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Get Those Visas Ready! H1B Season Starts April 1st

Credential Evaluation, immigration, Visa Approvals

st, 2017 for visas for fiscal year 2018. The annual cap is 65,000 for candidates with bachelor’s degrees, and another 20,000 for candidates with master’s degrees of higher. This cap has not changed. Last year, CIS received a record 236,000 petitions in the first five days of opening its doors to petitions, during which CIS is mandated to continue to accept petitions even if the cap is exceeded. After that point, the petitions go into a randomized lottery for review for approval. Every year, more and more petitions have come in, exceeding the annual H1B cap in the first week. There will almost certainly be an H1B lottery again this year. That means if you or your employee or client has a cap-subject H1B job and is petitioning for a visa for FY2018, the petition MUST be filed on April 1st or very shortly after to make the lottery. Make sure that when you file, everything you or your employee or client needs to get the visa approved is included. If you or your employee or client has a degree that doesn’t fit their job title, a foreign degree, a three-year bachelor’s degree, or any other unusual education situation, do not file without first consulting with a foreign credential evaluation agency that specializes in H1B visas. Making the lottery only to receive an RFE or worse is not worth the time, money, and energy. About the Author Sheila Danzig Sheila Danzig is the Executive Director at TheDegreePeople.com, a Foreign Credentials Evaluation Agency. For a free analysis of any difficult case, RFE, Denial, or NOID, please go to http://ccifree.com/ or call 800.771.4723.]]>

H1B Case Study: Approved with NO College Credit!

Case Studies, Credential Evaluation, Visa Approvals

can an H1B candidate be approved without any college credit, but rather how much progressive work experience is needed. As an equivalency, CIS accepts three years of progressive work experience as the equivalent of one year of college credit. This equivalency must be written by a professor with the authority to grant college credit for work experience. Progressive work experience means the candidate took on more responsibility and complexity with time, indicating that the nature of the work experience was educational and increasingly specialized. This work experience must be in the candidate’s EXACT field of employ to meet CIS specialization requirements for H1B visa approval. If you or your employee or client has no college credit or no degree from a government accredited institution, twelve years of progressive work experience in the field is needed to make this equivalency work. Sometimes, candidates say that their high school diploma is a college degree. Other times, candidates hold credentials from programs that are not government accredited. If this is the case, you need to know about it before you file the H1B petition. Take your transcripts, or your employee or client’s transcripts to a credential evaluator who can identify what kind of educational background you or your employee or client has, and whether or not the institutions are accredited. Evaluators with experience working with H1B cases can also identify whether or not work experience is “progressive” and will count towards a college credit equivalency. About the Author Sheila Danzig Sheila Danzig is the Executive Director at TheDegreePeople.com, a Foreign Credentials Evaluation Agency. For a free analysis of any difficult case, RFE, Denial, or NOID, please go to http://ccifree.com/ or call 800.771.4723.]]>

You Can Sidestep the Most Common H1B RFEs

Credential Evaluation, immigration, Visa Approvals

Degree does not match the job title We expect this CIS approval trend that emerged about six or seven years ago to hold strong. Your degree, or your employee client’s degree must be an exact match for the job. H1B visa holders must work specialty jobs and have the specialized skills and expertise required to perform the duties of these jobs. To prove specialization, you or your employee or client must either hold a degree in that exact field, or have the individual credits and work experience to write an equivalency to that exact field. For example, if you or your employee or client has a job in finance and a Bachelor’s degree in business, you need to include a credential evaluation that takes a close look at the candidate’s courses taken in finance, as well as work experience in the field of finance. Work experience – so long as the candidate took on progressively more responsibility through this work – can be converted into years of college credit with three years of work experience equating to one year of college credit in the field. This evaluation is necessary to sidestep this VERY common RFE. Three-year bachelor’s degree At TheDegreePeople, we work with many clients with Indian three-year Bachelor’s degrees. Every year, we see that without a credential evaluation, virtually all of these clients receive an RFE. In the past, we’ve been able to answer these RFEs by showing that the course content of three-year degrees is the equivalent to a US four-year bachelor degree by converting classroom contact hours into college credit hours using the Carnegie Unit conversion of fifteen classroom contact hours to one hour of college credit. However, last year it did not work. Luckily, we always have a plan B. This year, if you or your employee or client has a three-year bachelor’s degree, you should understand right off the bat that your client will need a work experience conversion to get the H1B visa approved. CIS is hung up on that missing fourth year, and at the end of the day, it’s up to them whether or not to approve your visa, or your employee or client’s visa. Consult with a credential evaluation agency about the candidate’s education and work experience and include a credential evaluation with a work experience conversion in the initial H1B filing on April 1st. If either or both of these situation matches that of you or your employee or client, do not file without the appropriate work experience conversion. It’s important to remember that not all credential evaluation agencies are authorized to make this work experience conversion. Only a college or university professor is authorized to issue college credit for years of progressive work experience. The credential evaluation agency you want to work with has these professors on staff or on contract to write the evaluation you or your employee or client needs to sidestep an education RFE. About the Author Sheila Danzig Sheila Danzig is the Executive Director at TheDegreePeople.com, a Foreign Credentials Evaluation Agency. For a free analysis of any difficult case, RFE, Denial, or NOID, please go to http://ccifree.com/ or call 800.771.4723.]]>

How Can You Avoid that H1B RFE?

Credential Evaluation, immigration, Visa Approvals

st is right around the corner and you want to make sure you have the time you need to file a petition that’s going to be approved. In the haste of preparation, it’s important to keep in mind that the rate of RFEs is high and climbing, and submitting a petition that doesn’t meet H1B requirements is a costly waste of time. Meeting H1B educational requirements clearly and initially is the key to visa approval. Successful H1B candidates must hold a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its foreign equivalent in their field of employ. This sounds simple enough, but matters get tricky when a candidate holds a degree or vocational certificate from outside of the United States. Many candidates are misinformed about their US educational equivalent. This leads to submitting petitions that are doomed to failure. For example, some candidates have earned diplomas and certificates that are not the equivalent of degrees in the United States. Sometimes, the value of the degree gets lost in translation into English. Some vocational certifications from other countries ARE the equivalent of a US bachelor’s degree even though the US vocational certification is not. Foreign credential evaluation is a highly nuanced process that encompasses international education, college and graduate program admissions policies, international trade and commerce agreements, federal case law, and CIS precedent decisions. All of these factors come into play when discerning whether or not you education, or your employee or client’s education meets H1B requirements, and does so with respect to CIS approval trends. Before you get too far on the H1B petition, take the candidate’s education and work experience to a credential evaluation agency. The right agency for you works regularly with H1B cases and their RFEs. When you call or email, they will respond promptly and ask about your or your employee or client’s job and visa. If the agency does not ask about the job and visa, look elsewhere. Don’t file an H1B petition with the wrong education. If a candidate does not meet CIS educational requirements with their foreign degree, they may be able to meet equivalency requirements by including a work experience conversion with a detailed credential evaluation. About the Author Sheila Danzig Sheila Danzig is the Executive Director at TheDegreePeople.com, a Foreign Credentials Evaluation Agency. For a free analysis of any difficult case, RFE, Denial, or NOID, please go to http://ccifree.com/ or call 800.771.4723.]]>

Your H1B Job and Education: Tips for Proving Specialization

Credential Evaluation, immigration, Visa Approvals

specialization. H1B visa status is for foreign workers with advanced degrees working specialty occupations. These jobs require a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its foreign equivalent as a minimum requirement. Additionally, CIS requires the degree to be in the exact specialization of the job, as has been proven by recurrent CIS approval trends over the past five plus years. If you or your employee or client is applying for H1B visa status, you have two jobs:

  1. Clearly show that the job is a specialty occupation.
  2. Clearly show that the candidate has the specialized skills and knowledge necessary to perform the duties of this occupation.
You can do this by providing evidence and documentation about the nature of the beneficiary’s job and education. Proving Occupational Specialization To do this, you must clearly show that the job requires the minimum H1B educational requirements to perform. In the petition, include the ad for the job showing with the minimum requirements are. Also include ads for similar jobs in the same industry to show that this level of specialization is standard for this specific occupation, and not just tailored to meet the needs of you or your employee or client’s visa. If the job does require unique specialization that similar jobs for similar companies do not, include an expert opinion letter about why this is the case. Industry experts, a detailed explanation from the employer, and other reputable professionals are necessary to prove that the job meets H1B specialization requirements. Proving Educational Specialization Once you have clearly shown that the job is a specialty occupation, now you must show that you or your employee or client meets the educational requirements for the job, H1B requirements, and CIS approval trends. To do this, you or your employee or client must hold a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its foreign equivalent in the exact field of the specialty occupation. That means if the job is in Computer Systems Analysis, the degree must be in Computer Systems Analysis. If the job is in Chemistry, the degree must be in Chemistry. If you or your employee or client holds a degree in a related field, this will not work for CIS. What also won’t work for CIS is having a degree from outside of the US. Both of these situations require an extra step when organizing the petition: credential evaluation. Take the beneficiary’s education and work experience to a foreign credential evaluator with experience working with H1B visas and their RFEs. These evaluators know what CIS is looking for and what tends to trigger an RFE. They understand what CIS needs to evidence equivalency, and these needs change. For example, if you or your employee or client has a three-year bachelor’s degree from India, CIS will not accept that this is the equivalency of a US four-year bachelor’s degree even if it has the same or greater number of college credit hours. CIS needs a work experience conversion, wherein three years of progressive work experience in the field can be converted to one year of college credit in the field by a professor with the authority to do this. Many credential evaluation agencies work with professors with this authority for this very reason. This conversion can also be used to write an equivalency to the degree in the correct field to prove that you have, or your employee or client has the specialized skills and knowledge necessary for the specific H1B job. If you or your employee or client has a degree from outside of the United States, or a degree in the wrong specialization, do NOT submit the petition without a credential evaluation. Without one, you have not proven specialization, which is the key aspect of this visa. About the Author Sheila Danzig Sheila Danzig is the Executive Director at TheDegreePeople.com, a Foreign Credentials Evaluation Agency. For a free analysis of any difficult case, RFE, Denial, or NOID, please go to http://ccifree.com/ or call 800.771.4723.    ]]>

Your Guide to 2017 H1B Education Requirements and Approval Trends

Credential Evaluation, immigration, Visa Approvals

H1B eligibility has two main requirements:

  1. The candidate’s job must be a specialty occupation.
To meet H1B eligibility requirements, you or your employee or client must have a specialty occupation. That means the job requires a minimum of a US Bachelor’s degree or its equivalent to perform. This is because the job requires advanced skills and knowledge specific to the industry and position, requiring a highly skilled worker to perform. To meet this requirement, you need to show the ad for the job that indicates its minimum requirements, as well as ads for similar positions in the same industry. That will prove that it is an industry requirement to possess an advanced degree as a minimum requirement for this job. If the job is particularly complex, include an expert opinion letter stating why.
  1. The candidate must hold an advanced degree.
Once you’ve proven the job meets H1B educational requirements, you must show that the candidate meets these requirements as well. You or your employee or client must hold a US Bachelor’s degree or higher or its foreign equivalent. This means that if you have, or your employee or client has a degree from outside of the United States, it must be evaluated for its US academic value because education systems vary greatly from country to country. Some degrees call themselves by the same name when translated, but have completely different academic content. Others have different names when translated but equivalent academic value. CIS will not know without a clear, detailed credential evaluation that explains the US academic value of the foreign degree. Working with a foreign credential evaluation agency that understands H1B requirements and approval trends is key to getting the evaluation needed for the petition. Even if you meet, or your employee or client meets H1B requirements, approval trends have changed. The prevalence of RFEs in response to petitions that make the H1B lottery have spiked in recent years. This is due in part to the massive influx of petitions in recent years that far surpass the annual H1B visa cap, and also as an attempt by CIS to crack down on visa fraud. When preparing the petition, ALWAYS keep CIS educational trends in mind. Below are the two main trends we’ve seen regularly trigger RFEs in the past five years:
  1. The candidate’s degree specialization must be an exact match for the job offer.
In recent years, CIS has tightened its approval trends when it comes to the degree matching the job offer. Even if the candidate was hired with a degree in a field related to the industry, CIS requires an EXACT match to prove that the candidate has the specific skills necessary for the industry. If you have, or your employee or client has a degree in a related or generalized field, you need a credential evaluation for an equivalency to a degree in the exact field. For example, if the job is in chemistry and the degree in biology, what is needed is a credential evaluation to show the candidate has the skills and knowledge specific to chemistry. This can be done by taking a close look at the academic content of the degree, specifically courses taken in the candidate’s field of employ, as well as the candidate’s work experience in the field. Consult with a credential evaluation agency that works with professors authorized to convert work experience into college credit to find out if you or your employee or client has the education and work experience necessary to fill in the gaps between the degree and the job offer. Three years of work experience in the field in which you or your employee or client took on more responsibility and complexity in the work can be converted into one year of college credit in the field.
  1. Three-year Bachelor’s degrees require a work experience conversion.
If you have, or if your employee or client has a three-year bachelor’s degree, CIS requires a work experience conversion to account for the missing fourth year for the US four-year Bachelor’s degree equivalency. This is a new trend. In years past, we saw success in breaking down the number of classroom contact hours in a three-year degree and converting classroom contact hours into college credit hours. This typically worked because many three-year bachelor’s degrees have the same number of credit hours as a US four-year bachelor’s degree, just in condensed duration. However, in recent years, CIS has ONLY approved degrees with a work experience conversion. That missing fourth year matters to CIS, so it matters to you. You can use the three years of work experience to one year of college credit in the field conversion as discussed above. The sooner you can find out if you, or your employee or client has the education and work experience necessary to meet CIS approval trends the better. Talk to a foreign credential evaluation agency with experience working with H1B visas and H1B RFEs. They understand what works and what doesn’t when it comes to getting the H1B visa approved, and after a consult, so will you. About the Author Sheila Danzig Sheila Danzig is the Executive Director at TheDegreePeople.com, a Foreign Credentials Evaluation Agency. For a free analysis of any difficult case, RFE, Denial, or NOID, please go to http://ccifree.com/ or call 800.771.4723.]]>

2017 EB2 Education Trends You Need to Know About

Credential Evaluation, immigration, Visa Approvals

The Degree must EXACTLY fit the job title on the PERM One common mistake in EB2 filing occurs when a candidate’s education does not exactly match the job title on the PERM. In the past, CIS has allowed candidates with degrees in fields related to their job to have their visas approved, but educational standards have tightened. This means if you have, or if your employee or client has a degree in a field that doesn’t exactly fit the field of employ, you cannot simply file as is. EB2 occupations are highly specialized, and you need to clearly show CIS that you have, or your employee or client has the precise skills and knowledge necessary to excel at the job. This means having education specialized to the profession. If this is you situation, or your employee or client’s situation, have a credential evaluator with experience working with EB2 petitions review the education and work experience. With the proper conversions, documentation, and citations, you may be able to get the evaluation needed to account for the proper degree specialization. The Bachelor’s Degree must be a SINGLE SOURCE If the bachelor’s or master’s degree is not an exact match for the job title on the PERM, or if you or your employee or client has a three-year bachelor’s degree, or anything other than a straightforward US education that fits the field of employ, DO NOT file without a credential evaluation. The purpose of this is to explain that the candidate holds the educational value equivalency of the education required by CIS to meet EB2 eligibility requirements. However, this leads into another common problem EB2 candidates face: the bachelor’s degree must be a SINGLE SOURCE. Unlike other visas, you cannot combine work experience and college credit to make the bachelor’s degree or master’s degree equivalency in the correct specialization. However, CIS does accept a work experience conversion of ONLY years of work experience in the field into enough years of college credit to meet CIS requirements for bachelor’s degree equivalency. Talk to a credential evaluator with the authority to convert years of work experience into college credit to see if you have, or your employee or client has the background necessary for this solution. EB2 processing time is years shorter than the time it takes to process EB3 petitions. For this reason, candidates are tempted to try to meet EB2 requirements even if they do not. DO NOT BE TEMPTED BY THIS. It is a waste of time. However, if the EB2 educational requirements can be met, definitely take advantage of this. Before you file, have a credential evaluator with extensive experience working with EB2 cases and EB2 RFEs review your case, or your employee or client’s case and see if you can clearly meet the requirements for this visa. If the education and work experiences fit, congratulations! Go for it. About the Author   Sheila Danzig Sheila Danzig is the Executive Director of TheDegreePeople.com a Foreign Credentials Evaluation Agency. For a no charge analysis of any difficult case, RFE, Denial, or NOID, please go to http://www.ccifree.com/ or call 800.771.4723.  ]]>

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