H-1B Visa Consultant in Hyderabad

The H-1B is a lottery before it is an application

Almost everything written about the H-1B skips the part that decides most outcomes: you cannot apply until you are selected. Your employer registers you, a random selection runs, and only then does a petition get filed. No consultant can improve your odds in that draw, and anyone who says otherwise is describing something that does not exist.

What can be improved is everything around it – whether you are registered at all, whether your role and degree line up, whether your employer files correctly, and what you do when you are not selected.

What the H-1B actually requires

Requirement	What it means in practice
A US employer	You cannot self-petition. A company must sponsor and file for you
A specialty occupation	The role must normally require a bachelor’s degree or higher in a specific field
A matching degree	Your qualification must relate to the role – a general degree in an unrelated field is where many petitions fail
Prevailing wage	The offered salary must meet the level set for that role and location
Registration in the cap season	Filed by the employer within the registration window

Where Indian applicants actually lose

Degree-to-role mismatch. The most common ground for a request for evidence. A computer science role filled by a commerce graduate needs a documented equivalency, not an assertion.
Third-party placement. Petitions where you work at a client site draw far more scrutiny and need the full chain of contracts and work orders.
Wage level. An entry-level wage on a role described as senior invites a challenge.
Missing the registration window entirely because the employer left it late.
Assuming a consultant can register you. Only the employer can. If someone offers to register you directly, that is not how the process works.

If you are not selected – and most are not

This is the part worth planning before March, not after. The realistic alternatives depend on your profile:

Stay on OPT or STEM OPT if you are a recent US graduate, and register again next season.
Cap-exempt employers – universities, affiliated non-profits and certain research organisations file outside the lottery entirely, all year.
L-1 transfer if your employer has a qualifying overseas entity and you have the required service with them.
O-1 where your record genuinely supports it – a demanding standard, not a fallback.
Canada, which is where a large share of unselected candidates go. See our Canada immigration service.

What we do

Assess whether your degree and role hold up as a specialty occupation before your employer files.
Prepare the equivalency and experience evidence where your qualification is not a direct match.
Review the petition package for the gaps that draw requests for evidence.
Map the alternatives so a non-selection is not a lost year.
We do not register you – your employer does – and we cannot influence the lottery.

The cap season, in order

Stage	Who acts	What matters
Registration window	Your employer	Missing it costs a full year – confirm the date with them in advance
Selection	USCIS, at random	Nothing you or anyone else does changes this
Petition filing	Your employer	Where the case is actually won or lost
Request for evidence	USCIS, if it has doubts	Answered on a deadline, with documents that should have been there first
Approval and consular step	You	Stamping at the consulate if you are outside the US

What a strong petition contains

A job description written to the specialty occupation standard – duties that genuinely require the degree, not a generic title.
A degree that matches the field, or a documented equivalency where it does not.
A wage level consistent with the seniority described.
The full client chain where you will work at a third-party site – contracts, work orders and an itinerary.
Evidence the employer can pay the offered wage.

H-1B, L-1 and O-1 compared

	H-1B	L-1	O-1
Lottery	Yes	No	No
Needs a US employer	Yes	Yes, with an overseas entity	Yes or an agent
Prior service required	No	Yes, with the same group	No, but a strong record
Realistic for	Most skilled professionals	Transfers within a multinational	A narrow, evidenced few

Applying from Hyderabad

If you are in India when the petition is approved, the remaining step is consular processing – DS-160, fee payment, appointment and interview. Slot availability at the Hyderabad consulate varies through the year, and the interview turns on the same documents the petition rested on. We prepare the consular file alongside the petition rather than treating it as an afterthought, because a strong petition can still stall at the interview.

Frequently asked questions

Can a consultant improve my H-1B chances?

Not in the selection itself, which is random. A consultant improves the petition that follows, and the planning around a non-selection.

Can I apply for an H-1B myself?

No. The H-1B is employer-filed. There is no self-petition route.

Does a master’s degree help?

A qualifying US master’s gives an additional chance in the selection process, which is why many applicants pursue one before registering.

What happens to my H-4 dependants?

Spouses and children under 21 hold H-4 status. Work authorisation for an H-4 spouse depends on the principal’s green card stage – see our comparison of H-1B and H-4.

How long can I stay on an H-1B?

Six years in total, with extensions available beyond that in defined circumstances tied to a permanent residence application.

Book a review

Send us your degree, your role and your employer’s filing history. We will tell you whether the petition is likely to hold, what to fix first, and what your position is if the lottery does not go your way – speak to our US team in Hyderabad.