If you have a foreign degree or diploma, you will probably have to get a foreign credential evaluation just to get a job or enter a university. And if you are interested in immigration visas such as I-140 visas or H1-Bs, you definitely will have to have your foreign academic credentials evaluated.

So how do you know where to go or whom to trust? One of the many places to look for a good foreign credentials evaluation agency is an immigration forum, or an immigration attorney. Once you’ve found an agency that looks promising, how do you know what to look for?

Career Consulting International offers clients a number of helpful services, including a lowest-price guarantee, free consultation by telephone 24 hours a day, and a promise to answer evaluation questions at any point in time after the evaluation has been issued.

Our company specializes in denials and RFEs. Many clients come to our agency after having had difficult experiences with other evaluation agencies. They have valid foreign credentials that are unusual or unfamiliar to these agencies. As a result, the evaluations do not meet the standards specified by USCIS.

If you have questions about whether your education credentials meet the standards specified by your labor certificate, don’t hesitate to contact CCI. Our expert advisors are here and ready to help you. Let us give you the experienced advice you need - and deserve - today!

Last year, the USCIS warned that it was tightening requirements for approvals for employment and immigration visas. Consequently, 3-Year Degrees are undergoing more intense scrutiny than ever before. Many clients with 3-Year degrees from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh have reported RFEs and even denials of their employment visas.

As a result, Career Consulting International has made a conscious effort to specialize in providing detailed foreign credentials evaluations to these clients. It’s not always easy to measure success, because the agency often hears from only those who receive RFEs or denials. On rare occasions, we do hear from clients with denials, and stand by our guarantee to advise them regarding the appeals process.

This week, however, we received another note from a client that his I-140 visa had been approved. He had a Bachelor Degree and a Master Degree from India, and we were able to demonstrate that his foreign degree was the U.S. equivalency of a Master Degree. We’re grateful for his input, because it tells us that our process for these educational evaluations is effective.

Have you had an evaluation report from CCI that resulted in a work or immigration visa being approved? Let us know how we’re doing, so that we can make the process easier and better for our clients. Share your story with our readers today - we won’t use your name unless you tell us it is ok.

If you completed your education in a different country, showing that your degree is the U.S. equivalency of a degree earned in the United States may be very simple or quite challenging, depending on many factors. Some of these factors include the number of years you attended school, and the country in which you obtained your foreign diploma. The university you attended also may play a significant role in whether your degree is recognized in the United States.

Another important consideration in having your foreign credentials evaluated is the purpose for which they will be used. For example, equivalency evaluations that are performed for employment purposes can often be completed with more flexibility than evaluations that are performed for immigration visas or university admission. Likewise, people seeking H1-B visas do not have evaluation requirements as strict as those who are seeking I-140 visas. 

Sometimes, a great deal of evidence or expertise is required to show that certain foreign credentials are equivalent to U.S. degrees. These evaluation reports may be expensive, and sometimes prospective immigrants question whether the evaluation is worth the expense. If the evaluation is provided by a reputable agency, however, it is almost always well worth the cost.

The only way to determine whether your education is equivalent to a U.S. degree is to have an educational evaluation performed by a foreign credentials evaluation agency. Often, these consultants can quickly inform you, after performing a brief pre-evaluation, whether your foreign education credentials will be recognized in the United States. Although the evaluators who perform complete these evaluation reports, no evaluation can be 100% guaranteed to be successful.