An employer may file a petition for an H-1B visa six months in advance from the requested starting date in the following manner:
- Fill out the petition Form I-129 and all its sections and supplement pages completely and accurately because any insufficiency in the form could lead to a visa denial or a rejection of your petition.
- Sign each form preferably with black ink.
- Include the correct amount of fee in form of check or money order.
- Make sure you have attached all the necessary documents and evidence to your petition at the time of filing to avoid processing delay.
- You must also include a copy of Local Condition Application (LCA), which is the Form ETA 9035, duly certified by the Department of Labor (DOL). Make sure to sign the LCA. If the DOL–certified LCA is intended for multiple positions, you need to provide the name and the USCIS case receipt number of any beneficiary who had formerly used the LCA.
- You must provide evidence of your beneficiary’s educational attainment. If a beneficiary’s degree has not been conferred yet, the alternative option would be to provide a copy of the final transcript of record, and a confirmation letter from the school registrar attesting that all requirements for the degree have been complied by the beneficiary. You may include any other evidence of qualification.
- You must show proof of employer–employee relationship that should be valid for the duration of the requested validity period of an H-1B visa.
- File your petition by mail at the proper USCIS Service Center.
You must avoid multiple filings of petitions for the same prospective employee. If you are in a rush and like to speed up the process of your petition, you can choose to file a Request for Premium Processing Service using Form I-907, which would cut down the processing period to 15 calendar days. Submit the Form I-907 together with the Form I-129.
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President & CEO
Michael Niren
Mr. Niren is CEO of VisaPlace LLC and the President and Managing Partner of VisaPlace Legal Canada, an immigration law firm based in Toronto, and VisaPlace Legal US a law firm registered in The District of Columbia, USA. Mr. Niren is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Canadian Bar Association’s Citizenship and Immigration Section, American Lawyers Association, and an Associate Member of the American Bar Association.
