This week, we were very pleased to hear from another client who had received approval for his I-140 visa. It’s always wonderful to hear good news from people we have been able to help, and to offer help for someone else who has received an RFE or Denial. This person had received an RFE based on EDGE, so this approval was especially good news, and may offer hope to many.

This person had obtained a three-year degree from India, and the USCIS required additional evidence that his degree was equivalent to a US Bachelor Degree. Using all of the documentation and research accumulated by Dr. Sheila Danzig and Professor John Kersey, we were able to show satisfactorily that this degree was indeed the educational equivalent of a US Bachelor Degree.

This can be a difficult process, because universities in India do not document semester credit hours in the same manner as the US. However, when clients are able to obtain the actual number of credit hours from the university, they are usually able to satisfactorily demonstrate that they have at least as many contact hours as those required for a US Bachelor Degree.

We are always very glad to hear from our clients when we have been successful in demosntrating their academic credentials to be equivalent for immigration purposes. We also are glad to be able to share general details about these cases in the hopes that they may help a potential or future client. If you’ve received good news about your RFE or denial, contact us and let us know. We won’t use your name or particular details unless you give us permission to do so. We will honor your privacy. Just let us share the good news and hope with other people who are experiencing the same difficulties you have!

If you earned academic credentials in another country, you will probably have to have your degree evaluated before getting an education or finding a job in the United States. Several reputable credentials evaluation services, including Career Consulting International, are available. The prices, as well as the service times, of these agencies vary, so check with them before ordering.

Even before you have your evaluation in hand, you can start looking for a job or considering attending a university, if you have some idea of what your degree is equivalent to. Not all Bachelor Degrees are equal to U.S. Degrees. For example, a Bachelor Degree from Pakistan is almost always equal to a U.S. Associate Degree.

Some countries don’t use the word “Bachelor” to describe an undergraduate degree. A common example is the “Licence” used by many Latin-American countries. Although the degree is designated a “Licence” by the univesrity, it is the degree equivalency of a Bachelor Degree in the United States.

Many European countries complete the Bachelor Degree in three years, because students attend elementary and secondary school for a total of 13 years. These Bachelor Degrees are almost always considered equivalent to a U.S. Bachelor Degree for education and employment purposes. Occasionally, the USCIS requires additional documentation that these European degrees are equal, so persons wanting to immigrate and find jobs based on these degrees may need an expert opinion letter to support their academic evaluations.

If one system of education existed throughout the world, foreign credential evaluations wouldn’t be necessary. Europe has worked to accomplish just this with the Bologna Accord, but only about 15 countries participate in this degree-granting system. Until all educational systems adopt a single degree-granting system, students and employees will need education evaluations to have their foreign education properly evaluated.

It’s November, and the professionals at Career Consulting International are waiting to see whether the U.S. Armed Forces can meet the challenge. We’re looking for 50 foreign academic credential evaluations needed by active members of the armed services. So far, it looks even more promising than last month.

We have had two educational evaluations for military professionals since the first of this week, so we only need 48 more. In case you’ve missed out on our patriotic efforts, we are offering free document evaluation reports to the first 50 members of any person who is in active military service. Finding personnel who are willing to help us out with this goal has been a challenge.

Just to review, if you know someone who is serving in the U.S. military who received a foreign degree, or high school diploma, this person may benefit from a foreign credential evaluation. If they can show their degrees to be the U.S. equivalency of postsecondary education, they may be eligible for a promotion.

Do you know anyone in the military who was born or went to school in a different country? Have they had their education evaluated by a foreign credentials evaluation agency? If not, help them get their promotion or advancement today!

You’ve earned a foreign degree at the Bachelor or graduate level, and want to apply for an immigration visa to the United States. To apply for an employment-based visa, you must prove that your education is the U.S. equivalency required for the labor certificate. How do you know if your degree will hold up to examination?

First, check the UNESCO database at  http://www.unesco.org/iau/onlinedatabases/list.html . If your university is listed here, your degree will probably be recognized as accredited education by the U.S. Department of Education. This is the educational authority recognized as well by USCIS. Some universities, such as some accredited institutions within the United Kingdom, can be located at other websites as well.

Sometimes, a private educational institution or university operating within a particular country will be recognized as accredited education as well. These foreign academic credentials may be issued by a private university or by that country’s department or ministry of education. For example, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India is an educational institution established by that country’s statutes and passing those examinations can yield the U.S. equivalency of a degree as well.

Determining whether some foreign diplomas, such as certain postgraduate diplomas offered in some countries, are accredited can be a difficult process. For this reason, many foreign academic credentials evaluation agencies, including Career Consulting International, offers pre-evaluation reports. These can be used to offer students an idea of whether their education can indeed be evaluated as the international equivalency of an accredited degree.

Not all diplomas do meet U.S. requirements for accredited education, and extenuating circumstances apply. For this reason, the USCIS generally requires persons who have obtained their degrees outside the U.S. to have an educational evaluation performed before an employment-based visa is issued. Do your homework, and get your degree evaluated so you will know whether your diploma will make the grade!

If you are considering having foreign education credentials evaluated for U.S. equivalency, you may wonder how many credits you are likely to get for each subject. Is there any consistent way to determine this? Do evaluation agencies simply assign a random number of credits to a course?

Although the process may at first seem impossible to figure out or understand, Career Consulting International uses a strictly defined formula to determine how many credits each class is worth. If the number of semester credit hours received by the foreign degree student is listed on the transcript, this number is often used. Many universities in other countries, however, require students to have fewer or greater numbers of contact hours to gain a semester hour of credit, so this must also be factored in.

Some countries, such as those that were once part of the former Soviet Union, require an extremely high number of hours for their courses. Some classes require more than 300 contact hours! In this case, the international equivalency is determined by converting these contact hours to credit hours.

The process of foreign academic credentials evaluations isn’t arbitary, but it can be time-consuming and complicated. Evaluation agencies such as Career Consulting International, however, are committed to offering their applicants the best service possible, and are usually willing to explain how the degree equivalency was reached. If you have questions about your evaluation report, discuss them with the person who completed the evaluation; it is their goal and service to help you.

We promised to keep you informed about the U.S. Military’s response to Ms. Danzig’s offer of 50 foreign education credential evaluations each month to members of the United States Armed Forces. We recently had the pleasure of receiving another response from a proud member of this elite service. That brings our September total to 3 so far.

If you don’t happen to be a member of the U.S. military who received a foreign degree or diploma before entering this country or while stationed abroad, remember to share this offer with someone you know who does fit that category. Spread the word so that these brave people can receive the benefits they deserve.

This free evaluation report is for document evaluations. The most recent educational evaluation for a military person was done for a course by course evaluation, which is almost twice as expensive as a document evaluation. Thanks to the patriotism of Sheila Danzig, CCI was able to offer this evaluation at less than half the cost.

Thanks to all of the brave people who serve, and to those at home who do their part as well. To the brave members of the U.S. military, we salute you! If you know anyone who qualifies for this free degree evaluation, don’t forget to spread the word!

If you received a foreign degree and decided to enter the U.S. for education, employment, or immigration, you will probably need a foreign education evaluation to determine the U.S. equivalency of your degree. Although finding a foreign credential evaluation agency isn’t too difficult, finding a good one can be extremely tough, and knowing exactly what type of educational evaluation you need is important too. Just how easy is it to choose between the different types of evaluations?

In reality, a good agency will be able to tell you upon examining your application whether or not you’ve made the right choice. While certain types of evaluations may be acceptable for work, you may need a more specific type of evaluation, such as a course-by-course evaluation, for university admission. The difference can be even more critical if you are planning to apply for an immigration visa such as an H1-B or I-140 visa.

Most applicants have some idea of what type of evaluation they need. Most reputable agencies, however, know exactly which type of evaluation will work for a specific purpose. For example, some people are unaware that educational degrees cannot be combined when filing for an I-140. Occasionally, clients become frustrated and seek other alternatives when a good agency refuses to provide them with an educational evaluation that will not help them.

In a few instances, clients seek foreign credential evaluations, only to demand the kind of evaluation they believe will be best for them. They don’t understand the details of immigration visa requirements, and are sure that their opinion regarding their educational equivalency is correct. Rather than trust the experts, they would prefer to make their own decisions – even if they waste hundreds of dollars of their own money doing so.

Medical schools occasionally go out of their way to recruit students with diverse ethnic or minority backgrounds. While some people like to blame this on equal opportunity employment issues, the real fact is that the United States is an ethnically diverse country. Sometimes, these students have a unique ability to understand and relate to the cultural customs and traditions valued by people of the same ethnic background.

While a significant number of medical students are minority students, many other physicians come to this country to practice after obtaining a foreign degree in their native country.  Often, however, doctors refrain from immigrating because they are concerned that their degree might not be accepted in the U.S.

In reality, however, nearly every medical degree obtained in a different country is given the U.S. equivalency of a diploma from a medical college. There are a few exceptions. For example, although degrees in homeopathic medicine may be recognized in other countries, these foreign education credentials are not accepted in this country. LIkewise, acupuncture degrees can rarely be shown through educational evaluations to be equivalent to a U.S degree.

If you are a physician who is considering immigrating to the United States, contact Career Consulting International for a credentials evaluation. Don’t immigrate and start your education all over again! Find out if your degree will qualify you to take medical boards and practice as a physician in the United States.

by Sheila Danzig

Strangely it depends on where you got that degree and what you are using it for. In the US you can take four or more years to complete a degree. It has been reported that it can be completed by testing out in as little as 4 months see www.degree.com/new.

However if you are coming in from another country there is a good deal of controversy with many universities, educators and evaluators saying a bachelor’s degree is eqivalent to a bachelor’s degree. Certainly the UNESCO guidelines – which are legally binding – state that. However this is no guarantee that your non-US bachelor’s degree, even one that represents far more study hours than a US bachelor’s degree will be considered equivalent. While we as American’s seem to think we are the “gold standard” for world education looking at transcripts knows that many foreign degree holders have worked much harder than their conterparts in the US. For an interesting look at the Indian 3-Year Degree see http://degree.com/articles/3-year-indian-degree.html.

Many people have heard that it is possible to get college credit for life experience, but few actually know how this works. In many countries, a college degree is not always required to enter certain career fields. This week, Career Consulting International received a message from someone we had been working with on a work experience evaluation.

This individual had sat for an accounting examination in a foreign country more than 30 years earlier. After working as an accountant for many years, this person decided to work in the United States, and had done so for many years. Having received no formal foreign degree, this person required proof of having sufficient education to begin employment in a new position.

He consulted this particular foreign credential evaluation agency because we had been able to help a family member of his in the past. After reviewing his documents, we were glad to be able to help. This is how his education and experience worked:

Work experience is usually given a U.S. equivalency of one year of higher education for every three years worked. Thus, after working for 24 years, he had achieved the educational equivalency of a Master Degree in Accounting. This together with his accounting certificate from his country of origin, was enough to be able to issue a degree equivalency and advance his employment prospects with the new firm.

And our credential evaluation service was glad to know we had been able to help.