H-1B Specialty Occupation
If the person you want to hire is already in H-1B status somewhere else, there is no lottery and no approval to wait for. With a change of employer petition they can start as soon as the petition is filed, and premium processing returns a decision in fifteen business days.
From your side it takes a role, a wage, and a candidate. We handle the Labor Condition Application, the notice, the public access file, and the petition, and you work with the attorney directly.
At a glance
What a transfer asks for
A transfer is a defined sequence with a small number of things only you or the candidate can supply.
We write the specialty occupation argument from your job description. For a software engineer that means the specific work and the degree field behind it, and the same holds for any specialty role.
Portability rests on the candidate having held status cleanly. That is a documentary question, and their own records answer it.
The filing, the compliance record behind it, and a direct line to the attorney writing it.
H-1B cap filings
Everything above assumes someone already counted against the cap. A first-time H-1B is a different exercise. The employer registers the person in March, and a petition can only be filed if that registration is selected. Registering takes minutes. What decides the case happens well before and well after it.
Since the FY 2027 season the draw is no longer flat. Each registration is weighted by how the offered wage compares with the prevailing wage levels for that occupation and area, so a role paid at the top level draws several entries and a role at the bottom draws one. How you scope, classify, and pay the position now affects whether the person gets a number at all, which makes it a conversation to have in the autumn, not in March.
| Stage | When | What it involves |
|---|---|---|
| Registration | Each March | A short electronic registration for each beneficiary at $215 apiece. A person gets one entry no matter how many employers register them, so a second offer does not improve their odds. |
| Selection | Weighted | Entries are assigned by wage level, up to four at the highest. Where a beneficiary has several registrations or worksites, the lowest applicable wage level governs. |
| Regular cap | 65,000 | Open to any beneficiary in a specialty occupation, whatever the degree and wherever it was earned. |
| Advanced degree cap | 20,000 | Reserved for beneficiaries holding a U.S. master's degree or higher. They are run through the regular numbers first and then through a second pass for these, which is what makes a U.S. graduate degree worth so much here. |
| Filing window | 90 days | Selected registrations get a defined window to file the petition. The Labor Condition Application has to be certified inside it, which is what makes the window tighter than it sounds. |
| Start date | October 1 | The earliest a cap-subject H-1B can begin, whatever month the petition was approved. |
Cap-exempt employers, including universities, their affiliated nonprofits, and nonprofit or governmental research organizations, file outside all of this and at any time of year. If a selection does not come, the alternatives are worth mapping before March rather than after: cap-exempt placement, O-1, TN, E-2, or another year of practical training where the candidate still has it. Cap rules and dates are current as of August 2026 and change from season to season.
Common questions
Yes. A candidate already counted against the cap does not re-enter the lottery, so you can file a change of employer petition at any time of year. It is the most common way companies bring on someone who is already working in the United States.
As soon as the petition is filed. Portability lets a worker in valid status begin with a new employer on the filing of a non-frivolous petition, so they are on your team while the case is pending.
The Labor Condition Application is usually certified within five business days. We file the day after it is certified, and with premium processing elected the adjudication comes about three weeks later.
Six years is the ordinary maximum, and extensions beyond it are available once the permanent residence process reaches the right stage. Tell us where their green card case stands and we will tell you how much runway the hire has.
Schedule a call. You will get a straight answer on whether it works, what it would take, and what it costs. Or you can email using the details below.
