Dear Sophie: How do I change my L-1B to an H-1B through the lottery?

Here’s another edition of “Dear Sophie,” the advice column that answers immigration-related questions about working at technology companies.

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Dear Sophie,

I am currently working in Seattle after relocating from Chile on an L-1B visa.

Can I change my L-1B visa to an H-1B with a different company? My understanding is that L visas are restricted to working only with the issuing company.

— Charming Chilean

Dear Charming,

Congrats on taking the first step in seeking out new opportunities — and thanks for including me on your journey!

Yes, you are correct: L visas for intra-company transferees enable you to work only for the company that sponsored you for the visa.

All non-immigrant work visas, including the L-1B, require you to have a job offer and an employer sponsor, and your visa is tied to your job with that employer. The short answer to your question is: Yes, you can take a new job with a different company that is willing to sponsor you for an H-1B specialty occupation visa or other work visas.

It’s great that you’re looking to make this change now, because filing fees for the H-1B and other work visas are soon to increase substantially. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), has proposed raising the fees for the L-1, H-1B and most other non-immigrant visas and green cards, as well as increasing the premium processing time from 15 calendar days to 15 business days.

Under the proposal, the registration fee for the H-1B lottery would increase to $215 from just $10, and the H-1B filing fee would increase to $780 from $460. DHS, which asserts that these increases are necessary to reduce processing times and eliminate backlogs, will accept public comments on the proposed rule through March 6, 2023, and I urge you to let DHS know how these changes might affect your ability to change jobs.

Now, let’s drill deeper into the H-1B and other work visas you can consider.

The H-1B Process

The H-1B specialty occupation visa requires a beneficiary to have at least a bachelor’s degree and specialized knowledge in a specific field. If you do not have a bachelor’s degree, you can count every three years of work experience as one year of academic study in a related field.

Because the number of H-1B visas available each year is capped at 85,000 (65,000 for individuals with a bachelor’s or higher degree, and 20,000 for individuals with a master’s degree or higher) and demand far exceeds the supply of H-1Bs, USCIS holds an annual random lottery to select people for an H-1B.

The annual lottery is held in March. To participate, you will need to have a job offer for a specialty occupation position from a company willing to sponsor you for an H-1B. The process begins when a company registers you for the lottery when the registration period opens in March. The electronic registration period generally stays open for a few weeks, and by the end of March, USCIS will notify employers whose H-1B candidates have been selected.

Employers of selected candidates will have until June 30, 2023, to file a Labor Condition Application (LCA) for certification by the U.S. Department of Labor, and then a full H-1B application to USCIS.

If your H-1B is approved, the earliest date you can begin working for that employer will be October 1, 2023 — the first day of the new federal fiscal year. The maximum stay on an H-1B visa is six years: an initial stay of three years with one extension of three years. If you’re currently on an L-1B, then you will need to ensure that your status is valid until the H-1B takes effect on October 1.

The H-1B is a dual-intent visa, which means that you can hold it with “immigrant intent.” In other words, you can apply for a green card to remain permanently in the U.S. Your employer can sponsor you for a green card, usually through PERM, or you can apply for either an EB-1A extraordinary ability green card or an EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) green card on your own.

H-1B1

If you aren’t selected in the H-1B lottery, talk to your prospective employer about sponsoring you for an H-1B1 visa instead.

Like the H-1B, the H-1B1 is a non-immigrant specialty occupation visa earmarked for citizens of Chile and Singapore, as they have trade agreements with the United States. Each year, the number of H-1B1 visas is capped at 1,400 for Chileans and 5,400 for Singaporeans, and are set aside from the 65,000 H-1Bs reserved for bachelor’s degree holders. These caps are reached rarely, if at all.

Unlike the H-1B visa, the H-1B1 allows you to stay for only one year, initially. It is a non-immigrant intent visa and can be extended indefinitely in one-year increments as long as you can demonstrate that you do not intend to stay permanently in the United States, such as showing you retain a residence abroad. Your employer can continue to enter you in the annual H-1B lottery until you’re selected.

You’ve got this!

— Sophie

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