Some international students may seek to obtain an H-1B visa to work in the United States after graduating from Taubman College. The H-1B visa is a nonimmigrant work visa that allows U.S. employers to hire temporary workers in specialty occupations. You cannot apply for an H-1B visa yourself – you must be sponsored by your employer.
Sponsorship is awarded via a lottery system. There are 65,000 visas available each year for those with at least a bachelor’s degree, as well as an additional 20,000 visas for those with graduate level degrees.
If you have questions about H-1B sponsorship, consider making an appointment with the International Center. If you have questions about discussing H-1B sponsorship with potential employers during the job search process, please schedule an appointment with the Career & Professional Development team.
Identifying Participating Employers
MyVisaJobs is a resource that international students can use to identify employers who have previously applied to sponsor employees. The instructions and image below outline step-by-step instructions for searching:
- Select the ‘Visa Type’ you would like to search for (H-1B).
- Enter your ‘Major’ to show employers who applied to sponsor employees with a similar educational background. You may also use the ‘Industry’ filter; however, architecture, urban planning, urban design are not on the list of industries.
Note: Urban Technology students might consider searching majors closely related to their career interest areas (i.e. Design, Planning, Transportation, Sustainability, etc.), as the database will not recognize Urban Technology. - Choose how you would like to sort the results, and the number of results you would like to see.
You may use additional filters as you see fit to identify employers who have sponsored in the past. Employers who do not have a history of sponsoring may be willing to sponsor you; however, it is more likely that employers who have sponsored in the past would be willing to do so again.
Advice on Sponsorship
International students can learn more about sponsorship by connecting with Taubman College and University of Michigan alumni. The Career & Professional Development team facilitates a networking and information sharing event for international students once per year.
We also strongly encourage you to network with alumni on your own – they may be willing to share their perspectives on discussing sponsorship with employers.
If you have questions about H-1B sponsorship, consider making an appointment with the International Center. If you have questions about discussing H-1B sponsorship with potential employers during the job search process, please schedule an appointment with the Career & Professional Development team.