AmericanIT FAQ Page
These FAQs are contributed by you (our online community members). They are organized by our knowledge base topics. Specifically, by the AmericanIT sub-topics.
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7 American I.T. Workforce FAQs
Group: American I.T. Workforce
Topic: American I.T. workforce
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Q1. I have a a 2 year associates degree and 1 year of work experience as a Programmer. Do I qualify for the H-1B visa? |
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Answer: No. You must have at least a U.S. Bachelor (4-year) Degree or it's equivalent. 3 years of work experience is equivalent to 1 year of University. So, if you have 6 years of work experience and 2 years of college, you could qualify. The Degree and work experience must be directly relevant to your job title.
Posted By Mike Prestwood,
Post #100635, KB Topic: American I.T. workforce
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Q2. How does the H-1B visa quota criteria work? |
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Answer: Each October 1st, the USCIS makes available a certain number of H-1B visas for the next 12 months. The Quota for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 (October 1st, 2006 to September 30th, 2007) is 65,000. There is also a quota of 20,000 for US Master Degree Holders, effectively making the quota 85,000. The earliest you can apply for the H-1B Visa is 6 months before the requested start date. You may file on or after 4/1/06 for a 10/1/06 start date. H-1B visa holders are not subject to the quota when applying for a transfer to another company or an extension with the same company.
Posted By Mike Prestwood,
Post #100636, KB Topic: American I.T. workforce
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Q3. Can an H-1B Visa holder come to the United States with the intention of staying permanently? |
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Answer: No. Under U.S. law, a non-immigrant is a visitor traveling to the U.S. that does NOT intend to stay permanently. To stay permanently, the visitor must obtain an Immigrant Visa (IV). An H-1B Visa is a type of NON-Immigrant visa (NIV).
Posted By Mike Prestwood,
Post #100834, KB Topic: American I.T. workforce
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Q4. I would like to work in the U.S. Can I apply for the H-1B visa by myself, without an employer? |
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Answer: No. You must have a legitimate job offer from a U.S. company or organization.
Posted By Mike Prestwood,
Post #100634, KB Topic: American I.T. workforce
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Topic: American-Based Companies
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Q5. Which anti-adware/anti-malware products are made by American-based companies? |
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Answer: There are several free and paid American-based products. I tend to recommend the free Spyware Blaster for home users and Webroot's SpySweeper for businesses.
To be clear, the two leading free anti-adware products SpyBot Search & Destroy and Ad-Aware are not American-based. However, unlike anti-virus software, you can run multiple anti-adware products at the same time and benefit from their combined protection. For home users, I like to make sure they have enough RAM and install both the American-based Spyware Blaster and the Swedish-based SpyBot Search & Destroy. That's a powerful combination. For our business clients I tend to stir them toward Webroot's Spysweeper.
Posted By Mike Prestwood,
Post #102024, KB Topic: American-Based Companies
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Topic: Foreign Worker Visas: H-1B, L-1
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Q6. Do employers have to pay to hire an H-1B worker? |
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Answer: Yes, they have to pay about $2,000 and they frequently ask the worker to pay the fee.
Posted By Mike Prestwood,
Post #102030, KB Topic: Foreign Worker Visas: H-1B, L-1
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Q7. Do H-1B workers have to have a specialized skill? |
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Answer: No, they only have to have a BS degree in math, science, or engineering. There is no such thing as a skills test, nor standard, nor GPA requirement. An H-1B worker can have a D average from the worst college in the world.
Posted By Mike Prestwood,
Post #102031, KB Topic: Foreign Worker Visas: H-1B, L-1
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