I am a Singaporean citizen. When is an H-1B visa a more useful option than an H-1B1 (Singapore) visa?

I am a Singaporean U.S. immigration attorney based in Los Angeles specializing in H-1B1 visas for Singaporeans.  My California State Bar record can be found here and my law firm website can be found here.  Feel free to connect with me on Linkedin.

An H-1B1 (Singapore) visa, like any temporary (non-green-card) U.S. work visa, has its own pros and cons.  But a notable advantage is that it is NOT subject to the H-1B lottery.  Nevertheless, there is one situation where an H-1B visa may be a more useful option than the H-1B1 (Singapore) visa.

If you are a Singapore citizen but were born in China or India AND are seeking an employment-based green card, the H-1B visa may be the more useful option.  Here is why.

An H-1B1 (Singapore) visa is a pure nonimmigrant intent visa.  As such, there are at least two implications:

(A)(1) The first implication is that seeking an H-1B1 for the first time or an H-1B1 renewal would not be possible if an immigrant petition (for example, an I-140 employment-based immigrant petition) is filed on your behalf.

(A)(2) The second implication is that in practice generally H-1B1 renewals at the US Embassy in Singapore beyond the first 6 years of H-1B1 become harder and harder -- the rationale is: although in theory H-1B1 can be renewed indefinitely provided you can still show strong ties to your home country, it gets more and more difficult to show strong ties to your home country the longer you've been working in the U.S. 

In contrast, the H-1B is a dual intent visa.  As a result, there are at least two implications:

(B)(1) The first implication is that seeking an H-1B for the first time or an H-1B renewal would be possible even if an immigrant petition (e.g. an I-140) is filed on your behalf.

(B)(2) The second implication is that although the H-1B has a maximum duration of 6 years, certain milestones reached can allow a person's H-1B status be extended beyond the 6-year maximum.  One such milestone is the approval of an I-140 employment-based immigrant petition on that person's behalf if that person is not able to commence an actual green card application due to immigrant visa (green card visa) unavailability as a result of country of birth quotas.

Next, due to country of birth quotas for permanent immigration (green card cases), there are at least two implications for Singaporean citizens born in China or India:

(C)(1) The first implication is that it takes a very long time for an immigrant visa (green card visa) to be available for people born in China or India with respect to EB2 and EB3 employment-based green card cases.  EB2 and EB3 are the most common employment-based green card categories.

(C)(2) The second implication is that in every employment-based green card case, one must successfully complete the I-140 petition (the "penultimate step") AND the actual green card application (the "ultimate step").  Due to the country of birth quotas mentioned above, Singaporean citizens born in China generally have to wait several years after the I-140 approval before they can commence the ultimate step, whereas Singaporean citizens born in India generally have to wait over a decade.

Because of the significant time gap between the approval of the penultimate step (I-140 immigrant petition) and the commencement of the ultimate step (actual green card application), it is practically impossible to obtain an H-1B1 visa or renewal during the time gap because by then an I-140 immigrant petition would have been filed.

As such, a Singaporean citizen born in India or China needs to obtain H-1B status before the penultimate step of the I-140 petition is filed, so that subsequent H-1B renewal(s) would not be an issue.

Furthermore, once the milestone of I-140 approval explained in (B)(2) above is met, that person's H-1B status can be renewed beyond the 6-year maximum as needed to cover the significant waiting time prior to the ultimate step of the actual green card application. 

Finally, as I've explained in my previous blog post here, H-1B1 time counts towards H-1B time.  Accordingly, there are at least two things you should note:

(D)(1) The first thing to note is that the EB2/EB3* employment based green card case is time-consuming.  With the exception of the EB2 national interest waiver (or NIW)** sub-category, the mainstream EB2/EB3 employment based cases involve a long process called the "PERM" process before the I-140 petition can even be filed.  

*EB2 and EB3 are the labels of the two most common employment-based green card categories sought by alien workers.

**But please do not be confused: an EB2 NIW case is still an EB2 case, so the applicable country of birth quotas for an EB2 category is still the same regardless of whether it is an EB2 NIW or an EB2 PERM case.

(D)(2) The second thing to note is that, because H-1B1 time counts towards the 6-year maximum H-1B time, you cannot wait too long before getting to H-1B status.  For example, if you have used up 4 years of H-1B1 time, you only have 2 years of H-1B time left to make sure that the milestone of I-140 approval described in (B)(2) above is met to help you extend your H-1B time beyond the 6-year maximum to cover the significant time before you're able to commence the ultimate step (actual green card application) due to country of birth quotas as explained in (C)(1) and (C)(2) above. 

Therefore, if you're a Singaporean citizen but were born in China or India*** AND desire an employment-based EB2/EB3 green card, consider seeking an H-1B.  Or, if you are already on an H-1B1, consider switching to an H-1B soon before it's too late.****

***To add further complexity, if you're married and your spouse was NOT born in China or India, then the concept of "cross-chargeability" allows your spouse's country of birth to be "charged" (assigned) to you, which is helpful.

****Of course, if you're a Singapore citizen born in China or India and would only wish to work in the U.S. for 6 years or less, and do not desire a green card, then you are probably fine with just working on H-1B1 (Singapore) status for up to 6 years before returning to Singapore.

Disclaimer:  This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice