Alternative Nonimmigrant Visa Categories To The H-1B Category

The H-1B visa classification is one of the most popular visa options available to U.S. employers that are seeking to temporarily employ foreign workers in the U.S. Subject to an annual limit of 85,000¹ new H-1B workers, employers have seen more demand for this visa category over the last decade than the statutory limits allow.² As a result, after the H-1B cap cases are selected for processing, many employers are left looking for alternative visa categories to bring critical resources to the U.S. This article will provide a historical perspective of the demand over the last few years as well as an overview of some of the alternatives that employers may consider for employees whose names were not selected for H-1B processing.