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H-1B and O-1 visas
By Roger Algase
Attorney at Law
For anyone who wants to work in a skilled or professional level job in the US, the H-1B specialty worker visa and the O-1 extraordinary ability visa (which is also available to artists, musicians and other performers), are two of the most popular and important ones to consider. This article will outline the requirements for these two visas and mention some of the most important points to keep in mind when applying for them.
First, I will discuss the H-1B visa. This visa is for someone who intends to work in a specialty occupation and who has at least a US bachelor degree related to the specialty, or a combination of education (which can include a foreign bachelor degree) and/or work experience equivalent to a US bachelor degree in the specialty. Both of these requirements must be met. For example, even if someone who has a bachelor degree in a particular specialty will be working a job that does not normally require a specialty bachelor degree, an H-1B application will not be approved.
What is considered to be a specialty occupation? Any occupation that normally requires a bachelor degree or higher, or the equivalent, in a specific field is a specialty occupation. Some examples are: Computer Systems Analyst, Software Engineer, Graphic Designer, Fashion Designer, Architect or Interior Designer, Product Designer, Market Researcher, Accountant/Financial Analyst and Teacher, to name just a few. On the other hand, jobs such as Sales Representative, Administrative Assistant, Public Relations Associate or Data Entry Proceesor would normally not qualify as H-1B jobs because they can generally be performed by someone without a specialized bachelor degree.
Currently, the immigration office has become stricter than before about making sure that a particular job meets the H-1B requirements and that the applicant will really be working in the H-1B position, and not in some other, less specialized type of work. Therefore, there may be many questions asked about the sponsoring employers business and why the company needs to hire an H-1B specialty worker.
Once it is clear that the offered job is an H-1B job, the next question is whether the person applying for the H-1B visa has a bachelor degree in the specialty, or the equivalent. For this purpose, three years of progressively responsible work experience are equal to one year of college level education. Therefore, someone with a two year associates degree in a particular specialty would need to show six years of progressive work experience in or related to the specialty job in order to be qualified.
Both defining the job duties to show that the offered position requires a specialty bachelor degree, and making clear that the applicant has a US bachelor degree, or the equivalent, in a field that is closely related to the offered job, are crucial to success in any
H-1B application. There are other important issues related to this visa, such as prevailing wages and annual visa limits, which I will discuss in a future article.
The O-1 visa is for someone who has extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics. The standard for showing extraordinary ability in the case of the sciences, education, business or athletics is that the person must be one of the very small percentage who has risen to the very top of the field. In contrast, extraordinary ability in the arts only requires a showing of distinction, defined as being prominent in the person’s field. In the case of the sciences, education, business or athletics, the applicant must show that he or she meets at least three out of seven listed requirements.
For someone in the arts (including music, film or TV)) there are six listed requirements, three of which have to be met. An O-1 applicant must have a sponsor, but, unlike H-1B, the sponsor can be an agent rather than the actual employer. Also, unlike H-1B, there is no requirement that the employer has to pay a “prevailing wage” to the O-1 applicant.
The most important requirement for an O-1 visa is that the applicant has to show that he or she is better than other people in the same field on a comparative basis. Therefore, it is extremely important to define the field in order to make it as precise and specialized as possible. A fine artist, for example, might have a hard time showing that he or she has achieved distinction compared to other artists in general. However he or she might be distinguished in a specific area of art, such as contemporary art, feminist art, or art about a particular subject or representing a particular nationality or culture.
In the same way, someone applying as a scientist will need to define the exact area of science in order to show how his or her achievements in that specific scientific field compare favorably with those of his or her colleagues (or competitors). Traditionally, O-1 visa applications were usually accompanied by a stack of recommendation letters from other people in the field, but the immigration office now often gives less importance to these letters than before. Instead, showing that there is published material about the applicant and his or her achievements, and/or other recognition in the form of well known prizes or awards is often crucial to success.
I will discuss the O-1 visa and its related EB-1 extraordinary ability green card in more detail in a future article. Anyone who has questions about H-1B, O-1 or any other work or family based visa or green card is welcome to call me at (212) 724-5643 or to send me an email inquiry at algaselex@gmail.com
Roger Algase
Attorney at Law |
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Roger Algase, a graduate of Harvard Law School, has been an immigration lawyer for more than 30 years and has helped a large number of Japanese clients. He has helped many IT professionals, architects, designers, market researchers, financial specialists and other specialty workers to obtain H-1B visas. He has also enabled company managers to obtain L-1 and E-2 visas, artists and other people with extraordinary ability to obtain O-1 visas and green cards, and skilled workers to succeed in obtaining green cards through labor certification. In addition, he has helped many married couples obtain a green card for the immigrant husband or wife based on their relationship.
Roger Algase is personally involved in working on each client’s immigration application and is in close contact with the client at every stage. Because he has dealt with many different types of challenging immigration issues, he has experience in spotting the most important points in each case and developing strategies to deal with them. This has helped him to achieve a high success rate even in a time of strict immigration enforcement. If you have a question about your immigration situation, please feel free to contact him at (212) 724-5643 or by email to algaselex@gmail.com for a free telephone consultation. He will look forward to helping you. |
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 非移民ビザ種類 |
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ビザ種類
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内 容 |
| A1 |
A-1 ビザに該当する大統領や元首(目的を問わず)を除き、外交官やその他の政府職員は渡米目的に見合ったビザが必要です。 |
| A2 |
A-2ビザの資格を得るためには、渡米目的が純粋に自国政府の公務遂行のためでなければなりません。 |
| A3 |
A-1、A-2につかえる従者、使用人及びその近親者 |
| B1 |
米国を源泉とする給与、またはその他の報酬の受領を伴わない商用を目的として渡米予定の渡航者は商用ビザを申請できます。ビザのタイプは「B-1」です。
※しかし、多くの日本人渡航者の場合、90日以下の旅行であればビザは必要ありません。ビザ免除プログラムを利用してビザなしで渡米できるかをご確認ください。 |
| B2 |
観光のための訪問者。
※日本人の場合ビザウェイバープログラムというものがあり、3ヶ月以内であればB-2ビザがなくてもアメリカに滞在できる。 |
| B1/B2 |
短期商用または観光 |
| C1 |
アメリカを通過し、他の国へすぐにまた継続して出国する外国人
※しかし、90日未満の旅行であれば、日本の旅行者は多くの場合ビザは必要ありません。ビザ免除プログラムを参照し、ビザなしで旅行できるかどうかを確認してください。 |
| D1 |
航空船舶の乗員で、一時アメリカに滞在するが同じ飛行機または船で出国する者
※クルーは、パスポートまたは船員手帳に雇用と米国への到着・入航予定日を確認した船会社または航空会社のレターを添えて申請します。米国で船舶・飛行機に合流するクルーには通常、通過ビザとクルービザの双方が発給されます。C ビザをご参照ください。 |
| E1 |
条約によって許された国（日本も含む）の貿易を業とする者 |
| E2 |
条約によって許された国(日本も含む) の投資家
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| F1 |
学位目的の学生、または語学学生
(SEVIS I-20 必須)
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| F2 |
F-1の近親者
(동반자 SEVIS I-20 必須) |
| G VISA |
※Gビザの資格を得るためには、米国に公務で入国することが条件です。 |
| G1 |
外国政府の主要な代表として、アメリカ国内にある国際的機関で働く者またそのスタッフメンバー、近親者。(国連代表など) |
| G2 |
その他の外国政府の代表として、アメリカ国内にある国際的機関で働く者、またはその近親者 |
| G3 |
通常G-1、G-2に当てはまる者だが、その代表国がその国際的機関に加入していない場合 |
| G4 |
国際的機関の雇用人、またはその近親者 |
| G5 |
G-1からG-4を保持する者の従者、使用人、またはその近親者 |
H1A
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正看護婦 |
H1B
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少なくとも学士号以上の学位を持ち、専門的な職業に就く者、またはファッションモデル
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H2A
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アメリカで人手不足となっている農業に一時的に従事する外国人
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H2B
(請願書 必須) |
アメリカで人手不足となっている職業に一時的に従事する外国人 |
H3
(請願書 必須) |
一時的に従事する職業実習生
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H4
(請願書 必須) |
H-1, H-2, H-3保持者の近親者 |
| I |
外国の報道関係の代表として、報道を目的として入国するもの及びその近親者 |
| J VISA |
これらのプログラムには、大学院生、レジデントまたはインターンとして渡米する医学生、客員教授として大学から招聘される学者、そして企業の研修生の一部が含まれます。 |
| J1 |
公的に認められたプログラムにより交換学生、研究員、職業訓練生として入国する者
(SEVIS DS-2019 ) |
| J2 |
J-1保持者の近親者
( SEVIS DS-2019 ) |
| K VISA |
※米国籍者と婚約し、米国で結婚後引き続き永住を希望する方はK-1ビザを所持していなければなりません。 |
L1
(請願書 必須) |
国際的な会社で、会社内の転勤によって入国する、企業の管理職に就く者、または専門的な知識を有する者
※他の一部の国とは異なり、米国政府は不定期の雇用に対しては就労ビザを発給しません。通常、就労ビザは米国の雇用主による具体的な求人が基本となります。 |
L2
(請願書 必須) |
L-1保持者の近親者 |
| M1 |
職業訓練または学位を目的としない(語学学校を除く)学生
(SEVIS I-20M 必須) |
| M2 |
M1 保持者の近親者
(SEVIS I-20M 必須) |
| O VISA |
※科学、芸術、教育、事業、スポーツにおける卓越した能力の持ち主、または映画やテレビ製作において卓越した業績を挙げた人ならびに、それらの遂行に必要な補助的な業務を行なう人に米国の入国が認められます。
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O1
(請願書 必須) |
非常な才能を科学、芸術、教育、ビジネス、スポーツの分野で有する者 |
O2
(請願書 必須) |
O-1保持者に必要なスタッフ |
O3
(請願書 必須) |
O-1とO-2の近親者 |
| P VISA |
※特定の運動選手、芸能人、芸術家および必須補助要員に米国入国を認められています。 |
P1
(請願書 必須) |
国際的な評価を有する運動選手、芸能人及びその近親者 |
P2
(請願書 必須) |
政府公認の興行によってアメリカに入国する芸能人 |
P3
(請願書 必須) |
文化的な興行をアメリカで行うため入国する芸術家、または芸能人 |
P4
(請願書 必須) |
P1, P2, P3 保持者の近親者 |
Q
(請願書 必須) |
国際的な文化交流プログラムに出席する者およびその近親者
※Jビザと同様に、Qビザは雇用プログラムにより近いものです。Q請願書の最長有効期間は、許可された日から15ヶ月です。申請者は米国での滞在延長を移民局へ申請できますが、15ヶ月を超すことはできません。 |
| R1 |
宗教の聖職者、牧師
※聖職者あるいは専門職であるなしにかかわらず、団体または外郭団体の要請により宗教的職務につく場合はこのビザの資格を得ることができます。 |
| R2 |
R1 保持者の近親者 |
| NATO |
NATO条約にしたがって入国する者及びその近親者 |
| S |
アメリカにおける刑事事件で連邦または州政府が必要な情報を持つ者で、アメリカにいることが必要とされる者 |
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アメリカ
