# About H1B Visa



## spark92 (Nov 8, 2010)

Hi,

I am currently studying Bachelor of IT and my degree is a 3 year degree from Australia. I heard that for H1B visa you need to have a degree that is equivalent to 4 year US Undergrad or 12 years of work experience. In Australia on top of your 3 year bachelor degree, you can study honours which takes one more year but I don't really want to do that.
My work experience is 6 months full time and 8 months part-time(for software engineering positions).

My question is would I be eligible for H1B visa? Would it matter who's employing me?


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

It is 4 years or the respective equivalent. 

I do not understand what you are asking - Would it matter who's employing me?


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## spark92 (Nov 8, 2010)

What I mean is woud my 3 year undergraduate degree accepted by the government for H1B?
If that's not a clear thing(whether it is equivalent or not) would it matter who's employing such as Google vs a startup?


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## belgarath (Jul 15, 2011)

A startup usually has no resources to spend for a lawyer, and therefore most likely wont bother chasing H1b candidates.


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## spark92 (Nov 8, 2010)

belgarath said:


> A startup usually has no resources to spend for a lawyer, and therefore most likely wont bother chasing H1b candidates.


Is it all up to lawyers? What about the immigration officers? Are they biased about candidates employers' reputation?


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

First you have to meet the academic/experience qualifications for H1B. Then you have to find a US employer willing and able to go through the sponsorship process. Realistically - how many H1Bs have been sponsored in the last few years for a candidate with your background? Any IT folks here?


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## spark92 (Nov 8, 2010)

twostep said:


> First you have to meet the academic/experience qualifications for H1B. Then you have to find a US employer willing and able to go through the sponsorship process. Realistically - how many H1Bs have been sponsored in the last few years for a candidate with your background? Any IT folks here?


At the moment finding the employer is not my concern. I am already interning at one of the US based software companies.

What I am concerned is whether my 3 year bachelor's degree has the equivalent to 4 year US bachelor's.

If the US government is very strict about 4 year degrees, then I might have to get J1 visa for 18 months and study one year(4 semesters part-time) online and then ask my employer to apply for H1B visa.


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