# Are chances of getting H1B visa lower when application is based on work experience



## tmarkovski (Feb 6, 2013)

Hello forum,

My company wants to apply for H1B visa, but they are worried of the application being rejected due to my circumstances. I don't have a higher education degree, however I do have 9+ years of work experience in IT (as software developer).
Does this lower the chances of the application getting accepted? What is the difference between applying with college degree and applying based on work experience?

Is anyone able to tell what are the chances of my application getting accepted in %? Is it higher than 50%? I know this is too specific and no one can tell for certain, I'm just asking just in case someone has previous experience with this.

Thank you.


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

tmarkovski said:


> Hello forum,
> 
> My company wants to apply for H1B visa, but they are worried of the application being rejected due to my circumstances. I don't have a higher education degree, however I do have 9+ years of work experience in IT (as software developer).
> Does this lower the chances of the application getting accepted? What is the difference between applying with college degree and applying based on work experience?
> ...


You need documented 12 years in your field, three years per college year. You say "my company" - is this a transfer?


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## tmarkovski (Feb 6, 2013)

Thank you for the reply.
It's not a transfer. The company I work for has branch office in USA.
So, I have 9 years of documented experience (confirmed with the agency of employment) and 3 more years that I can get written confirmation from my employer as working full time, which equals to 12 years.

Will I have same chances of getting a vise as if I had the relevant degree, but not the experience?


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

tmarkovski said:


> Thank you for the reply.
> It's not a transfer. The company I work for has branch office in USA.
> So, I have 9 years of documented experience (confirmed with the agency of employment) and 3 more years that I can get written confirmation from my employer as working full time, which equals to 12 years.
> 
> Will I have same chances of getting a vise as if I had the relevant degree, but not the experience?


There are a number of factors involved in the approval of H1B and nobody can tell you if your application will be approved or not. 12 years documented specialty labor is considered the equivalent to a Bacherlos degree for visa purposes.


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