By: Shah Peerally Esq.

If you want to work and live in the US and have the option for applying for a green card too, the H1B visa is the perfect option for you. The H1B visa covers different fields of work that range from engineering to architecture to health and medicine too, amongst others. This H1B visa is granted usually to a foreign national, who is sponsored by a US Company for a specific period, not beyond six years.

The H1B visa entitles your spouse and children to accompany you as the holder of an H1B visa to live in United States. One of the benefits of the H1B visa is that it is a ‘dual intent’ visa which means you can apply for a green card once you have an H1B visa. An individual cannot apply for an H1B visa by themselves, for that a US company needs to sponsor them. The process requires documentation that has to be carefully scanned before submission. The H1B visa documents have to be submitted, in the right manner and at the right time, without which obtaining a visa would be next to impossible.

There have been many such cases where because of carelessly placed H1B visa documents, people have suffered which in turn led to them not being able to apply for a whole year for the H1B visa. Along with the individual, the company who sponsors for a foreign national’s visa has to make sure that the necessary H1B visa documents, required for support in proof of the sponsorship are in place.

Because H1B visas are subject to an annual numerical cap, which is currently slated at 65,000, there is a huge rush for application of H1B visa. If the employee does not submit the relevant H1B visa documents the application would be turned down.

If you think that obtaining an H1B visa is really important to you then, having your H1B visa documents in place becomes all that more necessary. An H1B visa holder has many benefits prime amongst which are not only staying and working in the US but also buying or selling property there.

Once you have your sponsorship in place from a US company, you need to make a list of the documents required for H1B visa, some of which are listed here:

– A Photograph( as per specification)

– A valid Passport

– The offer letterform the company in the United States, who will be your sponsor.

– A letter from your current employer

– Resume of the applicant

– Samples of the projects and other related documents that describe the company’s work profile.

– Degree Certificates

– Six months of bank statements

– An approval notice (form I 797) of the original petition made

– An employment verification letter that justifies your application

Once all documents for H1B visa are properly submitted, the USCIS(United States Citizenship and Immigration Service) will start reviewing your for completeness. The attached documents will be checked along with the application. If all the requirements are met, USCIS will send an approval notice to the US employer and approval notice will be sent. Using the Approval Notice, the applicant may obtain the H1 visa from the US Consulate. If the application is denied, the USCIS will notify in writing the reason for rejection.

In case you are someone who is not applying for a fresh H1B visa but for H1B Visa Transfer, you can submit a petition for the same once you have submitted the correct documents for the Hi1B Visa transfer. In both cases of fresh application as well as that of transfer it may be advisable to see a lawyer who will advise you on the correct documents for the Hi1B Visa because apart from the apparent documents listed here there is a lot of legal processing that needs to be done and can be best taken care of through a H1B visa lawyer.

An H1B visa lawyer would recommend the following documents for H1B visa transfer or extension.

– Copy of all your Degrees

– Last 3 months pay slips

– Passport copies

– Valid visa copies

– Social security card copies

– Updated resume

– Copy of I-94 records

(Note that the list above is limited and there might be other additional documents required depending on your case)

Gathering and maintaining all your documents for H1Bvisa is of utmost importance in getting or renewing of your H1B visa. In order to be on the safe side and know exactly what is required by you, you might want to get in touch with the experienced Immigration lawyers of the Shah Peerally Law Firm, who will help you out not only in gathering and documenting all that is necessary for the H1B visa but also guide you through its processing. Get in touch with us at (510) 742-5887 for consultation or mail them at [email protected]

