H1-B Visa practical tips

H1-B Visa practical tips| Working in United States and Green card
                                                                      BY: Rakesh and Amit
Source: http://www.saching.com 


 
OVERVIEW - What is H1-B Visa:
H1 visa is the most popular and best visa among Indian software engineers willing to work in United States. Getting your visa can be a bit tricky but once you are able to get it, this visa is "almost" a pathway to US "Green card" eventually the "Citizenship" of the all mighty United Sates of America if you plan intelligently. Software engineers and programmers who come on other visa's like L1, B1 visas, do not have much flexibility of switching jobs, which is actually the best part about H1 visa.

Apart from salaries, Indian people love the hassle free and corruption free lifestyle of USA. Most of the software engineers who think that they will stay only for a few years and then return back, usually change their mind and want to live here for the rest of their life.

WHO WILL SPONSOR YOUR H1 WORK VISA:
Most Indians get their H1 visa from their present Indian company (like Infosys, Wipro, TCS or Satyam), who have an outsourcing project at a clients location or their own office, but in most cases you will work at client's location. Some people apply visa through the Desi consultants, which has become less popular these days because some of them make you sign a 1 year bond or probably demand some money considering the risk that if your visa application fails to make it, they will have to eat that loss.

PRACTICAL TIP:
Personally I think it is better to come using your current company, unless a well known US based company like Microsoft, Oracle, Intel, IBM, SAP etc are sponsoring your Visa application directly.

Advantages of H1 Visa:
1. You can change your employer any time.
2. Valid for 3 years, then easily extendable for another 3 years.
3. You can apply your Green card (Permanent residency) application ( Starting with Labor certification) within months of joining the company.

Disadvantages of H1 Visa:
1. If you decide to change your job, your new employer will have to pay the H1 transfer fee. Most large and good companies will have no problem in processing your application and paying this fee. On the other hand some Indian/desi companies will indirectly take that money from you or demand a bond.
2. Uncertainty: There is a huge demand for H1 visa's these days, the maximum quota of 65,000 H1 visa's gets filled up quickly and often done via lottery system.

PREPARE FOR FILING YOUR H1 Visa:
Plan your visa application 1 year in advance, get your passport, US job offer letter (unless you are going through your current Indian company) and other paperwork ready by December. Around April the USCIS/INS/Immigration agency, starts accepting the applications which quickly fills up within first few days. The attorney of your US based company should not be lazy because there is no window for errors. A total of 65,000 visa's are for people all over the world and not just Indians, although Indian software engineers form the biggest lot. By end of April/May the visa lottery takes place and individuals whose application is successful in the lottery, will be "considered" for further processing.

Lets assume you were lucky in the H1 visa lottery system. In the following months your US lawyer will get your "H1 Approval" (or denial) letter. They will send you that H1 approval notice via mail or courier, which is needed for H1 visa interview at the nearest US consulate. "H1 Approval" letter does not guarantee that you will certainly get the approved visa stamp on your passport. Take your visa interview date the moment you get your H1 visa approval letter. Some consulates have a drop box system instead of a face to face interview.

Remember, no one can guarantee that your application will make through the lottery or that you will certainly pass in the interview later. If they are, then you better be extra careful with them as they are lying already. You should never present any false document . during your visa process because if you are caught then you will be permanently banned from applying for any USA visa in future. There are several interview questions on the internet and video's on YouTube which may help you prepare quite well.

AFTER LANDING IN USA:
Within the next few days, get your basic paper work done like Social security card and try to get your Drivers license in the next few weeks or months. I personally like to suggest you to get a prepaid cell phone (about $30 in Walmart or Target stores) for emergency reasons since you are in a new country.

WHAT TO LOOK IN YOUR JOB:
1. Salary - Your salary should be comparable to the general prevailing wage. A good place to check this is Salary.com and Glassdoor.com. Often H1 applicants are offered a "Slightly" lower wage as the company has to bear your visa expenses. If your Salary is very low then consider changing your job if you like. Your salary will be roughly be more than $65,000 to $100,000.

2. Green Card - (Very Important) Lot of software engineers on H1 visa think that they have a total of 6 years and do not worry about it till their 3rd or 4th year. Start your application within 1st year so you have enough time, even though you can extend your stay beyond 6+ years based on your pending green card application, it almost becomes a crisis mode later. Even if you think that you will be staying in US for just 2-3 years and then going back, well most people change their mind after 3 years and want to stay in US. Keep your birth certificate (English version), experience letters and education degrees handy.

3. Desi Companies/Consultants: Working for Desi consultants is not fun, although in three circumstances it may make sense -
a) You have just lost your job and want to get your next visa sponsor immediately.
b) You are really good in your field and have offer from a company which is willing you keep you as a contractor at a good hourly billing rate. Desi company will often do a 70%-30% split (70% is yours). Percentage can vary depending on the billing rate and additional benefits you get from the Desi company. But if your project get's over, you might be left on a lower bench salary or no salary ( like vacation leave) until your next project.
c) Desi companies are usually fast in processing your H1 visa, filing for new green card application or sponsoring your existing application if you were already in the process.

GETTING MARRIED ON H1 VISA - PRACTICAL TIP:
It is best to marry while you are on your H1 visa and before your Green card approval. Spouse will enter in US on H4 visa (spouse visa). For most, the best time to get married is just before applying for your I-485 (final stage of Green Card). Green card processing has 3 stages (Labor certification, I-140 and I-485). You will be able to add your spouse on your I-485 application and both of you will get your Green cards together. These days getting a green card takes 4-5 years so I repeat, apply your Green card at the earliest.

WHEN WILL I GET CITIZENSHIP:
You can apply for your citizenship after 5 years of your Green Card approval. After taking US citizenship consider applying for Indian overseas citizenship too.

DO VISIT THESE SITES:
This article can get outdated but sites like murthy.com, immigration.com and immihelp.com are very good, they offer excellent tips and most up-to date information. 

For the complete article, please click here.