@jumbofish: If the company is going to hire you directly (no contract or vendor) then they will run a full background check on you. I don't know what you might have in your resume, but what I know is I know a guy who applied for an IT job in a bank (he is a green card holder). He had experiences from Nepal that he mentioned in his resume. During the background check process, the company even called Nepal to verify.

Don't rush but wait for the company to response to you. If it does not work out, my suggestion is hook up with a consulting company and tell them u r ready to work for them as long as they apply for ur H1 this year. Once you get ur H1, you can always change the employer for a better pay.