Your prospective United States employer may be anticipating your work authorization so that you may begin performing your job duties as immediately as possible. At the same time, you may be relying on this work authorization so that you may maintain financial stability and an overall upward trajectory in your career path. This alone is all the reason why you must not make any errors in any step of the H-1B visa application process. Read on to discover what mistakes you should avoid making with your H-1B visa application and how a seasoned Baltimore County, Maryland employment immigration lawyer at Sheri Hoidra Law Office, LLC can help you comb through every detail.
Why should I avoid making any errors with my H-1B visa application?
Before all else, you must understand that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services enforces a “cap” on how many H-1B visas it administers each year. Namely, employment-based visas a limited to 140,000 per year, with the subset of H-1B visas specifically being limited to 65,000 per year. For this past fiscal year, the USCIS announced that it received 758,994 submissions of Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker.
This is all to say that the H-1B visa is a highly desired visa type, thereby making it highly competitive to receive. So even the smallest error made within your petition, or even during your application process, may jeopardize your chances of obtaining one.
What common mistakes should I avoid making with my H-1B visa application?
Understandably so, undergoing the H-1B visa application may be stressful and complex. This is why, to avoid having the USCIS ultimately deny your petition, it is in your best interest to avoid making the following mistakes:
- You neglected to provide your signature at the bottom of your Form I-129 petition.
- You neglected to supplement your Form I-129 petition with the necessary supporting documentation (i.e., a copy of your passport, a copy of your college degree(s), a copy of your official job offer, etc).
- You neglected to submit your Form I-129 package at the service center closest to where your company’s primary office is located (i.e., California, Nebraska, Texas, or Vermont).
- You neglected to supplement your Form I-129 package with the mandatory $460 filing fee via a money order, personal check, or cashier’s check made payable to the United States Department of Homeland Security.
- You neglected to fill out and submit Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions, if you intended to pay the mandatory $460 filing fee via credit card.
In conclusion, you require the services of a competent Baltimore County, Maryland immigration lawyer when filling out your H-1B visa application. So please schedule an initial consultation with us at Sheri Hoidra Law Office, LLC today.