Work visa insight

[Landover]

Anybody have any insight on this?  My Colombian girlfriend is here on a student visa doing field work for her social work degree. She wants to apply for a work visa for thru her current university/organization here in the States. Are these hard to obtain?  Should she get an attorney or simply apply?

[Kit]

... in response to Work visa insight, posted by Landover on Sep 26, 2002

To obtain a work visa in US, one must get a sponsor company first. It is the sponsor that files for H1 visa, not the beneficiary. Once that sponsor is found, there is a whole process to follow through (obtain wage scale, file to labor department for approval, then submit it to INS). She may amend her status while in US if she has a valid status, otherwise she will have to leave and apply for visa in her country. Working on campus is not enough ground to qualify for H1 (work) visa unless it is a full time (40 hours/wk).

Also to qualify for H1 visa she has to have BS degree and a proven record of employment in the field.