Co-Author: USAVCS
H1-B visas are for temporary professional workers who will be working in a position that normally requires at least a four-year bachelor’s degree.
The H1B visa holder can extend the visa for up to a maximum of 6 years. However, the H1-B holder can extend beyond 6 years in one-year increments if the employer has filed for labor certification using the I-140 petition, or if the I-485 application for Adjustment of Status is filed at least 365 days before the time when the person is filing for the H1-B extension. If the first two stages of the employment-based green card process have been approved, i.e., labor certification and I-140 petitioning, then the H-1B visa can be extended in three-year increments.
The H1-B visa is subject to an annual quota of 65,000; 6,800 of those are set aside for special H-1B1 programs with Singapore and Chile, and so, in effect, only 58,200 are actually available to applicants from around the world. An additional quota of 20,000 is available to those who graduated from an advanced degree program in the U.S
The options for becoming a permanent resident of the U.S. are much more limited, and much more restrictive, hence the increasing popularity of the EB-5 investment visa as a good alternative to the H1B visa.
In the book “Green Card via the Red Carpet” it was identified that many EB-5 visa applicants found that the complications of alternative employment-based immigration options were so onerous as to make it impossible for them to succeed in immigrating under this system.
For instance, the multiple-year immigrant visa backlog delays make most U.S. employers unwilling to sponsor an immigrant if they cannot have the benefit of the immigrant’s labor in the meantime, hence the trend for viewing the EB5 investment visa as the alternative to the H1B visa.
It is often difficult, if not impossible; even to obtain a suitable work visa, particularly if the person has less than a bachelor’s degree. Even if the person has a bachelor’s degree and a willing employer, the restrictive quota of only 65,000 (effectively only 58,200, as discussed above) H-1B visas has created an unworkable situation, since most employers do not want to wait for six months for the worker to obtain the H-1B visa and start work; the uncertainty of whether the worker will even have his or her case considered makes it even less appealing, and more of a gamble, whereas the EB-5 visa provides permanent residence status and after five years Citizenship making the EB-5 a very good alternative to the H1B visa.
It is interesting that a number of existing H1-B visa holders who have held H1B status for a number of years are themselves turning to the EB-5 as a good alternative to the H1B.
For more details on EB-5 investments and the Alien Entrepreneur Investor visa program, contact USAVCS to schedule a consultation with one of our U.S. licensed Immigration attorneys to receive the independent advice you need to help you avoid pitfalls in your applications.
