Applying for H1B: When to start looking for immigration lawyer?

[elvy]

Hello guys,

I am on my 12-month OPT right now, and my company will be sponsoring me for an H1B next year. It is a fairly small company without previous experience of hiring non-US residents, so I am taking initiative in starting this whole process. My employer is perfectly happy with hiring an immigration lawyer for this process, they just don't know when they should be doing this.

So, my question to you is: when should my employer start having a conversation with an immigration lawyer about my H1B? We certainly want to have the application in by April 2 of 2014, but we do not know when to start this process.

Thanks a lot for your help!

Cheers,
elvy

[kabkaba]

The absolute latest you can start is mid-Feb or March 1. It is better to start this conversation much sooner to avoid any surprises.