Information about H-1B Visas
Maximum
time allowed on H-1B status is 6 years
The documents are required well in advance of the anticipated date of employment and/or expiration of the scholar's current visa status.
Who can we sponsor on the H-1B
- The
H-1B visa is designated for individuals coming temporarily to the U.S.
to perform services in a specialty occupation.
- A
scholar must be at a certain level in order to be considered for H-1B
sponsorship: (1) academic staff or (2) Sponsored Research Staff, Research
Scientist and above. Scholars
with Visiting Scholar, Visiting Scientist, and Visiting Engineer titles
are not eligible for sponsorship. Among others who do not
qualify are administrative, library, technical and support staff, computer
positions, undergraduates, scholars subject to the two-year home residence
requirement (unless a waiver is obtained), and individuals who are not
funded at the required level through MIT funds.
- Please be aware that MIT will not sponsor an H-1B petition for every current or prospective MIT employee, and there will be cases in which an individual is ineligible for H-1B status.
Processing H-1B
- Please notify Elsye Luc if you have a scholar that possibly may need to be on an H-1B.
H-1B Processing Time
- The processing time for H-1B is 4.5 to 6 months from the time that ISO sends the packet to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS)
H-1B Premium Processing
- An
additional fee of $1,000.00 is paid for processing time between
15-20 days.
New law affecting H-1B visas effective March 8, 2005.
On December 8, 2004, the President signed the Omnibus Appropriations Act. This new law contains provisions that will affect H-1B Temporary Worker visa processing. A significant new fee and other provisions will take effect March 8, 2005.
*NEW FEE*
The Act requires employers to pay the Department of Homeland Security a new "anti-fraud" fee of $500 per H-1 petition. The fee will apply to all H petitions for new employment filed on or after March 8, 2005. Petitions for extension with the same employer and/or amendment will be exempt from the fee. The anti-fraud fee must be paid in addition to the regular filing fee ($185 per application) and, in some cases, in addition to the elective "premium processing" fee for expedited processing ($1000 per application). Despite the very best efforts of numerous professional associations in Washington, colleges and universities will not be exempt from this fee. The Act indicates that the fee is to be imposed "on the employer." This means that the fee cannot be "passed on" to the international scholar, as it is an employer business expense. The group must process the SAP Requisition and Request for Payment (RFP) for the $500 fee. Research funds cannot be used for this purpose. If you have any questions on processing the Request for payment, please feel free to contact Elsye Luc at 2-2556.
PREVAILING
WAGE
Also
effective in March, will be the provision requiring employers to pay the
higher of the actual wage (as paid to other similarly employed individuals
at that employer) or 100% of the prevailing wage, as determined by the
State Employment Security Agency. Previous H-1 regulations required employers
to pay no less than the actual wage or 95% of the prevailing wage. In
nearly all MIT H-1 cases of the recent past, DLCs met or exceeded 100%
of the SESA prevailing wage.
The Act reinstates and makes permanent the ability of the Department of Labor to initiate an investigation of an employer if it has reasonable cause. The investigation need not be triggered by a specific complaint. This provision will also take effect March 8, 2005.
