The Winners and Losers of the H-1 Lottery

We are slowing receiving   the receipt notices and rejection notices for the H-1 petitions filed the first week of April.  Fortunately almost all of our cases have been accepted to date, with several still unaccounted for, but that is not true for everyone.  The question remains:  if I am not selected for the H-1 lottery what are my options?

For most F-1 students the first thing to look at is the OPT STEM extension which is only available to Master’s or PhD graduates in science, technology, engineering or math and who work for a company which is registered for E-Verify for I-9 purposes.  For those without a STEM option the choice may be simply to return to school in a new degree program, with a new I-20, for Fall 2013.

If employment is still desired  by the employer and employee there are several options, none of which are very good. First, the employee may be able to work out of the US until next year when we repeat the H-1 lottery.  If off site employment will not work there are two choices.  One is to contact a graduate program and determine if the school will authorize immediate CPT (Curriculum Practical Training).  If so, the school, not CIS, will authorize employment which may run until the H-1 can be obtained next year.  There are only a few graduate programs which will allow this but it is perfectly legal if you can find one.  The other option is to determine if the company has a formal,  detailed training program which the employee can enter.  Employment is authorized as an incident of the training for this type of visa category called H-3.   Although these options take a significant amount of preparation and planning, they can be used in the right situation.  

Please contact us directly at 972.385.7900 if you have any questions about the H-1 lottery and the options available if the dreaded rejection notice is issued.     

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