Sheila Danzig

While the rate of H-1B RFEs has dropped, applicants selected in the second round of this year’s H-1B lottery are seeing a rise in the RFEs instead of outright visa approval.  The start of FY 2022 has come and gone, and RFEs further delay employee start dates, especially if round two arrives.

At CCI TheDegreePeople.com we work with complex RFEs every year and have developed a system for simplifying the process and successfully answering them.  We have consistently answered Double, Triple, and Nightmare RFEs.  Here is how:

First, read through the RFE and then put it down.  Second, go back to the original H-1B eligibility requirements and cross-reference it with the RFE to see where USCIS claims evidence is lacking in regard to the actual requirements. 

• Education issues require a detailed credential evaluation written with the beneficiary’s education, work experience, proffered position, H-1B visa requirements, and USCIS approval trends factored in.  This will close any gaps between the education the employee has and the education the employee needs.
• Address specialty occupation and wage level issues with an expert opinion letter written by an expert in the field of the H-1B job with extensive leadership and field experience.  The stronger the evidence and documentation you can provide, the stronger the letter and the RFE response in general will be. 
• Employer-employee relationship issues can be addressed by showing how the employer will be able to control the work of the H-1B employee even at third-party worksites.  Consulting firms should provide a complete itinerary of work including customer and client contact information for the duration of the H-1B visa.

Always take USCIS approval trends into account because at the end of the day, the adjudicator is who you are writing to.  Take their current trends into account, complete and organize the petition, and triple check to make sure all answers are consistent.  Make it a good experience to read your petition.

When USCIS finds one problem with a petition, this sends off a red flag to look for more, which can snowball into several rounds of complex RFEs.  Before you file an RFE response, let us review your case to make sure you have covered all of your bases. 

For a free review of your case visit www.ccifree.com.  We will respond in 4 hours or less.

Sheila Danzig

Sheila Danzig is the director of CCI TheDegreePeople.com.  Sheila specializes in overturning RFEs and Denials for work visas.

The numbers are in!  The National Foundation for American Policy reports that the Denial rate for new H-1B petitions for the first two quarters of 2021 is 7.1%.  This is down from 28.6% for the first two quarters of 2020. 

However, this does NOT mean we can relax.  USCIS approval trends are still far stricter than they have been in the recent past, and just because they have loosened doesn’t mean it will be easy to get outright visa approval.  Part of the reason is also likely due to the change in the lottery process.  At CCI TheDegreePeople.com, we suspect that part of the reason for the decline in rate of Denials is because H-1B applicants have gotten better at writing airtight petitions in anticipation of common issues that arise during adjudication. 

Computer programmers, professionals making level one wages, and other H-1B beneficiaries whose jobs do not ALWAYS require a US bachelor’s degree or higher still have to go the extra mile to prevent RFEs and Denials.  Additional evidence and an expert opinion letter are needed.

Beneficiaries with education earned outside of the US, 3-year bachelor’s degrees, incomplete college, no college, or the right degree in the wrong major still need to fortify proof of educational eligibility.  They need to include a detailed credential evaluation that fills in the gaps between the education the H-1B beneficiary has and the educational equivalency USCIS needs to see to approve their visa.  This credential evaluation must take any education and work experience into account, as well as the job, the visa, and USCIS approval trends.

Beneficiaries working as consultants must provide a complete itinerary of the work to be performed for the duration of the H-1B visa period or face employer-employee relationship issues.  Employees working at third-party worksites will also face these issues if additional documentation as to how the employer will be able to control the work of the H-1B employee offsite is not included in the initial petition.

Great work to all of you out there who have not let USCIS off the hook!  Every RFE or Denial successfully answered helped.  Every lawsuit challenging illegal Denials helped.  Every petition filed in anticipation of USCIS unlawful approval trends helped.  We didn’t give up, and we are seeing results!

For a free review of your case, visit www.ccifree.com.  We will respond in 4 hours or less.

Sheila Danzig

Sheila Danzig is the director of CCI TheDegreePeople.com.  Sheila specializes in overturning RFEs and Denials for work visas.

RFE rates have been tough on H-1B beneficiaries hired to the position of computer programmer, particularly if they are making level one wages.  This trend began several years ago when USCIS stopped approving H-1B visas outright for jobs that normally but not ALWAYS required a bachelor’s degree as a minimum educational requirement.  This hit programmers hard and swift, particularly because historically these professionals had no issue with visa approval.

What changed?  H-1B specialty occupation requirements state that the position must normally require a at least a US bachelor’s degree or its equivalent.  USCIS began adjudicating this as always, making the exception the rule for approval.  This was met with lawsuits, but not everyone has the resources to take USCIS to court. 

If you, or if your employee or client is applying for an H-1B visa to work as a computer programmer, especially if the position is set at wage level one, here is how to prevent a specialty occupation RFE:

1. Provide added evidence and documentation that this particular position is uniquely specialized as to require a bachelor’s degree minimum to perform the duties and responsibilities of the job.
2. Provide the ad for the job and ads for the same job in similar companies to show the bachelor’s degree minimum requirement, and proof of past employer hiring practices.
3. Include an expert opinion letter written by an expert with at least ten years of experience working in the field of the H-1B job.  This letter will lend weight to your case.  Ideally, this expert has held positions of authority in the field that involved making hiring decision regarding the position in question, and supporting positions that depended on the employee hired to the position in question having the skills and knowledge necessary for a functioning operation.

At CCI TheDegreePeople.com we work with experts in all H-1B fields with the experience necessary for USCIS to accept their opinion letters as evidence to support your case.  This strategy works to prevent and answer specialty occupation RFEs for computer programmers, and other borderline positions that normally – but not always – require a bachelor’s degree as a minimum educational hiring requirement.

For a free review of your case, visit www.ccifree.com.  We will respond in 4 hours or less.

Sheila Danzig

Sheila Danzig is the director of CCI TheDegreePeople.com.  Sheila specializes in overturning RFEs and Denials for work visas.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California vacated the DHS Final Rule, “Modification of Registration Requirement for Petitioners Seeking to File Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions” on September 15^th, in the case Chamber of Commerce, et al., v. DHS, et al.  This final rule, put forth under the Trump administration on January 8, 2021, would have given H-1B visa preference to those with the highest wage levels.  This would have done away with the lottery system and awarded visas based on wage. 

The Biden administration put the Final Rule on hold, to be enacted December 31, 2021 after the U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed a lawsuit challenging the rule.  Then, American Lawyers Association representing five nonprofits and businesses sued the Biden administration.  The onslaught of legal action paid off, preserving the H-1B cap-subject lottery selection process.

But that’s not all.                           

A central aim of the H-1B visa program is to attract foreign students to the United States for Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Ph.D. programs by offering the opportunity to work in the United States after graduation in specialty occupations.  The H-1B visa is a visa of dual intent, so the graduate can choose to pursue permanent residence or not, and the visa period is three years with the opportunity for extension.  However, these recent graduates are entering the field towards the bottom of the pay scale.  This new rule would have effectively excluded them from visa eligibility.

This new rule would have also effectively excluded professionals such as physicists, medical scientists, microbiologists, and other scientists whose positions fall on the lower end of the spectrum as an industry standard from H-1B visa slots. 

While the goal of this new rule was to sequester jobs for Americans, the reality is that we benefit when we can draw the brightest minds from around the world to US industries, and the US workforce does not have the bandwidth to fill the growing number of positions in expanding H-1B eligible industries.  Foreign students and foreign workers actually create MORE jobs for American workers, and create the synergy that keeps US STEM and other industries competitive in the global arena.  We all dodged a bullet. 

At CCI TheDegreePeople.com we are here to help you navigate the changing landscape of visa approval.  As we have seen over the past better part of a decade, USCIS does not need changes in the law to justify adjudication decisions, and not everyone has the means to go to court over an illegal visa rejection.  That’s why we always keep an eye on USCIS approval trends and offer creative solutions to prevent and address approval issues.

For a free review of your case visit www.ccifree.com.  We will respond in 4 hours or less.

Sheila Danzig

Sheila Danzig is the director of CCI TheDegreePeople.com.  Sheila specializes in overturning RFEs and Denials for work visas.

If you, or if your employee or client meets employment-based green card eligibility requirements, this is the year to file.  In a normal calendar year, there are 140,000 of these green cards available to companies that permanently employ foreign nationals.  This year, starting October 1, 2021, there will be over 290,000 available.

Why is this the case?  Unused family-based visas roll over into the following fiscal year as employment-based visas.  Last year, 150,000 foreign nationals were unable to use these visas because immigration requires an in-person interview at the US consulate in their home country.  Last year, many of these consulates were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  That means the number of employment-based green cards available for the fiscal year of 2022 will more than double.

Employment-based green cards are broken down into five preference categories:

Employment-based first preference:

1. Workers in the arts, sciences, athletics, education, and business fields with extraordinary ability.
2. Outstanding researchers and professors.
3. Multinational managers and executives that meet certain criteria.

Employment-based second preference:

1. Workers whose proffered positions require a US master’s degree or higher or its academic equivalent.
2. Workers who have a National Interest Waiver.

Employment-based third preference:

1. Workers with bachelor’s degrees
2. Skilled workers
3. Unskilled labor workers

Employment-based fourth preference:

1. Certain special immigrants who fall into this category as detailed by USCIS.
2. Religious workers
3. Others as detailed by USCIS

Employment-based fifth preference: 

1. Immigrant investors who have invested at least $1 million
2. Immigrant investors who have invested at least $500,000 in a Targeted Employment Area.

ears, employment-based green card holders can qualify for US citizenship.  In addition to this benefit of employment-based green card status, beneficiaries can travel freely, their children can attend US public schools, and their spouses and children can work in the US.

Not sure what preference category is a fit for your situation?  Let us review your case for free.  Visit www.ccifree.com and we will respond in 4 hours or less.

Sheila Danzig

Sheila Danzig is the director of CCI TheDegreePeople.com.  Sheila specializes in overturning RFEs and Denials for work visas.

If your H-1B application for FY2021 was rejected, you may get a second chance to file.  USCIS is now accepting petitions from last year that were rejected because the start date was LATER THAN October 1, 2020. 

Why is USCIS doing this?  Last year, under the new two-step application process and the general uncertainties of the pandemic, the H-1B cap was not filled from filings from the initial selection so there was another lottery in August of 2020.  While petitioners had until November 16, 2021 to file, the start date was still required to be set for October 1, 2020.  If this is your situation, it’s time to clean up the petition and resubmit.

The H-1B approval process can be long and arduous with at least one round of RFEs to respond to.  That means to get to work by the start date, applicants need to take steps to prevent issues that may delay visa approval.  At CCI TheDegreePeople.com we work with difficult cases and RFEs every year.  We keep an eye on USCIS approval trends and here is what we have noticed:

• If the beneficiary’s education is ANYTHING BUT a US degree in the exact field of the H-1B job, you will need to include a credential evaluation.  This credential evaluation must take the job, the education, work experience, visa requirements, and USCIS approval trends into account.
• If the US DOL Occupational Outlook Handbook entry for the H-1B position does not ALWAYS require a bachelor’s degree minimum for entry into the position, you need to include additional documentation fortified with an expert opinion letter to meet specialty occupation requirements.  This letter must be written by an expert in the field of the H-1B job with experience working directly in the field and in positions of leadership wherein hiring decisions regarding the position in question and supporting positions were made.  Wage level issues can also be addressed in this letter.
• If the position is consultant or for a consulting firm, include a complete itinerary of the work the H-1B beneficiary will be performing for the duration of the H-1B visa period.  This must include client and customer contact information.

Let us review your petition to identify areas of weakness and advise accordingly before you file.  For a free review of your case visit www.ccifree.com and we will respond in four hours or less.

Sheila Danzig

Sheila Danzig is the director of CCI TheDegreePeople.com.  Sheila specializes in overturning RFEs and Denials for work visas.

According to Forbes, about two-thirds of annual H-1B cap-subject visas are awarded to beneficiaries in computer occupations.  As of June 2021, there were over 1 million computer positions actively vacant.  However, H-1B applicants working as computer programmers have been hit the hardest by specialty occupation issues in their petitions.

A few years back, a H-1B visa approval trend emerged wherein occupations that are listed in the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook as normally but not always requiring a bachelor’s degree minimum were adjudicated to not meet the specialty occupation requirement.  H-1B eligibility requirements state that to qualify as a specialty occupation the job must normally require a bachelor’s degree minimum, but USCIS began adjudicating the exception as the norm.

There are three other ways to meet the specialty occupation requirement:

1. The minimum bachelor’s degree requirement is the industry norm for the position in question, or this position is uniquely complex.
2. The H-1B employer always requires a bachelor’s degree minimum for this position.
3. The nature of the job is uniquely complex as to require a bachelor’s degree at minimum.

If the position in question does not ALWAYS require a bachelor’s degree minimum as stated in the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook, you will need to prove that it meets at least one of the three alternatives. 

This will require documentation of past hiring practices and the ad for the job along with ads for the same position for parallel companies that show an unbroken pattern of a minimum bachelor’s degree requirement.  You will also need to provide a detailed breakdown of the duties and responsibilities of the job along with an analysis of how complex skills and knowledge are applied.  Along with this evidence and documentation, provide an expert opinion letter written by an expert in the field of the H-1B job to lend credibility to your case.  This expert should have at least a decade of experience working in the field of the H-1B job, have held leadership roles, and have made hiring decisions regarding the position in question and supporting positions. 

At CCI TheDegreePeople.com we work with experts in every H-1B field that have the credentials and experience required by USCIS to accept their letters as evidence in your case.

For a free review of your case and consultation, visit www.ccifree.com.  We will respond in 4 hours or less.

Sheila Danzig

Sheila Danzig is the director of CCI TheDegreePeople.com.  Sheila specializes in overturning RFEs and Denials for work visas.

Brilliant, highly skilled professionals often take non-traditional pathways through education combining work experience with formal training.  Sometimes all of the education takes place on the job.  The question is, how do you explain this to USCIS in your H-1B visa petition?

The answer is that you must show the US academic value of the work experience.  The way to do this is with a detailed credential evaluation that includes a work experience conversion.  A professor authorized to grant college credit for work experience can convert three years of progressive work experience in the field of the H-1B job into one year of college credit towards that major.  That means twelve years of progressive work experience can be expressed as the academic equivalent of a US bachelor’s degree for USCIS.

What is progressive work experience?  This means periods of employment wherein the H-1B beneficiary can show education took place by virtue of promotions, more responsibility, or that the nature of the work became increasingly complex over time.  These three components show that education occurred on the job, specialized skills were mastered, and specialized knowledge was acquired.

At CCI TheDegreePeople.com we work with professors who are authorized to grant college credit for work experience.  Along with our team of education experts, we write every credential evaluation uniquely to address to job, the education, the work experience, the visa, and USCIS approval trends.  These are the vital elements to writing a successful credential evaluation to effectively communicate the educational value of the beneficiary’s breadth of work experience to USCIS in terms of US academic standards.

For a free review of your case and consultation visit www.ccifree.com.  We will respond in 4 hours or less.

Sheila Danzig

Sheila Danzig is the director of CCI TheDegreePeople.com.  Sheila specializes in overturning RFEs and Denials for work visas.

A successful visa petition takes a team effort.  The beneficiary, the employer, and the immigration lawyer all have important rules to play.  Who is the team member that gets often overlooked but performs many of the vital roles?  The paralegal.

The bones of a successful petition are ensuring the required forms are submitted in order with accurate information, consistent across all forms.  This is the bottom line of any successful petition.  This is not as straightforward as it may seem as different visas require different modes of documentation and assurance.  In the rush to complete a petition and file, especially when rounds of RFEs threaten the employee start date, vital details can get lost.  Paralegals carry a massive amount of responsibility in the petition process.

At CCI TheDegreePeople.com we work to support visa petition teams by offering free consultations to identify petition weaknesses and advise on how to strengthen these areas.  If a form is missing, or if there are inconsistent answers across multiple forms, we will find it and advise accordingly, taking pressure off of the paralegal, streamlining the process, and helping teams devise a roadmap to visa approval.

Let us work with you for free.  Visit www.ccifree.com and we will respond in 4 hours or less.

Sheila Danzig

Sheila Danzig is the director of CCI TheDegreePeople.com.  Sheila specializes in overturning RFEs for work visas.

If your H-1B petition wasn’t selected for FY2021, you may have another shot.  On June 23, 2021, USCIS announced that it will allow resubmission of certain cap-subject FY2021 petitions before October 1, 2021. 

USCIS stated, “If your FY2021 petition was rejected or administratively closed solely because your petition was based on a registration submitted during the initial registration period but you requested a start day after October 1, 2020, you may re-submit that previously filed petition.” 

Other H-1B petitions not selected in the initial FY2022 lottery may also have a second chance if all H-1B visa slots are not filled by petitions selected in the first lottery.  This means all eligible applicants have the chance to clean up their petition in time to resubmit.

If your petition from FY2021 is eligible, that means you’ve got some work to do.  If the start date was wrong, you need to go over the petition with a keen eye to make sure all answers are accurate and consistent across all documents. 

Go back to the original H-1B eligibility requirements, in light of current USCIS approval trends, and make sure your case clearly shows all of these requirements are met.  That means the employer can control the work of the H-1B employee at all times – even at third-party worksites – with a complete work itinerary for the duration of the visa.  The employee must be making prevailing wages and the factors that went in to setting the wage level must be explained.  The job must clearly meet specialty occupation requirements by one or more of the metrics. 

If the Department of Labor Occupational Outlook Handbook states that the job does anything but ALWAYS require a minimum of a bachelor’s degree or higher to perform, an expert opinion letter must be included along with a detailed breakdown of the duties and responsibilities of the job to show that specialized skills and knowledge are required. 

If the H-1B employee does not hold a US degree in the exact field of the H-1B job, include a detailed credential evaluation written uniquely to fit the situation that fills in any gaps between the education the employee has, and the education the employee needs.

The good news is you don’t have to start from scratch to file.  Just be sure that your petition is airtight.  At CCI TheDegreePeople.com we work with difficult RFEs every year and keep an eye on USCIS approval trends. 

Let us review your case for free before you file.  Visit www.ccifree.com and we will respond in 4 hours or less.

Sheila Danzig

Sheila Danzig is the director of CCI TheDegreePeople.com.  Sheila specializes in overturning RFEs and Denials for work visas.