The H-1B1 visa for Chile and Singapore - a specialty occupation with no lottery

The H-1B1 has existed since 2004. It sits in the same statute as the H-1B and is open to nationals of two countries. Most people from Chile and Singapore who could use it have never had it explained.

Here is the trade. The H-1B1 visa gives you a specialty occupation route with no registration and no lottery, drawing on an allocation that goes unclaimed most years. In return it asks a one-year status you renew again and again, plus a green card path with a real obstacle in it.

Talk to an immigration attorney about your H-1B1 options

The H-1B1 visa in short: who it covers and what it gives you

The H-1B1 is a nonimmigrant work visa for nationals of Chile and Singapore in a specialty occupation, meaning a job that requires a degree in a specific field. Two free trade agreements created it, and the annual numerical limit for each country sits at INA 214(g)(8).

Status comes in one-year terms and renews in one-year increments, with no statutory ceiling on renewals. The limitation that changes most decisions is intent, because U.S. law does not treat this category as dual intent.

What is the H-1B1 visa, and who is it for?

The H-1B1 visa is the free trade agreement version of the H-1B, reserved for Chilean and Singaporean professionals in specialty occupations. It carries its own numbers, its own application route and its own one-year term.

It fits a narrow group well. You hold a Chilean or Singaporean passport, a U.S. employer wants you in a role that requires a degree, and the lottery has either passed or cannot be waited out.

Our overview of alternatives to the H-1B visa sets it beside the other routes, and the H-1B guide covers the category it sits next to.

Who qualifies for the H-1B1, and which occupations skip the degree?

Two things have to be true: you are a national of Chile or Singapore, and the job is a specialty occupation. The agreements define a professional as someone in an occupation requiring specialized knowledge. The minimum for entry is a post-secondary degree of four or more years of study, or its equivalent.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative recorded that specialty occupation here is read in a manner similar to the H-1B statute.

A short list of occupations is treated differently under 9 FAM 402.10. Agricultural Managers and Physical Therapists can qualify without a post-secondary degree as Chilean nationals only. Disaster Relief Claims Adjusters can do the same from either country, and Management Consultants with a degree outside their specialty may document experience instead.

Beyond that list, the H-1B1 in Singapore and the H-1B1 visa in Chile run on the same degree standard.

The annual numerical limit, and what "no lottery" means in practice

Each fiscal year INA 214(g)(8)(B)(ii) reserves 1,400 numbers for nationals of Chile and 5,400 for nationals of Singapore. Clause (iii) of that subparagraph counts principal applicants only, so spouses and children do not draw on the allocation.

The practical difference is the absence of a gate. The H-1B1 does not go through H-1B registration, so there is no March filing window and no selection round.

The numbers are rarely exhausted, and the statute says what happens then. INA 214(g)(8)(B)(iv) reduces the general 65,000 cap by the H-1B1 allocation, then adjusts that cap back upwards, for the same fiscal year, by whatever the allocation did not use.

Nothing carries forward for Chile and Singapore, so the unused allocation returns to the pool that the H-1B lottery draws from. People not selected in that lottery face a shortage H-1B1 applicants never meet.

What the employer files: the H-1B1 LCA and the prevailing wage

Before anything else, your employer files a Labor Condition Application, or LCA, with the Department of Labor on Form ETA-9035 or its electronic version, ETA-9035E. The H-1B1 LCA works the way the H-1B one does, and our explainer on the Labor Condition Application covers it line by line.

Signing it commits the employer to four things, according to the Department of Labor:

• Paying the required wage rate.
• Maintaining working conditions.
• Attesting that no strike or lockout is under way.
• Giving notice of the filing.

The required wage is the higher of the prevailing wage for that occupation and area, and the wage paid to comparable staff. That is why prevailing wage levels and minimum salary matter here too.

Two extensions run on the existing attestation, and any further extension needs a fresh one. The H-1B1 LCA is a recurring task rather than a single filing at the start.

The E-3 runs on the same idea, for AustraliansTwo-year terms, an LCA, no lottery, and a spouse who can work without a separate permit.

Read the E-3 guide

Consular application or change of status: the two H-1B1 routes

There are two ways in, and they differ more than people expect. Under 9 FAM 402.10, an employer of an H-1B1 professional is not required to file a petition with USCIS. The applicant presents the evidence for classification directly to a consular officer.

That route runs on a DS-160, the certified LCA, the job offer, your credentials and an interview in Santiago or Singapore. Our notes on visa interview preparation apply in full. It produces a visa you travel on, and CBP issues the I-94 at the port of entry that controls your status.

A change of status inside the U.S. takes the other road, since your employer files Form I-129, covered in our Form I-129 guide. That produces status without a visa stamp, so a consular application still waits before your first re-entry. If travel is likely while the petition is pending, read what leaving does to a pending case.

The one-year clock: how H-1B1 renewals in one-year increments work

INA 214(g)(8)(C) sets the period of authorized admission at one year, and extensions come only in one-year increments. The Department of Labor puts it plainly: the period of employment is one year, extensions may be obtained twice, and further extensions require a new LCA.

After every second extension, the Department of Labor must certify a fresh attestation before another is granted. No numerical ceiling on renewals exists, though INA 214(g)(8)(D) reduces the general H-1B cap by one number for each extension granted to someone with five or more consecutive extensions.

Each renewal is a fresh look at the same facts. Your employment relationship has to keep qualifying every year, and H-1B portability does not apply, so you cannot start work for a new employer on a filing receipt.

Time held in H classifications can also bear on the six-year maximum that governs the H-1B, so confirm your own count with an attorney before changing category.

Can you move from the H-1B1 to a green card?

You can, though rarely while standing still on this visa, because the category is not dual intent. INA 214(b) presumes every applicant is an intending immigrant, excepts H-1B and L-1 holders, and leaves subclause (b1), the H-1B1, inside the presumption.

So you have to show nonimmigrant intent to a consular officer each time you apply or re-enter. A pending PERM labor certification or an approved Form I-140 is evidence an officer can weigh against you. That makes the timing of a green card filing a question to settle first.

Moving from the H-1B1 to a green card usually means changing the ground you stand on first. One route is the H-1B, which is dual intent. Our pieces on H-1B to green card and the green card against the H-1B set out that sequence.

Another route is an immigrant petition that needs no employer, such as EB-1A or EB-2 NIW. A third is adjustment of status from inside the U.S. once a visa number is available. Each route keeps a different door open, and the choice belongs with you and your attorney.

What status does an H-4 dependent get, and can a spouse work?

Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 come as H-4 dependents. They can live in the U.S. and study while you hold H-1B1 status. What they cannot do is work.

The employment authorization some H-4 spouses hold sits at 8 CFR 274a.12(c)(26), and it reaches only the H-4 spouse of an H-1B nonimmigrant with an approved Form I-140. An H-4 dependent married to an H-1B1 holder falls outside that text, so there is no work permit to apply for.

If two incomes are the reason you are reading this, the answer usually sits in the other spouse's own status. Our guide to spouse work authorization lays out which categories allow it.

H-1B1 vs H-1B vs E-3: what changes between them

All three share a specialty occupation standard and an LCA, then part company on almost everything that affects planning. The H-1B1 vs H-1B decision turns on the lottery against the intent rule, and the E-3 for Australians sits between the two.

Where the H-1B1 is weaker is easy to state. The one-year term means annual filings and annual risk, the absence of dual intent complicates a green card plan, and a spouse cannot work.

The H-1B answers all three. That is why it stays the right target for most people who can wait for a cycle, and why employers whose employee was not selected often re-enter the lottery.

Each weakness still has its case. The annual filing is worth it for a role that has to start in weeks rather than after a March registration. The intent rule costs nothing on a first U.S. posting where permanent residence sits further out. The H-4 work bar matters less where a household is already planning on one income.

You can compare the categories side by side, and our types of U.S. work visas and TN visa pages cover the nearby routes.

What does the H-1B1 visa cost, and how long does it take?

Fees are current as of October 2026, and both agencies update them periodically, so check the official pages before you budget.

The consular route is the cheaper one, because no Form I-129 is filed and no USCIS fee arises. Those figures come from 22 CFR 22.1 and 8 CFR 106.2, and neither covers an attorney.

Premium processing, the paid service that puts a 15 business day clock on an I-129, is not designated for the H-1B1. Our H-1B visa cost breakdown covers that category's fees in full.

The $100,000 payment that has been in the news sits outside this category. It reaches certain H-1B petitions under section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b) of the INA, and the H-1B1 is subclause (b1). Our $100k H-1B fee post covers who that measure touches and where it stands.

Not sure which work visa fits your case?Answer a few questions about your nationality, role and timeline to see which routes stay open to you.

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Before you apply for an H-1B1 visa

Five checks, in this order, save most of the trouble people run into later:

1. Confirm the nationality qualifies. Only nationals of Chile and Singapore are eligible, and residence in either country does nothing on its own.
2. Confirm the role meets the specialty occupation standard. Put the job description, the degree requirement and your credentials side by side before an LCA is filed.
3. Confirm the employer will file the LCA. Nothing moves without it, and the wage commitment is real, so the salary conversation belongs here.
4. Decide the route. A consular application suits someone outside the U.S. A change of status suits someone already working here who does not want to travel.
5. Plan the first renewal before the first year runs out. Set a reminder at six months, because the LCA, the wage and the job all have to hold.

Where the H-1B1 earns its place

The H-1B1 solves one problem completely and leaves another open. It removes the lottery for nationals of two countries, using numbers that mostly go unclaimed, with a lighter filing than any petition-based category asks for.

What it leaves open is the long term: the one-year cycle, the intent rule, and a spouse who cannot work. Read against those, the H-1B stays the stronger destination for anyone whose plan ends in permanent residence. The H-1B1 remains the better instrument for getting someone working now.

Tukki works on U.S. work visas and green cards for professionals and for the companies that hire them, including the H-1B, the E-3 and employment-based permanent residence. Our attorneys answer the legal questions on your own case.

If you hold a Chilean or Singaporean passport and a job offer, book an intro call before the LCA goes in.

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