The LCA (Labor Condition Application) is a document filed with the Department of Labor that takes between 7 to 10 days to process. After the LCA is certified , filing the H-1B visa is done almost immediately. Often, employees can continue working while the LCA is pending.
This type of work authorization requires that you have all necessary documents related to the job. The documents need to show that the prevailing wage is being met, the position is a specialty occupation, and the assigned work covers the duration of the visa.
H-1B Filing and Selection Periods
Once the H-1B petition is filed, the selection process can take anywhere from four to six months, depending on whether the petitioner is subject to the cap or not.
Cap-subject H-1B visa petitions have to be filed in the first five days of April to compete for the 65,000 available visas. Once USCIS fills the 65,000 cap-subject slots, another 20,000 visa petitions are selected in a lottery designated for the graduates of U.S. universities with master’s degrees or higher.
The selection period often lasts through the middle of summer. We have even seen notice of selection received after the October 1st start date.
