H-1B Process Overview Flowchart

The H-1B immigration process is a multistep process that requires input from the hiring department and the international employee as well as several UT offices, such as HR, Export Control, and the Treasurer’s Office. The petition process involves several federal agencies, including the Department of Labor, Citizenship and Immigration Services, and sometimes the Department of State. The process is managed and controlled by the International Student and Scholar Services unit within the Center for Global Engagement.

Once a decision to hire a foreign national has been made, the hiring department should notify Erik Simons (esimons@utk.edu) as soon as possible, as our office needs at least four to five months to prepare an H-1B petition.  Premium processing only speeds up USCIS’s review of the petition (the final step), so it doesn’t reduce the time needed to prepare the H-1B petition to be submitted to USCIS.