My friend is waiting for Thesis presentation on March 2005 and he will get his Master Diploma in Computer science On Mach/April 2005. He has OPT from November 2004 to November 2005. He wants to get H1B visa after his OPT expires.

Currently, My company wants to hire him and sponsor him as a Network Admin. If he accepts the job on the next month, will he be in trouble for H1B? When do you think the best time for him to apply the H1B? What should he do ? Will expedite visa help him? How much is the cost for expedite ? what is the chances for him to get H1B ?

Thanks,

Though filing for new H-1Bs can start from 1st April but the work can start only from Oct 1. Thus the petition will be approved no sooner than Oct 1. Your friend can be on OPT and the employer can file H-1B petition for him anytime before October 1.

Premium processing may not help much as work can start only from Oct. However, the employer can file H-1B petition in April to avoid the Cap issues later during the year. Also, the new fee for H-1B will be 2185 dollars. Premium processing wherein you can have a decision within two weeks costs additional 1000 dollars.

In case your friend has done his Master's degree (Not too sure if a diploma will qualify), then he can file after March 8th and start work immediately on approval of petition.

As far as chances are concerned, you can learn more about H-1B at:

http://usimmigration.visapro.com/H1B-Visa.asp

http://uscis.gov/graphics/services/tempbenefits/ecrd.htm#anchorH1B