So h-1b topic has been reached what do we do now in this video we'll discover the options
and alternatives to the h-1b visa stay tuned In this video we'll talk about the h-1b visa
cap being reached and what are the options that applicants they couldn't get the h-1b
visa have to be able to stay and work in the United States so as you know h-1b visas must
be filed on or after April 1st until the cap has is actually being reached and typically
the cap is exhausted within a few days and so people that are not getting the h-1b visas
are out of luck they cannot work for that employer and they have to look for alternatives
that I can do to be able to stay in the US and start working so what are some of the
alternatives so a lot of people who apply for the h-1b visa are currently here on an
opt f1 visa practical training and most people are getting the opt for about a year after
graduations and some stem professions people in mathematics and science and and so forth
are able to get their opt extended for up to your up to two years so if you have the
opt for two years and if you didn't get your h-1b as you know you can continue working
on that opt and try the h-1b the following year if you opt you ran out and you don't
have the option to work we want to explore our first visa option which is the o1 visa
and o1 visa is a great category for people in in the startup world in technology people
that are typically hold an advanced degree maybe at least a master's have done any work
in either started their own startup will be involved in invention of some patents or have
written some interesting articles that gain notoriety and they want some awards and things
like that and sometimes we were able to we've done quite a few cases where we had young
entrepreneurs that done amazing things in the past the apply for the h-1b visa but we
would realize we realize that they are qualified also for the o1 visa so really for the o1
you have to prove that you are a person of external ability that you've done something
quite extraordinary in your field and you can meet certain requirements either you've
done some you gain some of words or you've already established yourself above and beyond
from your peers in the same field and and typically we can put together a strong package
for an o1 visa for people that are trying to get to work for an employer that filed
an h-1b visa for them but they couldn't get it and they do meet their o1 requirements
will try to refil and try to file an o1 visa for them and instead another alternative for
the h-1b visa is the TN so if you are a Mexican national or a Canadian national you can qualify
for TN visa TN visa has a list of 67 professions and among others lawyers engineers doctors
and quite a few others technical writers and and so if you want from those two countries
you can qualify for TN visa if you can if you couldn't get your h1-b visa at that time
another option for for work visa is an e3 visa if you're national of Australia and you
try to get h1-b visa and you couldn't then you can have your employer petition for an
e3 visa which is an alternative for the h-1b visa it also requires a degree it requires
a labor condition application and it has quite a few similar requirements to the h-1b visa
except that this visa is limited to Australians another option is if you are working for on
LD opt and and you didn't get the h-1b visa you can start your own small business as a
consultant or as a as a service provider using the e-2 visa if you invest a certain amount
of money and start your own company you could be qualified for an e-2 visa and if you get
turned in your if you get your e visa as a as a consulting as a consultant then you can
provide services to that same employer that try to get you an h-1b visa it's a great alternative
to the to the h-1b visa and of course it requires you to invest some amount of money it requires
you to start your own business but if you're willing to do those things a visa could be
an amazing alternative in h-1b visa at least since you didn't get it this time you can
always try it again the following year but in the meantime you can be here working as
an independent consultant you are any in your own company another alternative to the h-1b
visa is the L visa if you worked in in a company abroad and that same company has now petitioned
for your h-1b visa and you can prove that you being either an executive or an essential
employee sometimes there's a way to get you an L visa to work in the US instead of an
h-1b visa and every second requires you to be working in an executive or managerial capacity
at least one year in the past three years for that same company that has an affiliation
or a subsidiary in the United States and finally if you missed the h-1b visa and you are working
for university so universities are typically a cap exempt or if it's a nonprofit affiliated
with the University there is also a way to cap exempt those companies from from the quota
so if you meet those requirements the company can petition for that h-1b without being subject
to the cap these are just a few of the examples that we mentioned about h-1b alternatives
to the cap and hopefully you got the h1-b visa but if you didn't keep trying and we
hope that one day the lottery will be eliminated and they'll be in their visas for everybody
to apply but until this moment you really have to try to time it to fight a long time
and if you didn't get it hopefully you got some benefit from learning about some of the
alternatives to the h-1b visa if you enjoyed this video subscribe to our Channel every
week we have an amazing video with tips and information about immigration to the United
States and if you have any comments post them below and we hope to see you in our next video
this is I'm Jacob Sapochnick an immigration attorney based in San Diego California.