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5 Myths about H1B Visas Filing and Approvals – Premium Processing, MS in US

Lately, I have been looking at some interesting questions posted by H1B seekers, interesting enough there are some misconceptions around the understanding…Let me take some time to clarify some myths around H1B visa filing.

1. Will premium processing of my H1B Visa petition increase chances of Approval ?

Simple answer is “NO”.  There is definitely additional H1B visa fee USCIS charges to file a petition under premium processing. You may assume, USCIS is making more money with premium processing, so they would approve more of the visa petitions filed under premium processing just to make more money and encourage employers to file under premium processing…But, this is not true.  USCIS has given this premium processing provision just to cater to needs of those employers, who are in urgent need of decisions for planning and getting employees on board.  Just filing a H1B petition under premium processing does NOT increase the approval chances of the petition.

2. Will my H1B visa petition be rejected because my employer/ Sponsor company is Small size ?

No, it is NOT true.  The size of the company does not really impact the approval chances of your petition.  USCIS may pay more attention, if the company is small, because there has been so much fraud in the past with Small IT Body Shop companies.  But, there are enough checks in place like measures to report H1B Fraud,  2011 H1B Rules of Neufeld Memo , etc .  On the contrary, with large companies filing too many H1B petitions it is quite possible that they are looked more closely… All in all, the size of the company does not matter, it is the authenticity of the job requirement and the fit of candidate to the same job is what matters.

3. Will filing my H1B visa petition in early April increase my chances of Approval as More Visa slots are available ?

No, it is NOT true.   The time of filing of your H1B visa petition does not really impact the approval chances of your petition.  Even if your petition is  the last one that USCIS receives, it does not make any distinction, all they care is does your petition fall under the H1B cap count or not.  If there is a H1B Lottery Situation filing it ahead of time increases your chances to be counted in cap. Check History of H1B Cap Reach Dates

4. I live in outside of USA in country like India  and My employer is applying H1B visa petition for me. Does my petition has less approval chances in compared with petition filed for someone in US with Change of Status from F1, H4 or L1, etc. ?

NO, the location of the H1B candidate does not really impact the approval rate. In fact, H1B visa was instituted for hiring international highly skilled labor to cater to market needs in America.  What matters is your education and experience that substantiates your eligibility for granting H1B visa.  Having strong education background coupled with relevant experience will help USCIS in adjudicating the petition.

5. I have NOT done MS in USA, will that impact my H1B petition approval chances in comparison with someone who have done MS in USA ?

No, it should not matter.  Having an MS degree from US, will make your petition exempt from regular quota and be counted in the 20,000 visas set aside for higher education pursued candidates in USA.  Apart from the quota, the approval chances of a H1B petition is not really impacted by education from USA.  Having said that, education from US makes the job of USCIS easier for verifying the educational requirements as it is a degree from US. If you an overseas degree, you would need to make sure it is equivalent with US education degree.

Can you think of any other myths on H1B visa ?  Share your thoughts below…

   

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92 Comments

  1. Hi, We have applied for Premium filing , but my concern is I am planning to renew my passport since it expires in another 10 months and I need to add my spouse details in it. Is it advisable to renew passport during premium filing. Please advice

    Reply
  2. Hi, My visa was picked in lottery for H1B 2017 and received RFE. After submission of RFE i got visa rejection based on specialty occupation. I read online this year a lot of denials are happening. Is it a wise decision to file MTR this year.

    Reply
  3. My Employer has applied for H1b The problem is I have F1 rejections 3 times(1st time – Insufficient funds, 2nd time – Potential Immigrant as I am married, 3rd time – Financial & other undisclosed reasons). Does these rejections Impact my H1 Visa? Have anyone gone through this type of phase and got H1?

    Reply
  4. Hello Sir, I need to transfer My expired H1B visa.
    Currently I am in India.
    For the business I need to travel to USA now. for short term.

    Is it possible to process my Visa transfer or renewal when i am in usa.
    and if it can be applied in the March 2-3rd week only can we do it in premium.

    Reply
    • If your H1B is expired how do you plan to travel to USA ? Is it on B1 ? What do you mean by expire is it just the stamping or your entire 6 yrs stay is complete and is expired ?

      You need to be more clear with your H1 B expiry status. Like when was it select it lottery, how much time you stayed in US. when you returned back. How much time elapsed after retruning….. Good Luck

      Reply
  5. Hi,
    I am currently in USA on F1-OPT. My employer is filing for H1B this April, but I have to travel to India around May 20th. My OPT will be valid at the time of leaving and returning to USA. Will my travel affect my H1B? Can I travel to India if Premium Processing is done?
    Thanks!

    Reply
  6. Its been more than 15 days (premium processing), we still didn’t receive the RFE response yet.It shows on Dec 12th the RFE was received.But no change in status yet.

    Reply
  7. Hi,

    I hold an stamped H1b visa from my current company and stamping is till 2019. The project for which I was given visa was not extended and so no onsite for me as of now. Also, I have been pushed to a dead end project in which there is no USA onsite opportunity. The technology am working on is quiet in demand and my colleagues are saying to get it transferred to some reputed consultancy in US which will hire me on contract/full-time. But I have following question
    1) Is transferring visa in my case (not visited on current visa to USA even once) advisable?
    2) If yes, then do I have to go for re-stamping or can avail Dropbox facility?

    Thanks

    Reply
  8. My Visa has been rejected twice earlier for travelling to USA for a wedding. Due to monentary issues. Is it possible if my name is put in the lottery will it impact H1B process by any chance and incase name comes in lottery wil it impact further processing?

    Reply
  9. Hi All,I have Recently came from US and having vaild H1B,intially I got it for one year last month it got expired,I want to renew from india, How much time it will take to renew and let me know the best process to go through.

    Reply
  10. What is the max date when someone has got status change ? As 1st October is when generally people start working, does the status change take place after Oct 1 too or does it gets updated before this date.

    Reply
  11. Hello,

    I have applied for H1 visa April 2016 and still my status is case was received and there is no change in status..my husband is in USA and I am in India currently.. If I travel on H4 visa what will happen to my H1 visa..do I need to go for entire process again.. I don’t want to loose my H1 visa..what are changes of rejection after getting receipt no..?
    I am in very much dilemma.. Should I travel on h4 or keep waiting for h1 approval..pls some advice.

    Reply
    • Nikita,

      Your H-1 petition will not be impacted and will continue to be processed. Once approved, you will either have to apply COS or enter US on stamped H-1 visa before starting to work on H-1.

      Reply
      • okii..if I get h4 stamped in December and after few days I get h1 approval too..what will happen to my h4 in that case..what is advisable ..? I can wait till Nov for my h1 approval..after that I’ll file for h4 stamping..so will it affect my h1??

        Reply
        • Nikita,

          Nothing happens to your stamped H-4 visa. You can still you it to travel to US and apply for COS from H-4 to H-1. The other option is to go for H-1 stamping and then travel to US on that stamped H-1 visa. In latter, they may cancel H-4 visa stamp w/o prejudice when approving the H-1 visa.

          Reply
  12. Can I travel to US with an ESTA visitors visa after not getting picked in the H1b lottery?

    I am thinking to apply for the H1b lottery next year and I have a job offer. However since the chances are rather small (round 15-20% to get a visa) I wonder if “not getting picked” is the same thing as getting rejected. Having a visa rejected will no longer qualify me to use the ESTA process to get a visa is that correct? Or is “not getting picked” a different thing?

    Reply
  13. Hi All,

    I had applied H1B Visa 2015 but petition was not approved , I had received one mail reason of project was reject and how can I get money from www.logicg.com and they ware taking 4Laks but I did not received any single rupees and I had RFF document .

    Reply
    • Kishore,

      You will have to this yourself. Find other people who were duped by this employer/agency and then maybe file a case against them.

      Reply
  14. Hi All,

    I had applied H1B Visa 2015 but petition was not approved , I had received one mail reason of project was reject and how can I get money from www.logicg.com and they ware taking 4Laks but I did not received any single rupees.

    Reply
  15. Hi, we just recevied a message that my h1b visa got denied and now my employers’ lawyer would like to re-appeal the case. what would be the probability that the USCIS might accept it again and grant the visa? and how long does it take for the result of the appeal to be released? thanks.

    Reply
    • letitbe,

      Employer can file MTR or Appeal the judgment. USCIS would reinstate the petition only if employer is able to demonstrate that the denial was in error. Do you know the denial reason?

      Reply
  16. hi

    can someone help me with below situation:

    I applied my H1b through a company XYZ , who used work order of PQR company , and it got selected in lottery

    Now , I have a possible scenario coming in future

    I have offers from other company lets say LMN too, beside the PQR company, can i use the offer from LMN beside from PQR at time of submitting for H1b approval to get a job in october, since my work consulting company would still be XYZ but the work order they use, does it matter at time of getting i797

    Reply
    • Rahul dixit,

      You cannot change I-129 and LCA while the petition is pending. So it needs to be processed with current client (as LCA is listed as client location) and once approved, amendment can be filed for the new client.

      Reply
  17. Hi,
    I have one question.
    I still haven’t received any updates regarding H1b Result whether it is selected or rejected, and since it’s already June, do you think that there’s a grate chance .
    as some say if any body rejects his/her approved visa or some duplicates entry case then USCIS again pick some random names from loterry…

    Reply
    • vaishali agrawal,

      If you haven’t received any confirmation about lottery selection, then there is a good chance that you didn’t make through the lottery. Do not rely on wait list as there is not much clarity on how it is handled.

      Reply
  18. I have one question I would like to ask.
    When is the last day you would get the official notice?(wether you got the visa or not).
    I still haven’t received mine yet, and since it’s already June, do you think that there’s a grate chance I didn’t get it? Or does the time and months doesn’t matter that much.

    Thank you,

    M

    Reply
    • Michael,

      Selected candidates should have received the receipts by now. Rejection notices should start coming in anytime now and would continue through July. This a tentative timelines and USCIS doesn’t publish official timelines for this.

      Reply
  19. Got to know that H1B 2017 lottery is completed on 2nd May 2016. My application was filed by 2 companies and 1 was picked and other not, both are not related and are unaware that my application is filed from 2 firms.
    1. The other company still says that, yet there is chance of getting picked and asked me to wait till July end as there would be updates and rejections in the picked applications in lottery system and my application is likely to get picked. How far is this true?

    2. I got to know from comments, that there is no Issue in case of 2 applications were selected in lottery, however, should sail only with one. What are the steps to proceed in this case. Should I intimate one of the employer that my processing would be from different firm(could he cause any Issue in processing) or should I mention any personal reasons. I am looking for detailed safer steps.

    Reply
    • Anonymous1,

      1. He is being optimistic that there is hope until rejection package is received. In reality, chances of getting selected now are pretty low.

      2. If the 2nd application doesn’t get selected, you don’t even have to tell him anything. It will be considered rejected and all money will be returned to the employer. In case other one is also selected, then you can wait to see which one gets approved and then decide to join a better employer.

      Reply
      • Thanks Saurabh,
        In case 2 were picked in lottery, Can we directly intimate any one of the employer that my case would be processed by other employer and in any case can they create Issues or will I face Issues from USCIS in any form. Basically I am processing from India.

        Reply
        • Thanks Saurabh,
          If cases 2 were picked in lottery, Can we directly intimate any one of the employer that my case would be processed by other employer and in any case can they create Issues or will I face Issues from USCIS in any form. Basically I am processing from India.

          Reply
        • Anonymous1,

          If both are selected, there is a possibility that USCIS will issue RFE to confirm that 2 employers are not related and didn’t conspired to file multiple applications. Other than that, one shouldn’t impact the other.

          If you want the employer to withdraw, then it will be employer’s call whether to withdraw it or not. Also, no money would be returned from USCIS in this case. Lastly, think about the scenario where A withdraws the petition on hope that B would be approved, but B gets denied for some reason. You will be left w/ no petition and out of lottery.

          Reply
    • Sangeeta Shah,

      Any MS degree from an accredited school will be part of that 20K quota. Doesn’t matter what the specialization is.

      Reply
  20. Hi really appreciate if you can answer my question,

    my question is how long it usually takes for regular processing of H1-B,I just want to convert into premium,if my case picked in lottery, so my question is when I will get update my case is picked in lottery or not

    Thanks
    Harish

    Reply
    • Harish Gulati,

      Regular processing can take 2-6 months while PP will be done in 15 calendar days. If RFE is issued, then it can take longer.

      In any case, even if petition is approved early it won’t have a start date prior to Oct 1. So maybe wait a while to see if your petition gets approved in RP, if not upgrade to PP.

      Reply
  21. Nice Information. I have a few questions.
    1) Is education at IIT’s in India comparable to universities in US. Will that make any difference during H1b lottery.
    2) It was mentioned that work experience and good educational background plays a role during H1b processing. Does it mean that people with these qualities have more preference during H1b lottery?

    Reply
    • Harish,

      1. Assuming a candidate has done Bachelors from IIT, and another has done Bachelors from a US school, then both have equal chances of getting approval.
      2. No preference given. Its just that if selected, they have better chances of getting approval.

      Reply
  22. I am planning to file 2 H1 this year : cmpny A and B . A is my current employer and is IT giant.
    B is a Consultancy firm. A and B are not related to each other in any manner. If my both petition picked up in Lottery what are the chances of getting RFE ?
    Can my Cmpny A know about Cmpny B filing my H1 through RFE ?

    Reply
    • H1Curiuos,

      I haven’t read about any experiences where RFE was related due to multiple filing. I have seen attorneys advising this to improve lottery chances, and it is perfectly legal. A and B won’t know about each other’s petition.

      Reply
  23. Hey I have a 5 years of teaching experience in computer science institute.i want to apply h1b in April 2016,p.its a less time to apply and get job in USA,so can any one help me to find job in USA.i m from india

    Reply
  24. I was selected in lottery and check was cleared. But due to some problems i don’t want to attend the interview. Will my money going to return ?

    please clarify

    Reply
    • RY

      One of my frnds has applied for h1b under RP
      Petition filed in April 2016

      Checked h1b tracker nd it is showing case received picked in lottery
      But no receipt /notice is recd yet

      Wat r thechances of getting approved

      Also the person has worked in past in US

      So are there chances of getting approved by USCIS

      Reply
  25. I was selected in lottery an check was cleared. But due to some process i don’t want to attend the interview. Will my money going to return ?

    please clarify

    Reply
  26. Answer to myth 5 is not entirely true… if you have a US Ms. degree you are counted in the first round of random selections under the 20K US Master cap gap., if you’re application is not picked, you still participate in the second round for the regular group 60K (because 5K are set aside for citizens of Singapore and Chile)… so by having a US Ms. you actually participate 2 times (like having two lottery tickets).

    Reply
    • The myth 5 is not about Lottery selection, it is about Approval of your H1B petition. There is a big difference, getting selected and then approval of the same. Your MS may NOT give you more chances of Approval of the petition.

      Reply
  27. This is my second/last chance to apply for H1-B and I’m on my STEM.
    Is that correct to spend $1250 or so on premium vs., spend less than $500 to apply for few universities which provides CPT and let me continue my work as usual?
    My OPT ends this Nov 30th.

    Reply
  28. My application got rejected in 2014 lottery, will there be any importance given to the application which got rejected last year ?

    Reply
  29. This guy is so wrong!! Anyone knows that an advanced degree from the U.S. increases your chances!!! Other answer are dubious too…

    Reply
    • HP, read it closely, “it does NOT increase your approval chances”. It will increase your chances in the lottery, but NOT with approval.

      Reply
  30. Hi,
    I resigned my job in UAE and left in 1 day as a result seems my employer reported Immigration absconded.

    My question is does it block for granting any new visa for other countries like H1B, EU Blue Card, UK Tier 2 etc.

    Ques1: I have a UAE job visa till 2017 which is marked absconded in UAE

    Is it problem to apply H1B US Visa?

    PLease suggest.

    Reply
    • I don’t think the rest of the world cares. In civilized countries we do not enslave people and take away their passports the way the UAE does. You are always free to leave.

      Reply
  31. I have H4 visa and planning and might get H1 filed from an employer. However I am still in India and might travel to US in mid Apr. which is after 1 Apr 15 . (i.e., Petition will be filed before a week or two of my US travel)

    Will i Still be eligible to file H1 (H4 to H1) when I am not in US yet but expected to travel to US in a week time after filing for petition.

    Will there be any problems later on if the petition gets approved, What all should be taken into consideration.

    Reply
  32. I am filing this year 2015 for h1b regular with a consultancy, when I checked his rank in myvisas, it is around 6500. I have checked his previous history it is around 32 LCA got approved and 1 denied in 2014 and they never processed before. Will it be impacted for lottery picking. Please let me know

    Reply
    • Hello Kumar,
      Can you please tell which consultancy did applied the H1 B visa for you.
      I am looking for applying H1 B for 2017 through a consultancy but very confused which consultancy to choose.

      Reply
  33. Applied for 2015 H1B. I have a question on my college.
    Regarding education qualification I am an engineering graduate from Regional Engineering College in 1999 which was under a central university. In 2002 ministry of HR, Gove. of India changes the name of RECs to NIT(national Institute of technology) and made the college as a autonomous one. Now if the USCIS or any background verification company searched my college how they would find it? This is an issue with anyone of 17 RECs alumni before 2002 pass-out. Can anyone explain this if there is any REC student in this forum?

    Reply
  34. Hi I have BTECH Biotech background but have 6 + years of exp in IT currentl in Infosys.I am not applying H1B through Infosys,i am applyig through a conultancy but one of my relative was saying I should have IT background before applyiung for jobs in US thru any consul./ I have applied for my MSC IT which is 2 years should i wait 2 years to apply for H1B 2015

    Reply
    • Hi, I have my bacherlors in Biotech(Engg deg) with 4 years exp. got H1 approved. you should not have any trouble in filiing H1 with this req. Wish you all d best

      Reply
  35. Hi,
    My visa got picked in H1 lottery in May’14 and i went to India in June for a month. In October i got the approved visa but the petition says that because i travelled to another country and left USA, while my H1b visa approval was pending, so the beneficiary has abandoned the request of change in Visa status from H4 to H1. Does it mean that I don’t have the work permit now? Plz help

    Reply
  36. I’m a Mechanical Engineer with a Master of Science in Manufacturing from Mexico working in USA. Three years ago I was brought by a medium size company as a Project Engineer under a TN visa. After 8 months I was let go along with half of the company because it went bankruptcy. It took me a year to find another job which sponsored me a visa, again TN.

    My current employer hired me as QC Engineer but being a small machine shop I ended up being actually an Inspector. Three months after starting I asked to apply for the H1-B visa if I paid for it. The boss managed all the paper work and I put the money but my lawyer told me it got rejected because I’m not earning according to my category. You’ll see, an Inspector only needs a High School diploma to work and the a Bureau of Labor establish the average salary, I’m earning as an undergraduate.

    I’ll have a talk with the boss soon to see if next year he’s willing to apply again up but now he’d need to pay. The trick in here is that he needs to comply with the minimum salary for QC as the Bureau establish which is asking for a rise of 33% my current salary which I see difficult happening. Where or which institution to contact to have a more detailed data of how much would be the minimum salary for someone like me to avoid being rejected because of that single fact?

    Thank you!

    Reply
  37. hi my is anusha.This year i applied for H1B ..its picked in lottery also…but my employer said i got a query..is there any chances to reject my H1B

    Reply
  38. Hi,

    My manager said my petition picked for H1 B.

    Is there any chance to roll back the petition by employer?

    thanks
    Madhuri s

    Reply
  39. hi , I have discontinued my certification program in usa and came to india on persol issues but before coming to india i have applied for h1b with my indian mba degree . it got picked up and got approved ….now i want to come on h1b visa to usa…. is threre any problem cos i have discontinued certification program in usa…….if vo ask me why did you discontinued ,please let know the best answer to explain to vo.what are the chance of h1b visa

    Reply
  40. Recently i got H1B receipt number and it was in Initial review.
    Five years back i have got two F1 visa rejections due to lack of backlogs in my Graduation degree and low percentage in B.Tech (55%)
    Can my petition approve now or USCIS check B.Tech percentage and previous history while approving the petition and Visa stamping..

    Please reply to me…

    Reply
  41. Sir,
    I am moving for masters in CS this year………….
    The no. students moving to US these years is too high!!
    What if I do not get selected in the lottery after completion of my MS…………..
    Can I work on OPT there????
    How easy is it to get an OPT there????
    What is the grace period for me to stay there???
    Are there any alternate options???

    Reply
  42. Hi ..

    I am full time employee for a company and I got h1b from that company in 2012.

    Now I want to change my job .

    I have tried for full times jobs from last year . Had some interviews but none of them want to sponsor H1B even the big mnc’s.

    Now I wanted to move for consulting.

    So my question is : If i join a consultancy and apply H1B with them internally and still work with my present company until i get a project.

    My question is if they apply H1B for me internally , do they have to run payroll for me or the payroll on my name with present company works until i get a project..?

    please give me details to safely land on other h1b from fulltime to consulting..

    Thanks in advance.

    Reply
    • Dear,
      I checked with my employer.

      I was told that my Visa petition got rejected, however no reason given.

      What could be the reasons ?

      Anything specific reasons will be for rejection ?

      Reply
        • Dear,

          If i give my Passport number will it be possible to check & revert ? Or is it possible for you to send me the link where can i check with ?

          Kind Regards,
          Sriram

          Reply
        • Dear ,

          When i checked with my employer, I have told that my H1B petition was rejected .
          But i have no clue if it would have got rejected/not picked up .
          How to track ?
          Kindly advice .

          Kind Regards,
          Sriram

          Reply
          • u shud ask ur employer the reason for rejection.. i.e was it picked up in the lottery, then subsequently rejected or is it because of not being picked up in the lottery.
            There is no way you can find out urself about a H1B petition. Even if you contact the uscis, they will not give any information to the employee.

          • Dear,

            Many thanks for the info.

            Just a question .

            What if my petition rejected – Not picked in the lottery ?

            Will be there any alternate solution for this ?

  43. Dear Sachin ,

    Many thanks .
    Hope this will help me .
    Is it possible for u to list out the docs reqd for Visa interview ?
    What are the key points that have to be looked on ?
    Coz I’m very nervous about it.

    Best Regards,
    Sriram.B

    Reply
  44. Hi ,

    I’m from India . At present im working for a Govt Bank in Dubai . I have got job in US . Can i attend US Visa interview without cancelling my Dubai employment Visa ? Will that be an problem ?

    Reply
    • There should not be any problem.
      People can have work visa of multiple countries. I have UK and AUS visa and waititing for this year H1b as my current client is US based Bank.

      So there should not be any problem.

      Reply
      • Really this is good news for H4 holders who suffered more than 6 years. Most of them were came from India with technology background and If the Department of Homeland Security will start the H4-EAD process that will awesome. Due GC process is running dam slow this decision will very good option to prove their technology abilities equivalent to the current employers.

        We are all eagerly waiting for this process should be implemented.

        Reply
    • Hi Sriram,

      you did not mention that how long you are working in UAE, are you in the list hlb list fo 2013? where is your family ?

      Reply
      • Dear ,

        I’m working in UAE for the past 1.5years & my family is in India. Im bachelor though.
        I dunno how to track if I’m in 2013 H1B list. I don’t have any tracking number. Can you advice me on this ?

        Thanks,
        Sriram

        Reply
  45. Thanks a ton for this article Redbus, was very helpful. I’m a H4 filing for H1, and we were recently discussing about these. I had even heard chances might be less for people filing from the US, but I guess that is false as well. 🙂

    Reply

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