H-1B Step by Step Process

An Ohio State Department who wishes to hire a foreign national on an H-1B status submits materials to the Office of International Affairs to prepare an H-1B petition. See Inviting Scholars to Ohio State for the forms and related materials. It takes 5-8 months to get an H-1B approval notice after the Office International Affairs receives your materials. The amount of time varies primarily because government agencies' processing times fluctuate and change without notice. Other factors also impact the time such as whether a department chooses to pay an additional fee to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for quicker processing or if there are problems with the offered salary or materials submitted. The steps below describe the process.

Step 1: Initial Check

The petition materials are checked for the required items to begin processing and information is entered into an OIA database. 
(Estimate: 1 week)

Step 2: Detailed Analysis

The petition materials are analyzed by an Immigration Specialist/Coordinator to ensure compliance with federal regulations. 
(Estimate: 1 week)

Step 3: Prevailing Wage Determination

OIA submits position description information to U.S. Department of Labor for a prevailing wage determination to comply with labor laws regarding the offered wage.
(DOL estimated processing time is 3-5 months)

Step 4: Labor Condition Application

OIA prepares a Labor Condition Application if the offered salary meets, or is greater than, the prevailing wage determination.

Steps 5: Employer Posts LCA

The department is required by law to post the LCA at the work site(s) for 10 business days.

Step 6: DOL Certification of LCA

The department verifies the LCA has been posted and OIA submits the LCA to DOL to get their official certification of approval.
(DOL estimated processing time is 7-10 days)

Step 7: Completion of I-129 forms

OIA completes I-129 forms and compiles the certified LCA and related supporting documentation for submission to the United States and Immigration Services (USCIS).
(Estimate: 1 week)

Step 8: Case is Submitted to USCIS

OIA will express mail the H-1B petition to USCIS.

Step 9: USCIS Processes H-1B Petition

USCIS' estimated processing time is 8-11 months when paying the standard processing fee. For quicker processing, the employer can pay an additional “Premium Processing Fee” to USCIS for processing in 15 days. (Please note that paying the USCIS Premium Processing fee will not quicken processing of the steps listed above.)

Step 10: USCIS Approval of H-1B Petition

USCIS mails the approved H-1B Petition to OIA and OIA will forward the approval and related materials to the department and employee.