The H1B Visa Program is the official and primary USA work visa / work permit. The H1B is a non-immigrant visa in the USA under the Immigration & Nationality Act, section 101(a) (15)(H). It allows US employers to employ foreign workers, from all over the world, in specialty occupations.
The US Government introduced the H1B visa to provide highly skilled International Professionals and/or International Students, from all over the World, the opportunity to live and work in America.
The H1B is the most sought after US work visa and US Immigration requires 'every' foreign national to obtain a visa in order to legally work in America.
In order to file a second or third preference employment-based petition, the employer must first obtain certification from the Department of Labor that qualified, willing U.S. workers are not available for the position offered to the foreign national beneficiary and that employing the foreign national will not adversely affect the wages of U.S. workers. To obtain the certification, the employer must submit an Application for Alien Employment Certification (also known as a “labor certification“) to DOL.
Labor certification applications are processed under the Department of Labor’s Program Electronic Review Management (PERM) system. Under PERM, employers must conduct recruitment and advertising within a 180-day period before filing a labor certification application. Applications are submitted electronically to a Department of Labor processing center, where they are generally adjudicated in less than 90 days. (Applications may also be submitted by mail, but these are subject to longer processing times.) PERM applications are subject to audits by DOL Certifying Officers, based on specific compliance criteria or random selection. If a case is selected for auditing, processing times may be lengthier.
