{"id":31330,"date":"2008-03-26T16:35:41","date_gmt":"2008-03-26T21:35:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-legal\/uncategorized\/h-1bs-at-a-glance.html"},"modified":"2008-03-26T16:35:41","modified_gmt":"2008-03-26T21:35:41","slug":"h-1bs-at-a-glance","status":"publish","type":"corporate","link":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/business-operations\/h-1bs-at-a-glance.html","title":{"rendered":"H-1Bs at a Glance"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline\">\n    <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-content\">\n                    <p><em>This article was edited and reviewed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team.html\" rel=\"noopener\">FindLaw Attorney Writers<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n                | Last reviewed\n        <time>\n                            May 19, 2026\n                    <\/time>\n    <\/div>\n\n    \n    <details class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle fl-gutenberg-byline-legally-reviewed\">\n        <summary>\n            <i class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>\n            Legally Reviewed\n        <\/summary>\n\n        <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle-content\">\n            <p><em>This article has been written and reviewed for legal accuracy, clarity, and style by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team.html\" rel=\"noopener\">FindLaw\u2019s team of legal writers and attorneys<\/a> and in accordance with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/company-history\/editorial-policy.html\" rel=\"noopener\">our editorial standards<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/details>\n\n    <details class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle fl-gutenberg-byline-fast-checked\">\n        <summary>\n            <i class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>\n            Fact-Checked\n        <\/summary>\n\n        <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle-content\">\n            <p><em>The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team\/contributing-authors.html\" rel=\"noopener\">contributing authors<\/a>. We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please <a href=\"https:\/\/lawyers.findlaw.com\/?fli=bylinelink\" rel=\"noopener\">contact an attorney in your area<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/details>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"rxbodyfield\" xmlns:o=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/office\" xmlns:st1=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/smarttags\" xmlns:w=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/word\" xmlns:x=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/excel\"><p\/><ul><li>Temporary: H-1Bs are temporary foreign professionals hired by a U.S. employer.<\/li><li>Highly skilled: H-1Bs can be hired only for &quot;specialty occupations,&quot; those jobs requiring the equivalent of at least a bachelor&#39;s degree in the field.<\/li><li>Professionals: H-1Bs must be professionals such as doctors, engineers, professors, accountants, lawyers, physical therapists, and computer professionals.<\/li><\/ul><p><b><u>How Many Enter and Where Do They Come From?<\/u><\/b><\/p><ul><li>Under current law, no more than 115,000 H-1B visas can be issued in the next two years, with the cap dropping to 107,500 in 2001. After 2001, the cap drops to 65,000 per year. Even with these numbers, H-1B temporary professionals comprise less than .1% of the U.S. workforce of more than 127 million people. The top 5 source countries for H-1B&#39;s currently are India, the United Kingdom, Japan, Philippines and Germany.<\/li><\/ul><br\/><br\/> <b><u>Why Do Employers Hire H-1Bs?<\/u><\/b> <ul><li>Needed skills and Temporary Shortages: Employers hire H-1B professionals to obtain essential technical skills or knowledge that is relatively unique and not readily found in the U.S. or to fulfill temporary shortages of needed skills.<\/li><li>Global market expertise: Employers often need H-1B professionals to bring special expertise in overseas needs, markets or trends that enables U.S. businesses to compete globally.<\/li><\/ul><u><b>What Must Employers Do?<\/b><\/u> <ul><li>Protect wages: Employers must pay a wage to every H-1B worker that is at least as much as what is typically paid in the region for that type of work (&quot;prevailing wage&quot;), or what the employer pays existing employees with similar experience and duties.<\/li><li>Protect working conditions: Employers cannot use H-1B professional to break a strike, and must notify their U.S. workforce when they hire an H-1B professional. Employers cannot make the H-1B nonimmigrants work under conditions different from their U.S. counterparts, including hours, shifts and benefits.<\/li><li>Recruit in the U.S. and Not Displace U.S. workers: Employers who use a lot of H-1Bs must first try to find U.S. workers before they can hire an H-1B. They also must attest that they are not hiring the H-1B if they have laid off or displaced a similarly situated U.S. worker. Employers must attest to the above protections by affirmatively filing with the Department of Labor (DOL) and by maintaining a file open to the public.<\/li><li>Be subject to penalties: Failure to comply with DOL regulations can result in an audit, civil and administrative penalties, payment of back wages, and even debarment from participating in key immigration programs.<\/li><\/ul><br\/><br\/><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Temporary: H-1Bs are temporary foreign professionals hired by a U.S. employer. Highly skilled: H-1Bs can be hired only for &quot;specialty occupations,&quot; those jobs requiring the equivalent of at least a bachelor&#39;s degree in the field &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_stopmodifiedupdate":true,"_modified_date":"","_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false},"corporate_categories":[6467,6469,6471,6473],"class_list":["post-31330","corporate","type-corporate","status-publish","hentry","corporate_categories-business-operations","corporate_categories-business-operations__commercial-contracts","corporate_categories-business-operations__property","corporate_categories-business-operations__property__real-property"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/corporate\/31330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/corporate"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/corporate"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"corporate_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/corporate_categories?post=31330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}