Work Visas in United States
How to get a work permit and which routes actually exist
Nearly every route to working in the United States requires a specific employer to file a petition for a specific role; there is no general skilled-worker visa an individual can obtain alone. The main professional category, the H-1B, is capped and allocated by lottery, which pushes many applicants toward intra-company transfers, treaty categories, or the extraordinary-ability route instead.
| Main professional route | H-1B specialty occupation, employer-petitioned and cap-subject source |
| Annual H-1B cap | Commonly cited as around 65,000 plus roughly 20,000 for US master's graduates source |
| Intra-company transfer | L-1A managers and L-1B specialised knowledge source |
| Extraordinary ability | O-1, no annual cap source |
| Prevailing wage oversight | US Department of Labor certifies wage and condition attestations source |
The employer is the applicant
In most temporary work categories the petitioner is the company, not the person. The employer files with US Citizenship and Immigration Services for a named individual in a named role at a named worksite, and for several categories must also file a labour condition application with the Department of Labor attesting to the wage offered.
The practical consequence is that status is employer-tied. Changing jobs generally requires a new petition, and losing a job commonly starts a short grace period — frequently described as around sixty days — after which lawful status ends unless another petition or a change of status is filed.
A separate premium-processing service is available for many petition types at additional cost, shortening adjudication rather than changing the outcome.
The principal categories
- H-1B — specialty occupation. Requires a role that normally demands at least a bachelor's degree in a specific field, and payment of at least the prevailing wage. Subject to the annual cap and an electronic registration lottery, though universities, affiliated non-profits, and certain research organisations are generally cap-exempt.
- L-1 — intra-company transfer. For employees who have worked abroad for a related entity, commonly for at least one year in the preceding three, in an executive or managerial role (L-1A) or one involving specialised knowledge of the company's products or processes (L-1B). No lottery.
- O-1 — extraordinary ability. For those who can evidence sustained national or international acclaim in the sciences, arts, business, athletics, or film and television, against published evidentiary criteria. No annual cap, but the documentary burden is heavy.
- E-2 — treaty investor, and E-1 treaty trader. Open only to nationals of countries with a qualifying treaty of commerce with the United States. Notably, India and China are not treaty countries for E-2, while the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Turkey, Mexico, and many others are. The Department of State publishes the current treaty country list.
- TN — USMCA professionals. Canadian and Mexican citizens in a listed professional occupation may work for a US employer under the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement, with comparatively light formality and no annual cap.
- J-1 — exchange visitor. Research scholars, trainees, interns, au pairs, and physicians, sponsored by a designated programme.
- H-2A and H-2B. Seasonal agricultural and non-agricultural labour, employer-petitioned and heavily used but temporary by design.
The J-1 two-year home residence requirement
Some J-1 exchange visitors are subject to a requirement to return to their country of last residence for a total of about two years before becoming eligible for certain other statuses, including H, L, and permanent residence. It commonly attaches where the programme was government-funded, where the field appears on the published skills list for the person's country, or in the case of graduate medical training.
Waivers exist on published grounds, including a no-objection statement from the home government and requests by interested US federal agencies, but they are discretionary and are decided by the Department of State rather than by the sponsor. Because the requirement can constrain options years later, the notation on the visa and the DS-2019 is worth reading closely at the outset.
Indicative government filing costs
| Item | Approximate cost (USD) |
|---|---|
| H-1B electronic registration, per beneficiary | a small per-registration fee, recently raised |
| Employer petition filing (Form I-129) | several hundred dollars, varying by category and employer size |
| Additional employer-paid H-1B fees | commonly over 1,000 in total, depending on employer profile |
| Optional premium processing | around 2,500–2,800 |
| Consular visa application fee | commonly around 190–205 |
What this means in practice
Because the H-1B is a lottery, employers that recruit internationally frequently plan around it: placing a candidate abroad in a group company for a year to qualify for L-1, using O-1 where the record supports it, or relying on cap-exempt university and non-profit employment. None of these is available on demand, and each depends on facts about the employer rather than about the applicant.
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Official sources
- USCIS — Working in the United States
- Department of State — Employment visas
- Department of Labor — Foreign Labor Certification
Checked against these pages in September 2026. Fees and processing times change without notice — confirm before you act.