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If you are a citizen of Chile with a U.S. job offer in a professional field, you have, in a sense, already won the lottery. Citizens of most other countries must compete in the annual H-1B lottery for a chance at a work visa. Chileans have their own classification — the H-1B1 — with its own annual allocation, no lottery at all, and a limit that in practice has not been the obstacle the H-1B cap is.
The H-1B1 is a professional work category that only nationals of Chile and Singapore can use. It exists because Congress implemented the United States-Chile Free Trade Agreement, which entered into force on January 1, 2004, and added a new subclause to the immigration statute at INA 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b1) (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b1)). The work it covers is much the same work a traditional H-1B covers. What differs is the route to it.
The main attraction: a reserved allocation. Congress set aside up to 1,400 initial H-1B1 approvals each fiscal year for nationals of Chile. INA 214(g)(8)(B)(ii)(I) (8 U.S.C. 1184(g)(8)(B)(ii)(I)). That set-aside sits outside the general H-1B numerical limit, so a Chilean professional is not competing in the annual H-1B registration and selection process. The category is also not petition-based. The Department of State describes the H-1B1 that way in its own materials, which means a qualifying applicant can ordinarily apply directly at a U.S. consular post rather than waiting for USCIS to approve an employer petition first.
Who counts as Chilean for this purpose. Eligibility turns on nationality, not residence. The statute defines the term by reference to Article 14.9 of the Free Trade Agreement, which adopts the definition in Annex 2.1: a chileno as defined in Article 10 of the Constitucion Politica de la Republica de Chile. A person who lives in Chile, or holds permanent residence there, but is not a Chilean national cannot use the category.
The job must be a specialty occupation. For the H-1B1 specifically, INA 214(i)(3) defines a specialty occupation as one requiring the theoretical and practical application of a body of specialized knowledge, together with a bachelor’s or higher degree in the specific specialty, or its equivalent, as a minimum for entry into the occupation. Engineering, mathematics, the physical and computer sciences, medicine and health care, education, biotechnology, and business specialties such as management and human resources are common examples.
The credential must match the occupation. Chapter 14 of the Free Trade Agreement defines a professional as someone engaged in a specialty occupation requiring a post-secondary degree in that specialty involving four or more years of study, or the equivalent. A footnote to the same article records that the United States recognizes the Chilean licenciatura and titulo profesional, and higher Chilean degrees, as qualifying degrees.
Four professions have alternative credentials. Appendix 14.3(D)(2) of the Agreement sets out substitute credentials for agricultural managers, physical therapists, disaster relief claims adjusters, and certain management consultants. These are substitutes for the four-year degree, not a license to skip post-secondary training altogether. An agricultural manager or physical therapist may qualify on a post-secondary certificate requiring three years of study in the specialty plus three years of experience in it. A disaster relief claims adjuster may qualify on three years of claims-adjustment experience plus completion of training in the areas of insurance adjustment that pertain to disaster relief claims. A management consultant still needs the degree, but it may be in an unrelated discipline where three years of experience in a field related to the consulting agreement is documented. See the exceptions to the post-secondary degree requirement.
The employer has a step of its own. No one may be admitted or granted H-1B1 status until the employer files a labor attestation with the Department of Labor under INA 212(t)(1) (8 U.S.C. 1182(t)(1)). The employer attests that it will pay the higher of the actual wage paid to comparable employees or the prevailing wage for the occupation in the area of employment, that working conditions will not adversely affect similarly employed workers, that no strike or lockout exists in the occupational classification at the place of employment, and that notice of the filing has been given to the bargaining representative or by posting.
How long it lasts. Admission in H-1B1 status is for one year, and it may be extended only in one-year increments. INA 214(g)(8)(C). After every second extension, the next one cannot be granted unless the employer has filed a further attestation with the Department of Labor. A separate provision reduces the general H-1B numerical limit by one for each extension granted to a person who has already received five or more consecutive extensions. INA 214(g)(8)(D). The visa is a separate question: the State Department reciprocity schedule for Chile currently allows an H-1B1 visa to be issued for up to 18 months, for multiple entries, with no reciprocity fee. Visa validity controls how long the visa may be used to seek entry. The Form I-94 controls how long the person may remain. See the maximum validity of H-1B1 visas and extensions and renewals.
Family. A spouse and unmarried children under 21 may accompany the principal in H-4 status. The 1,400 annual limit applies to principal applicants only and is not charged for spouses or children. INA 214(g)(8)(B)(iii). See whether family may accompany the principal applicant.
The traditional H-1B remains open. Nothing obliges a Chilean national to use the H-1B1. The two categories have different advantages, and the traditional H-1B is often the better choice where the intended stay is long or where the employer wants the flexibility that comes with a petition-based classification. See whether Chileans may still apply for traditional H-1B visas.
An H-1B1 case for a Chilean national rests on a critically important set of documents. Antao & Chuang works with employers and with Chilean professionals on defining the position so that it reads as a specialty occupation, and on matching the credential to it - a licenciatura, a titulo profesional or a higher Chilean degree, or, for the occupations the Agreement treats separately, the combinations of study, training and experience that agricultural managers, physical therapists, disaster relief claims adjusters and management consultants may offer in place of the four-year degree. Those same occupations raise licensing questions of their own, and the firm advises on where a state license belongs in the sequence and on what someone entering a licensed field should have under way. Running alongside all of it is the labor attestation, which Antao & Chuang prepares and times so that its certification lines up with the start date the employer has in mind.
Where the application is made shapes the rest of the work. For someone applying from abroad, the firm assembles the consular application for a post in Chile - the offer of employment, the credential evidence, proof of Chilean nationality, and the material that supports a temporary stay. For someone already in the United States, the filings go to USCIS instead, to change status to H-1B1 or to extend it, together with the H-4 filings for a spouse and children. Because the status runs a year at a time, Antao & Chuang keeps the renewal cadence in view, including the further labor attestation the employer must have filed before an extension can be granted after every second one, and, drawing on many years of experience in U.S. immigration matters, advises on the route question underneath all of this - the H-1B1 or the traditional H-1B - and on when a move to the traditional H-1B is the step to take, since the H-1B1 is not a dual-intent classification and permanent residence may be the longer objective.
If you are a Chilean national holding a U.S. job offer, or an employer trying to decide between the H-1B1 and the regular H-1B, we would be glad to hear from you. A short account of the position, the credential behind it and the timing you are working to is usually enough to start. Where we conclude that representation by this firm is appropriate for the matter, we will set out how we would propose to proceed. To begin that conversation, Contact us.
The general rule asks for a post-secondary degree in the specialty, but experience equivalent to that degree in the same field can stand in its place. Separately, the Free Trade Agreement singles out four occupations with their own alternative credential rules for Chileans - agricultural managers and physical therapists, which are specific to Chile, and management consultants and disaster relief claims adjusters, which Chile shares with Singapore (9 FAM 402.10-5(E)). Each alternative is a defined combination of study, training and experience rather than a waiver of preparation, so what qualifies has to be documented occupation by occupation.
More detail: What are the exceptions to having a post-secondary degree to qualify for an H-1B1?
Not as a precondition to classification. State Department guidance treats a professional license as a matter for the state where the person will practice, to be addressed after entry rather than as a requirement for the H-1B1 itself (9 FAM 402.10-5(G)). Anyone entering a licensed field should still start on the state license early - the Agreement's physical therapist route is the obvious example - because the license governs whether the work can be performed once the person is here.
More detail: What are the special licensing requirements for H-1B1 applicants?
Yes. Unlike the consular route, which needs no USCIS petition, a change of status or an extension inside the United States runs through a USCIS filing: under 8 CFR 214.1(c)(1) the employer files a petition to extend or amend H-1B1 status, and the employer's certified labor attestation has to be in place before that filing. A grant from USCIS gives status, not a visa, so anyone who travels afterwards still applies for the H-1B1 visa at a post abroad before returning.
More detail: Can a Chilean national in the U.S. change status to H-1B1?
No - the list of benefit requests designated for premium processing at 8 CFR 106.4 reaches the regular H-1B and the E classifications, which include the Australian E-3, but it does not extend to the H-1B1. That the neighboring categories are both covered is what makes the gap easy to overlook.
More detail: Is USCIS premium processing available for the H-1B1?
Yes, but the H-1B1 is employer-specific and a change of employer is not a formality. The classification rests on the labor attestation filed by one particular employer, so a new employer needs its own certified attestation (20 CFR 655.730) and its own H-1B1 application - either a filing with USCIS or a new visa application at a post abroad.
There is a discretionary grace period, and it expressly covers H-1B1 workers and their dependents. Under 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2), the cessation of employment alone is not treated as a failure to maintain status for up to 60 consecutive days or until the end of the authorized validity period, whichever is shorter, once during each authorized validity period. It is a window in which to find a new employer, change status or depart, not an entitlement. One caution on currency: a Department of Homeland Security proposal to eliminate this grace period is pending as of mid-2026, so the area is unsettled and the current position should be confirmed before it is relied on.
You can, but the H-1B1 is not a dual-intent classification, and that shapes how. The protection at 8 U.S.C. 1184(h) for people with permanent residence cases under way does not reach the H-1B1, so temporary intent has to be shown afresh at each visa application and each extension, and an advanced immigrant case sits awkwardly against that showing. Nothing bars an H-1B1 holder from having an immigrant case, but the usual course is to move to the traditional H-1B, which does allow dual intent, before the immigrant case is far along - a move that counts as a first-time H-1B change of status, with the H-1B cap and the usual H-1B fees that come with it.
More detail: Can an H-1B1 applicant intend to immigrate while applying?
Yes. Nothing obliges a Chilean national to use the H-1B1, and both routes stay open. The trade-off is the one drawn above: the H-1B1 sits outside the general numerical limit and outside the annual registration and selection process, while the traditional H-1B allows dual intent and periods of stay longer than a year at a time.
More detail: Are Chileans still eligible for traditional H-1B visas?
This page is general information about U.S. immigration law, not legal advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Immigration rules, numerical limits and procedures change often. The law described here was reviewed in August 2026; please confirm the current position, or contact us, before acting on anything on this page.