US H-1B Interview Practice

Describe your real duties plainly, in your own words, exactly as the petition your employer filed describes them. A specialty occupation requires the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialised knowledge — the officer is listening for the actual work, not the title. Vague or inflated duties create the follow-up questions; an accurate account of your working week does not.

Connect the role’s duties to the degree the job itself requires: a specialty occupation means a bachelor’s or higher degree in a directly related specific specialty, or its equivalent, is the minimum for entry. Explain which parts of the work need that body of knowledge. The claim being tested is about the job first and you second — keep the answer on what the position demands.

Give the work location and your reporting line as the petition states them. This is the consistency focus of the interview: your DS-160, your petition documents and your spoken answers should tell one truthful story. Inconsistency, not presentation style, is what creates follow-up questions — if a detail has genuinely changed, say so plainly.

Name the organisation that petitioned for you and describe what it does, where you will be based, and how your role sits inside it — consistent with the petition your employer filed. The officer is confirming the employer is real, the job is real, and your account of both matches the paperwork already in front of them.

The employer did — H-1B is employer-led from start to finish. The prospective employer files the petition on behalf of the applicant; you cannot self-petition. Your role is to qualify for the job, provide accurate documents, and apply for the visa once the petition is approved. Know the sequence — registration if cap-subject, the Labor Condition Application, then Form I-129 — well enough to say which parts were never yours to file.

Answer with the wage stated for your job. The Labor Condition Application your employer filed includes its attestation on the wage that will be paid, and the employer must provide a copy of the LCA to each H-1B worker — so this figure is in your own paperwork. The figure you say should match the petition documents exactly; a salary that shifts between your DS-160, the petition and the interview is an inconsistency the officer will explore.

Know which kind of petition yours is. Cap-exempt employers, as USCIS lists them, are an institution of higher education, its affiliated or related nonprofit entities, a nonprofit research organisation, and a government research organisation — workers petitioned by them are not counted against the annual cap, and no registration or selection is needed before filing. The job must still be a specialty occupation and the employer still files the LCA and Form I-129.

State your qualification and the route it takes: a U.S. bachelor’s or higher degree, a foreign degree that is its equivalent, a required unrestricted licence, or education, training and progressively responsible experience equivalent to the degree, with recognition of expertise. Then draw the line from the degree’s field to this role’s specialty — that connection is what the officer is there to test.

Answer completely, matching your DS-160 history. If you held H-1B before, know that there is no "transfer": each job stands on its own new Form I-129 filed by that employer — your old employer’s petition is not carried over. If your history includes a change of status, remember it gave you status, not a visa in your passport, which is why a stamp is needed before returning after travel abroad.

Only an employer — USCIS calls them a prospective petitioner or registrant — or their attorney or representative can register you, through a USCIS online account. USCIS then selects unique beneficiaries: people, not entries, so extra registrations add no extra chances. Selection is not a visa and not an approval; it only lets your employer file the full Form I-129 petition in the filing period that follows.

Because the three decisions are separate: USCIS approves the petition (Form I-129), a consular officer decides the visa, and CBP decides admission at the port of entry. Treating an approval notice as permission to travel or start work is the most common mistake at this stage. A visa lets you travel to a port of entry and request permission to enter — it does not guarantee entry.

Use your petition’s validity dates. An H-1B worker may be admitted for the petition’s validity period, plus up to 10 days before it begins and up to 10 days after it ends — with no work except during the validity period itself. The early days are for entering and settling in; work begins on the validity start date, after admission. After every entry, retrieve and check your Form I-94 against the approval notice.

That is a refusal under Section 221(g), and it is not necessarily a final denial: it means the officer lacked the information required to conclude you are eligible. Either documents are requested — you are told what is needed and how to provide it, and you have one year from the refusal date to respond, otherwise you reapply and pay again — or further administrative processing is required, and the consulate contacts you when it completes. No official page gives a timeline, so do not rely on promised ones.

Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 may seek admission in H-4 — but each dependent makes their own application: a separate DS-160 each, their own interview, and their own fee. Their applications rest on your approved petition (they use the receipt number on the approved Form I-129 or I-797), and proof of the relationship is supporting evidence an officer may request rather than an item on State’s required list. Dependents can be stamped with you or follow later.

Answer truthfully — this question works differently for H-1B than for visitors or students. Section 214(b) normally presumes immigrant intent, but the Department of State’s own denials guidance excludes H-1B and L applicants, along with their spouse and any minor children, from that requirement: this is dual intent, and you need not perform home ties you are not required to show. It is not a guarantee — you must still qualify for H-1B itself — and an employer’s separate immigrant petition, if one exists, is answered about honestly like everything else.