Managing Partner Michael Wildes was recently ask to participate in an on-line lecture series in connection with the NJCTH Academic Affairs Council. Calling in to receive information about the H-1B visa category were Program Directors and Designated Institutional Officers (DIOs) from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Atlantic Health, Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Virtua, Trinitas Regional Medical Center, and members of the New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals.
Pursuant to Section 101(a)(15)(H) of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, US employers may temporarily hire foreign workers in specialty occupations. The regulations define a specialty occupation as one that requires theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge in a field of human endeavor including but not limited to biotechnology, chemistry, architecture, engineering, mathematics, physical sciences, social sciences, medicine and health, education, law, accounting, business specialties, theology, and the arts. To qualify for the visa, the beneficiary must be able to prove the attainment of a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent as a minimum standard (an exception applies to fashion models, who must be able to demonstrate they have achieved a level of “distinguished merit and ability”). Unlike other visas that may be transferred to different employers, the H-1B work authorization is strictly limited to employment by the sponsoring employer. If a foreign worker in H-1 B status quits or is dismissed from the sponsoring employer, the worker must either apply for and be granted a change of status to another non-immigrant status, find another employer who will take over the visa application, or leave the U.S.
Wildes & Weinberg, P.C., perhaps the premier U.S. Immigration Law Firm has represented a domestic and international clientele for nearly 54 years. Today, the office consists of 13 attorneys and nearly 25 paralegals and administrative support staff. Its offices are located in Miami, Jersey, and New York and its clients are dispersed throughout the fifty U.S. states.
Feel free to contact the office at michael@wildeslaw.com for all of your U.S. immigration concerns.
