H-1B Scholar Information for HR/Partners/Department Administrators
An H-1B visa is one of several types of working visas available to international scholars working at the University. It is appropriate for positions that require the minimum of a bachelor’s degree or higher in a specialized area and for prospective employees with the required degree. The employee must be paid the higher of the wage all other similar employees in the hiring unit are paid or the prevailing wage as determined by U.S. Department of Labor rules. The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (USCIS) charges filing fees for these petitions.
At CU Denver we use the H-1B visa for faculty positions of all types, including the Professional Research Assistant group; exempt professional positions requiring the minimum of a bachelor’s degree; and classified positions requiring the minimum of a bachelor’s degree. H-1B can also be used for postdoctoral fellow positions in cases in which the J-1 visa has been determined not appropriate, though policies for using H-1B visas for postdoctoral fellows can vary by department. Please see the Graduate Medical Education policy (below) for using H-1B visas for medical residents or clinical fellows.
Please click on the tabs to learn about ISSS procedures, see checklists for the forms and documents needed for H-1B visa paperwork in most situations, and obtain Word versions of templates for the required forms.:
H-1B Scholar Process
Effective January 2020, the following procedure is as listed below for ALL H-1B Requests at the University of Colorado Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus. This includes New, Extensions, Amendments or Porting (Transfer) to the University from another approved H-1B.
Find the H-1B Basic Procedures Document.
As part of our current process, all H-1B Request will be assigned to outside counsel:
To be assigned to outside counsel a department must first complete Initial Request for H-1B Petition. To see all of the required documentation and the basic procedures you may find that here: H-1B Basic Procedures.
After completion of the initial request form, ISSS will review the request in the order it is received.
After final approval of the H-1B request, the H-1B petition will be assigned to outside legal counsel for preparation and filing to USCIS. Please note that normal processing time from the moment that the complete request has been received by ISSS to the moment when petition is filed with USCIS is two months. Therefore, we strongly encourage departments to submit H-1B requests at a minimum two months prior to the planned start date of the new position/end date of employee’s current H-1B status. Please note that in some cases, Premium Processing might be required to meet this deadline.
Templates Needed for Initial Request for H-1B
Export Controls and H-1B Petitions
The link below will take you to the Office of Regulatory Compliance’s Export Control page where you will find important information about export control compliance.
Office of Regulatory Compliance: Export Control
Form I-129, the form that ISSS staff members complete when submitting any type of H1B petition to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), includes a Certification Regarding the Release of Controlled Technology or Technical Data to Foreign Persons in the United States. To complete this certification, the employer must attest that they have reviewed the applicable Export Control regulations and determined that foreign worker will or will not have access to technology and technical data for which an export license is required, and, if a license is required, that the foreign worker will not have access until the necessary license or other authorization has been obtained.
Effective November 15, 2016, the “Deemed Export License Worksheet” has been replaced with an online process. CU Denver | Anschutz now uses an online software package called Visual Compliance; the deemed export review will be conducted via the “Deemed and Hand Carried” module component of Visual Compliance. With this change, you will no longer need to complete the paper based license worksheet. Instead, you will enter and upload information about the prospective employee via an online form. Upon completion of the form, the request will be routed based on a workflow. Results will be provided directly to the ISSS office, so this process will cut down on some emails and will increase efficiencies.
The online worksheet is more robust than the current form, and may take additional time to complete if you need to gather specific information. The questions are intended to help ensure compliance with export control/deemed export governmental regulations and will provide a more comprehensive summary of activities for incoming international employees.
Please see our step-by-step guide for completing a deemed export request.
PLEASE NOTE: Individuals logging into the module for the first time are required to register with the system.
A login instruction sheet is available for first-time users.
Estimated Costs
H-1B petitions require USCIS filing fees. A copy of the official USCIS filing fee list, Form G-1055.
Premium processing may be required if the normal H-1B processing time is too slow to accommodate the H-1B employee’s starting date. If the fee is for the scholar's convenience, such as accommodating travel plans, the scholar may be asked to pay the fee. If the fee is required to allow the H-1B employee to start on time, the hiring unit should pay the premium processing fee.
Effective January 2020, All H-1B petitions will be processed by outside counsel. This means that the fees to USCIS and processing fees for all legal will be invoiced directly to the department's speed type for the full cost of USCIS fees and Legal Fees that is provided as part of the initial request process.
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| H-1B (Form I-129) | $460 |
| H-1B (anti-fraud fee for initial petition) | $500 (not required for extension or amendment) |
| Optional Premium Processing (Form I-907) | $2,805 |
| Legal Fees and Cost of Preparation | $2,750 ($2,500 for extension or amendment) |
| 6% of legal fee for miscellaneous costs | $165 ($150 for extension or amendment) |
Please be advised that if Request for Evidence (RFE) is received, hiring Units should also be prepared to pay an additional $2000 for outside counsel's assistance in responding to an RFE.
Any fees for any dependents, which can be paid by the foreign national beneficiary, are not included here.
Early Departure by H-1B Employee
Please notify International Student Scholar Services when an H-1B status holder’s employment with the University ends prior to the ending date of the H-1B petition, regardless of which party terminated the employment. If the scholar leaves before the end of the H-1B petition’s validity, we are required to withdraw the LCA and terminate the H-1B petition.
If the scholar is terminated by the University before the end date specified by the petition, either for cause or due to lack of funding, the employing unit is required to pay for the scholar’s return transportation to his or her home country. If the employee ends the employment relationship voluntarily, the University is not under this obligation.