuses on how the visa itself works for any applicant.
Who qualifies: the “specialty occupation” test
H-1B eligibility rests on two linked requirements:
- The role must be a “specialty occupation” — one that requires theoretical and practical application of a highly specialized body of knowledge, normally evidenced by the role requiring at least a US bachelor’s degree (or its foreign equivalent) in a specific field. A vague requirement for “a bachelor’s degree” in any field generally doesn’t qualify; the degree field has to relate directly to the job duties.
- You must hold that qualifying degree (or equivalent combination of education and experience, evaluated via a formal credential equivalency where needed).
The employer, not the applicant, files the petition — there’s no way to self-sponsor an H-1B, and the job offer has to exist before registration.
Step 1: the registration lottery
Because demand exceeds supply every year, USCIS runs a two-stage process. First, employers submit a $215-per-beneficiary electronic registration — not a full petition — for each candidate they want to sponsor, during a March registration window (for the FY2027 cap, this ran March 4–19, 2026). Only 85,000 new cap-subject H-1Bs are available annually:
- 65,000 under the regular cap.
- 20,000 reserved for candidates with a US master’s degree or higher (the “master’s cap”) — these registrations get a separate, additional shot at selection beyond the regular cap pool.
2026 change: selection is now wage-weighted, not purely random. A rule effective February 27, 2026 weights each registration’s odds by the US Department of Labor’s prevailing wage level for the role — roughly, a Wage Level IV registration gets more effective entries in the selection pool than a Wage Level I registration for the same job. If an employer has any flexibility in how a role is leveled, that decision now measurably affects selection odds, not just future pay compliance.
Step 2: the full petition
Once selected, the employer has a filing window to submit the complete Form I-129 petition with supporting evidence — the specialty-occupation case, your qualifications, a certified Labor Condition Application (LCA) from the Department of Labor, and the required fees. Petitions can be filed with premium processing ($2,805) for a 15-calendar-day decision guarantee, or at the standard pace, which varies by service center and season.
The new $100,000 supplemental fee. A presidential proclamation effective September 21, 2025 requires a one-time $100,000 payment on new H-1B petitions for beneficiaries who are outside the United States at filing. It generally does not apply to extensions, amendments, or change-of-status petitions for someone already lawfully present in the US — including the common F-1 → OPT → H-1B pathway most international students use. Whether a specific case is exempt depends on exactly how and where the petition is filed, so confirm this with the sponsoring employer’s immigration counsel rather than assuming either way.
What an H-1B actually costs
Most of the standard fees sit with the employer, and US regulations bar employers from passing several of them on to you:
| Fee | Approximate amount | Who pays |
|---|---|---|
| Registration fee | $215 | Employer |
| I-129 base filing fee | $460–$780 (by employer size) | Employer |
| ACWIA training fee | $750–$1,500 | Employer (cannot be passed to employee) |
| Fraud prevention fee | ~$500 | Employer (initial petitions) |
| Asylum program fee | $300–$600 | Employer |
| Dependent employer surcharge (Public Law 114-113) | ~$4,000 | Employer, if applicable |
| Premium processing (optional) | $2,805 | Either party |
| $100,000 supplemental fee (new petitions, beneficiary abroad) | $100,000 | Employer |
Figures shift with USCIS fee schedule updates — confirm current amounts on USCIS.gov before budgeting, and clarify with your employer up front which of these costs, if any, they expect you to cover informally (regulation prohibits recovering several of them from the worker directly).
Duration, portability and dependants
- Initial validity: typically up to 3 years, extendable to a 6-year maximum in the standard case.
- Beyond 6 years: possible if a green card process (PERM labor certification or an I-140) was filed at least 365 days before your 6-year limit, in one-year (or, in some cases, three-year) increments while the green card case is pending.
- Portability: you can start working for a new sponsoring employer as soon as they file a non-frivolous H-1B transfer petition on your behalf — you don’t have to wait for approval, as long as you were previously in valid H-1B status.
- H-4 dependants: spouses and children under 21 can accompany you on H-4 status; some H-4 spouses qualify for their own work authorization (H-4 EAD) depending on where the principal’s green card process stands.
- Cap-gap: F-1 students transitioning to H-1B get an automatic extension of F-1 status and OPT work authorization from April 1 through September 30 (or the H-1B’s start date, if earlier) so they don’t fall out of status while their October 1 H-1B start date approaches.
The path to a green card
Most H-1B holders pursuing permanent residence go through employment-based sponsorship:
- PERM labor certification — your employer tests the US labor market and the Department of Labor certifies no qualified US worker is available for the role. This step alone commonly takes around 2–2.5 years end to end (prevailing wage determination, a mandatory recruitment period, and DOL analyst review).
- Form I-140 — the immigrant petition, typically filed once PERM is certified, with USCIS processing times varying by category and premium-processing availability.
- Adjustment of status or consular processing — the final step, timing on which depends heavily on your country of birth and its green card category backlog (this is where wait times diverge most sharply by nationality, particularly for applicants born in India or China in the employment-based second and third preference categories).
FAQ
Can I apply for an H-1B without an employer? No. The petition must be filed by a US employer offering you a specific specialty-occupation role — there is no individual or self-sponsored H-1B category.
What happens if I’m not selected in the lottery? You’re not selected for that fiscal year and can be registered again in a future year’s lottery, or your employer can explore other options (O-1, L-1, or a cap-exempt H-1B if the employer is a university or qualifying nonprofit research organization).
Does changing employers restart my 6-year H-1B clock? No — H-1B time is capped cumulatively at six years across employers (with limited exceptions), not reset by moving to a new sponsor.
Is the $100,000 fee charged every year? No — it’s framed as a one-time payment tied to the specific new petition it applies to, not a recurring annual cost.
If you’re a current F-1 student weighing this path, our F-1 student visa guide and post-study work visas compared cover the OPT bridge into an H-1B attempt. None of this is legal advice — specialty-occupation determinations, fee exemptions and green-card backlogs are fact-specific and change with policy; an immigration attorney should review your case. VisaMet is building tools to help you check eligibility and prepare documentation before you commit to a filing strategy — join the waitlist for early access.
Sources: USCIS — H-1B Electronic Registration Process, USCIS — H-1B Cap Season, U.S. Department of Labor — Fact Sheet #62W: H-1B Portability, USCIS — Extension of Post-Completion OPT and F-1 Status Under H-1B Cap-Gap Regulations.
This is preparation guidance, not legal advice. H-1B fees, wage-weighting rules and green card processing times change — always confirm current figures with USCIS or an immigration attorney before you file.