The H-1B1 visa program is similar to the H-1B program, although it provides temporary employment of nonimmigrant aliens in specialty occupations specifically from Chile and Singapore.

Our Atlanta employment-based immigration lawyers know one of the biggest challenges of visa approval is a lackof knowledge regarding visa types and application requirements. Before making any major decisions as an employeeor employer, we encourage you to find out more about the H-1B1 visa.

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If you’re an American employer and want to hire workers from Chile or Singapore, you can sponsor the prospective foreign national employee for the H-1B1 visa. When the United States entered into Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with Singapore and Chile in 2003, it provided a new class of non-immigrant work visas for Singaporean and Chilean citizens: the H-1B1.

The H-1B1 program is governed by many of the rules that apply to the H-1B program. The H-1B visa program temporarily enables qualifying U.S. employers to hire foreign workers for highly specialized occupations. H-1B visas allow for dual intent, which means foreign nationals can come to work in a professional position temporarily while intending to permanently immigrate to the United States. 

However, with an H-1B1 visa, the applicant has to demonstrate they have no intention of immigrating to the U.S.

Additionally, H-1B1 visas are only valid for one-year increments, instead of the three-year validity periods that come with H-1B visa status. 

• U.S. employers are not allowed to hire foreign professionals from Chile and Singapore at a lower rate than U.S. workers. 
• H-1B1 visas are company, location and position-specific. Once onboard, any significant change for an H-1B1 employee, such as a promotion, or any change within the sponsoring organization like a merger, for example, may require immigration approval. 
• It’s important to plan extensions and new consular applications well in advance to avoid violations of status.

H-1B1 visas are for “specialty occupation” workers who have a job offer in the United States. Furthermore, the job offered must require having a U.S equivalent bachelor’s degree in a specific field. Therefore, the worker should have the relevant four-year degree or the equivalent combined education and/or experience. 

For instance, an entry-level software engineer must have a bachelor’s degree in software engineering. If you have a bachelor’s degree in education, you won’t qualify for an H-1B1 to work as a software engineer. 

Examples of specialty occupations include jobs in the fields of computer sciences, medicine and health care, mathematics, physical sciences, engineering, education, biotechnology, and business specialties like human resources and management.

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