The H-1B visa if for a professional position that requires the equivalent of a US 4 years bachelors degree. The company cannot only require the degree, the industry must generally require that degree.
The company will have an attorney, or they may allow you to hire an attorney, but they will file the forms to the USCIS, there are many for the H, but the operative form is the I-129 and H supplement. Please note there are other requirements before filing the application, you must find out the prevailing wage, have an internal posting notice and then get an LCA annotated by the US DOL. Also the filing fees will vary depending on how you file (premium processing or not), whether this is a first or subequent filing (fraud fee) and the number of employees in the company (training fee), as well as other forms if you have dependents. You will need a support letter as well as the documents to show you qualify for the H visa.
October 1 is the first day of the new fiscal year (FY 2010) and the day you can begin work, as that is the first day the new allocation of 65,000 H visas available for FY 2010, which is what you would be filing for. the first day you can file is 180 days prior to the FY start date, so April 1, 2009 the case should be filed.
If you have a US masters degree, then you would qualify for the additional 20,000 visas under the 'master's cap."
most H's looking to file for COS for this year will be preparing to file on April 1, or sometime shortly after that. please research "H-1B cap" for detailed informaton about the last few years filings so you understand the timeline better.
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