I. Introduction to the U.S. H 1B Work Visa
The most common work visa for international students is H 1B visa. In order to obtain H 1B, applicants need to have a bachelor's degree or above. If it is not an American degree, it is necessary to evaluate justice. If it is a three-year college degree or below, it needs to be supplemented by working hours in the same field. Generally, three years of work time ≈ 1 year of study time in American universities.
Most international students should meet the academic requirements. If you want to apply for H 1B, you must first find a job, and the employer is willing to help you apply for H1B. This process is relatively simple for us, that is, submitting some passports, degree certificates and other materials. But it is still a bit troublesome for employers, especially some startups. You need to submit a working conditions application (LCA) to the US Department of Labor to prove that hiring a foreigner will not affect the work of American citizens (for example, you will not be hired at a low salary because of unfair competition, you can
Find the minimum wage of your workplace and job type), and then submit your H 1B application to USCIS.
The application for H 1B can be started six months before the actual entry into force. The application is open in April 1 every year, and then takes effect in 1 October1. The H 1B visa is capped every year. At present, there are 65,000 general places (including 6,800 places reserved for Singapore and Chile) and 20,000 postgraduate places with master's degree or above. But the reality is that the number of applicants every year far exceeds this figure. Generally, within one week of opening the application, the upper limit will be full and USCIS will stop accepting applications. For example, the application for H 1B of 20 15 was capped by USCIS on April 7 and refused to accept new applications. How much is the full amount? 172500 copies! So if you want to apply for H 1B children's shoes, you must pay attention to the communication time with the company. For children's shoes that have just graduated, they generally can't catch up with this time. They have to work with OPT for a while and wait for the next year's application.
Even if it stops accepting applications after one week, USCIS still receives twice as many applications as the H 1B quota. So there is the so-called instant spelling character, H 1B lottery. When drawing lots, USCIS will put all people with master's degree or above in a pool and draw 20 thousand. Then, the unsuccessful applicants were put together with the remaining ordinary applicants for the second round of lottery, and 65,000 were drawn. Students who have been drawn can apply for H 1B visas at the consulate ~ Students who have not been drawn can only wait until next year to try their luck.
The initial validity of H 1B is up to 3 years. After 3 years, you can apply for an extension, which can be extended to 6 years at the longest. It should be noted that if you applied for and obtained H 1B before, you need to apply for a new H 1B when you change jobs, but this does not occupy the annual cap. And if you work in a university or scientific research institution, then the H 1B they apply for does not occupy the capped quota (no lottery is needed). But once you leave school and switch to the ordinary H 1B, it's a pity that you still have to participate in the lucky draw again. .......
Second, the United States J 1 work visa introduction
In addition to H 1B, there are many students who choose to graduate from Ph.D. to be postdocs and apply for J 1 visas. J visa is also called exchange.
Visa is mainly for short-term exchange visits. The validity period is 18 months. In theory, you need to return to China for 2 years after completion. But in fact, you can apply for exemption after the expiration, and then seek to transfer to H 1B or other channels. Compared with H 1B, J 1 is easier to apply for. In fact, many cattle schools only use Responder J 1 instead of responder h1b. And J 1 pays little (even tax-free) tax. But the disadvantage is that the validity period is short and you can't apply for a green card.
Three. Introduction of American work visa
Maybe many students don't know there is an O visa. O visa is for outstanding foreign talents (for
Aliens with extraordinary abilities and their support teams). If you are good enough, you can try to apply for O instead of squeezing tens of thousands of H 1B places every year. I heard that a senior student applied for O directly after OPT, got a visa soon, and then turned green soon. .........
Four. L 1 and the introduction of American e work visa
In fact, there are other types of work visas in the United States, such as L 1 for employees of multinational companies and E for import and export traders, but international students do not need them.
In short, as a foreigner, it is not easy to work legally in the United States. This is why OPT is so important. During OPT, try to find a job and apply for a visa ~ ~