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To anyone with experience with a H1-B: How closely related does your degree have to be?

I get the impression this is a relatively grey area - I have a BEng in Civil Engineering, in my opinion it's somewhat related, I just wondered if there is a clear guidance on this?

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Another question regard the H1-B: is it a bad idea trying to file H1-B without a lawyer? I'm working for a startup, and in the spirit of not-wasting-money, we're trying to file the H1B by ourselves, would that be too risky?

Don't try to file w/o a lawyer, you will come to regret it. It might be cheaper to do so ($$ wise) but in the end you will be treated with more respect if you have legal representation standing behind you.

source (anecdotal): I went through the process of obtaining visa(s) with and without legal representation

Do not do anything immigration related without a lawyer. Ever.

Except J1 visas and waivers, both are easy enough to deal without a lawyer if you have some help from someone who has done it.

It has to be STEM degree: http://www.ice.gov/sevis/stemlist.htm

"Civil Engineering" is listed in your linked STEM-Designated Degree Program List.

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