From OPT to H-1B1: The Singapore and Chile Route Around the Lottery, Step by Step

If you hold a Singapore or Chile passport and an OPT card, there is a work visa with no lottery, and the real decision is whether to get it at the embassy or through USCIS.

Part of our guide to H-1B visa stamping.

Yes. If you are a Singapore or Chile citizen on F-1 OPT, you can move to an H-1B1 visa without entering the H-1B lottery. Your employer first gets a certified Labor Condition Application (LCA) from the Department of Labor. Then you either apply for the visa at the US Embassy in Singapore or Santiago, or the employer files Form I-129 asking USCIS to change your status inside the US. Either way, admission comes one year at a time.

Status as of November 1, 2026: the H-1B1 annual limits (1,400 for Chile, 5,400 for Singapore, according to 8 U.S.C. 1184(g)(8) and DOL's program page) are in effect. Proclamation 11069's $100,000 restriction covers only the H-1B, and its fee is blocked. Two proposed rules would reach H-1B1 workers: ending the discretionary 60-day grace period for workers (comments close 2026-11-10) and removing deference on I-129 extensions (comments close 2026-11-13). From 2026-11-09 USCIS is scheduled to accept only the 09/09/26 edition of Form I-129.

H-1B1 visa for Singapore and Chile graduates: the short answer

The H-1B1 is a specialty-occupation work status for nationals of Chile and Singapore under their free trade agreements with the United States. From OPT, you reach it at a US embassy abroad or through a USCIS change of status. There is no lottery, admission comes one year at a time, and it is not a dual-intent status.

You need Chilean or Singaporean nationality as the two trade agreements define it (practitioners read that as citizenship, so a permanent resident who is not a citizen should ask an attorney first), a job that normally requires a bachelor's degree in a specific field, and that degree or its equivalent. Our general H-1B1 guide for Chile and Singapore nationals covers eligibility; this post covers the switch from OPT.

Can you switch from OPT to H-1B1?

Yes, through either route. USCIS's Form I-129 page (updated 2026-10-30) says petitioners "may also use this form to request an extension of stay in or change of status to E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B1 or TN".

Both routes start with the LCA. DOL's H-1B, H-1B1 and E-3 program page says the employer files it electronically (Form ETA-9035E, through the FLAG system) before petitioning USCIS or obtaining a visa, that DOL reviews it "within seven (7) working days", and that it "must not be submitted more than 6 months before the beginning date of the period of employment."

Once H-1B1 status begins, your F-1 status and OPT end; you cannot later resume that OPT or add a STEM OPT extension. You then work only for the H-1B1 employer, in the job its LCA describes.

Consulate or USCIS: which route fits your OPT timeline?

Consulate vs USCIS change of status for an OPT holder (as of 2026-11)

The consulate tends to fit if you can be away for a few weeks, your OPT EAD has months left as a fallback, and your embassy's wait looks manageable on the State Department's Global Visa Wait Times page (last updated 21-OCT-2026 as of 2026-11-01). Those are monthly estimates, not promises.

A change of status tends to fit if you cannot be away from your job, or cannot travel because your initial OPT I-765 is still pending (Cornell, JHU and USC advise against international travel until the EAD arrives). The catch is the clock. USCIS's cap-gap page covers "Cap-subject H-1B petitions that are properly and timely filed" and counts a petition only if it is "based on a valid, selected registration". An H-1B1 has no registration and the page never mentions it, so our reading is that cap-gap will not carry you past your EAD end date; confirm with your DSO. Our cap-gap explainer covers how it works for H-1B.

H-1B1 visa stamping in Singapore or Santiago, step by step

1. Talk to your DSO before booking: how your SEVIS record ends once you enter in H-1B1, and what you would need to return in F-1 on OPT if the visa is delayed (Cornell, for one, requires an OPT travel signature dated within the last six months).
2. Ask your employer to file the LCA (Form ETA-9035E) in DOL's FLAG system, no earlier than six months before the start date.
3. Complete Form DS-160 and pay the visa application fee listed on travel.state.gov.
4. Book the interview at the US Embassy in Singapore or Santiago. Since 2025-09-06 the State Department has directed applicants to their country of nationality or residence; our post on the country-of-residence rule explains what changed for third-country posts.
5. Prepare for an in-person interview. Under State's September 18, 2025 interview-waiver update, waivers remain only for certain B-1/B-2 and H-2A renewals and diplomatic classes. Use the embassy's own H-1B1 document list (typically the certified LCA, an employer letter and proof of your degree).
6. Check your I-94 on the CBP I-94 website after entry: the class should read H-1B1 and the end date should match your grant.
7. Tell your employer and DSO, so your Form I-9 and F-1 record are updated.

The main risk is a 221(g) refusal for administrative processing. Mintz wrote on 2026-10-30 that such holds "can delay issuance for weeks or months" and that social-media vetting for H, F, J and M applicants "is adding time".

The USCIS change of status, step by step

1. Confirm your dates with your DSO: your EAD end date and your unemployment days used (90 on post-completion OPT, 150 in aggregate on STEM OPT, per Study in the States).
2. Ask your employer to file the LCA in DOL's FLAG system.
3. Have the employer file Form I-129 for a change of status to H-1B1. USCIS says "Starting Nov. 9, 2026, we will accept only the 09/09/26 edition of Form I-129", and Part 6 (the controlled-technology certification) must be completed for H-1B1. H-1B1 is not on USCIS's PDF-upload list (added 2026-10-07), so expect a paper filing unless counsel says otherwise.
4. The employer pays by card or ACH (Form G-1450 or G-1650); USCIS has rejected most paper checks since 2025-10-28.
5. Stay in the US while the petition is pending. Leaving generally abandons the change-of-status request.
6. Track the receipt number online. Approval brings an I-797A with a new I-94.
7. Stop OPT work on your EAD end date if approval has not arrived, and ask your DSO and the employer's attorney whether you can remain in the US while the petition is pending.

A worked timeline: one offer, two routes

Suppose you are a Singaporean citizen with a post-completion OPT EAD valid from 2026-07-01 to 2027-06-30. On Monday 2026-11-02 your current employer agrees to sponsor an H-1B1 starting 2027-02-01.

Same offer, two routes (dates illustrative, rules as of 2026-11)

Look at the last row. USCIS's processing-times tool may not list H-1B1 separately, but its I-129 H-1B change-of-status line read 10 months for 80% of cases on 2026-11-01, which here means mid-September 2027, about two and a half months after the EAD ends. USCIS's premium-processing page (updated 2026-03-23) lists H-1B and E-3 at 15 business days but not H-1B1, so have the employer's attorney confirm availability before you rely on it.

One risk sits under both columns: federal funding runs through 2026-12-11, and based on past shutdowns, a lapse could pause DOL's LCA processing unless Congress passes funding by then.

Does the $100,000 H-1B fee apply to the H-1B1?

No. Proclamation 11069 covers only INA 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b), the H-1B; the H-1B1 sits in its own subclause, (H)(i)(b1). Collection is blocked even for the H-1B: USCIS says a court "vacated agency guidance implementing the $100,000 payment requirement", and "If this order is later lifted, DHS still plans to collect the payment."

Government fees on an H-1B1 (as of 2026-11; G-1055 edition 10/26/26)

The amounts and exemptions come from USCIS's Form G-1055 fee schedule: H-1B1 petitioners "do not have to pay the Fraud Prevention and Detection fee", and the Pub. L. 114-113 fee "does not apply to H-1B1 petitions". ACWIA does apply, unless the employer is exempt under the I-129's H-1B Data Collection supplement. A statutory $250 Visa Integrity Fee is unclear: there is no Federal Register implementation notice, though Boston University reported in May 2026 that "some consular posts have begun charging" it.

Living with one-year increments

8 U.S.C. 1184(g)(8)(C) says H-1B1 admission "shall be 1 year, and may be extended, but only in 1-year increments." After every second extension, the next needs a fresh DOL-certified employer attestation. Your own I-797 and I-94 govern over any summary.

Renewal uses the same two doors, and three live items touch it:

• Deference (proposed). A proposed rule published 2026-10-14 would end USCIS's deference to prior approvals on all I-129 extensions; comments close 2026-11-13. Current deference applies until any final rule.
• Grace period (proposed). The discretionary 60-day grace period after a job ends still applies to H-1B1 workers. DHS has proposed eliminating it for H-1B1 and other worker classes, leaving only the 10-day window after a petition's validity ends, which does not run from a layoff; comments close 2026-11-10. The F-1 grace period after OPT is a separate rule. Our November 2026 comment-deadlines guide covers both proposals.
• The H-1B lottery stays open to you. An employer can register you while you hold H-1B1. FY2028 registration is not announced (USCIS must give 30 days' notice), and wage-weighted selection has been in effect since 2026-02-27.

Bringing a spouse? H-1B1 dependents hold H-4 status, but the H-4 EAD rules are built around H-1B principals; see our explainer on H-1B1 spouse work authorization before you plan on two incomes.

Can you apply for a green card on an H-1B1?

Not comfortably, and this is the H-1B1's biggest limit. Section 1184(b) presumes every visa applicant is an intending immigrant and exempts H-1B workers "except subclause (b1) of such section", which leaves the presumption on the H-1B1. Starting PERM, an I-140 or an I-485 can make it harder to show nonimmigrant intent at your next extension or visa interview. Our H-1B1 vs H-1B comparison sets out this and the other differences.

USCIS's May 21, 2026 memo PM-602-0199 (in effect; challenged in AAUP v. Mullin, filed 2026-10-05, no ruling) calls adjustment "extraordinary relief" and says holding a dual-intent status "is not sufficient, on its own, to warrant a favorable exercise of discretion." The memo names no visa class; our reading is that an H-1B1 holder cannot point even to that factor. Map the sequence (H-1B1 now, a dual-intent status such as H-1B later, then the green card) with a licensed immigration attorney before anything is filed.

Common mistakes

Common misconception: "Cap-gap will keep me working while my H-1B1 change of status is pending." Correction: USCIS's cap-gap page covers cap-subject H-1B petitions from a selected registration and never mentions H-1B1. Plan as if OPT work stops on your EAD end date.

• Flying home with a change of status pending. Leaving while the I-129 is pending generally abandons the request.
• Assuming permanent residence in Singapore or Chile qualifies. The limits are for nationals; if you are a permanent resident there but not a citizen, get an attorney's view first.
• Sending the old I-129 edition. The 02/27/26 edition is accepted only if sent before 2026-11-09, and old mailing addresses work only if postmarked on or before 2026-11-09.
• Forgetting tax. Leaving F-1 can change your tax residency and FICA position; ask a tax professional who handles nonresident returns.

Frequently asked questions

Can I switch from OPT to H-1B1?

Yes, if you are a Singapore or Chile national with a specialty-occupation offer: after the LCA is certified, you apply at the embassy in Singapore or Santiago, or the employer files Form I-129 for a change of status. Neither route involves the lottery (as of 2026-11-01).

Does the H-1B1 require the H-1B lottery?

No. According to 8 U.S.C. 1184(g)(8) and DOL, the limits are 1,400 (Chile) and 5,400 (Singapore) a year, counted on principal workers only, with no registration or random selection; unused numbers are added to the general H-1B cap.

Is it faster to get an H-1B1 at the consulate or through USCIS?

It depends on your embassy's appointment wait plus any 221(g) hold, versus the I-129 queue, where the H-1B change-of-status line read 10 months for 80% of cases on 2026-11-01. Premium processing is not listed for H-1B1; ask counsel.

Does the $100k H-1B fee apply to the H-1B1?

No. Proclamation 11069 covers only the H-1B, INA 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b). As of 2026-11-01 the payment is not collected on H-1B petitions either, because a court vacated the agency guidance; DHS says it would collect if that order is lifted.

Can I apply for a green card on an H-1B1?

The H-1B1 is not dual intent, so starting a green card can make the next extension or visa renewal harder. Plan the move into H-1B or another dual-intent status with a licensed immigration attorney.

Sources

• USCIS, Form I-129 (updated 2026-10-30)
• USCIS, Form G-1055 fee schedule (PDF) (edition 10/26/26)
• USCIS, Cap-gap extension of OPT and F-1 status
• USCIS, How do I request premium processing? (updated 2026-03-23)
• USCIS, PM-602-0199 (2026-05-21)
• DOL, H-1B, H-1B1 and E-3 program page
• 8 U.S.C. 1184 (Cornell LII)
• Proclamation 11069, 91 FR 60497
• Federal Register, 60-day grace period NPRM and deference NPRM (both proposed)
• State Department, Global Visa Wait Times
• Mintz, business immigration outlook (2026-10-30)
• Boston University ISSO, Visa Integrity Fee (2026-05-19)

How we checked this: we read the USCIS I-129, G-1055, cap-gap and premium-processing pages, DOL's H-1B1 program page, 8 U.S.C. 1184, PM-602-0199 and the Federal Register notices above on 2026-11-01, and took processing figures from the USCIS tool that day.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice; your own I-20, I-94 and approval notice, and your DSO or immigration attorney, govern your case.

If you hold a Singapore or Chile passport and want employers who already understand the H-1B1, F1Jobs can help you run a focused, visa-aware search.