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The difference between an evaluation for college study, for H1B, and for I140, and why you need to know.

Credential Evaluation, immigration, Visa Approvals

TheDegreePeople, we keep one eye on the education, and one eye on CIS. We ask questions about the visa to make sure we provide you with the best possible match based on the visa you, or your employee or client is filing. Come to us before you file. We can review everything at no charge and eliminate any situations that simply won’t work. This will save you a great deal of time, money, and peace of mind. For a full analysis and pre-evaluation of any case, simply visit www.ccifree.com, fill out the short form, and attach all required documents. We will get back to you in less than 24 hours at absolutely no charge with all of your options. 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 Mystery Solved. The Job with Mismatched Education

Credential Evaluation, immigration, Visa Approvals

simply go to ccifree.com and submit a current, accurate resume and educational documents, and let us know the candidate’s job. We will get back to you within 24 hours with a pre-evaluation and full analysis of your situation and your evaluation options. CIS accepts that three years of progressive work experience in the candidate’s field of employ is the equivalent of one year of college credit towards a US Bachelor’s degree in that major, but only when signed off on by a professor who is authorized to issue college credit for work experience. Throughout this work, the candidate must have taken on progressively more responsibility and specialized skills and expertise on the job, proving that specialized education occurred o the job. This is naturally occurring in virtually any job. If you or your employee or client has years of progressive work experience in the field of Computer Systems Analysis, or whatever job title is offered, a credential evaluation that converts work experience into college credit to combine with the education the candidate already has will fill in the gap between the degree and the job offer. This conversion must be written by a college or university professor with the authority to grant college credit for work experience. At TheDegreePeople.com, we ALWAYS have professors who can do this on hand for these kinds of situation. If you or your employee or client has a degree that does not match the H1B job, simply go to ccifree.com and submit a current, accurate resume and educational documents, and let us know your client’s job. We will get back to you within 24 hours with a pre-evaluation and full analysis of your situation and your evaluation options. 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.  ]]>

RFE Solutions: Your RFE Won’t Help You Answer It!

Credential Evaluation, immigration, Visa Approvals

  • The job must be a specialty occupation.
  • The candidate must hold a US bachelor’s degree or its equivalent or higher in the field of this specialty occupation.
  • The candidate and the employer must have an employer-employee relationship.
  • The candidate must be paid prevailing wages and benefits for the job for companies of that size in that geographical location.
    • Which of these four requirements is lacking? For qualifications 3 and 4, you can provide the employee contract that shows the nature of the duties you or your employee or client will be performing and the requirements and codes of conduct of the work place. Provide paystubs and W2 information along with documentation about similar jobs for similar companies in that geographic location to show that you or your employee or client is receiving the prevailing wages and benefits. If the petition is lacking in the first qualification, you need to show that the job requires an advanced degree, and specialized skills and knowledge to perform. To meet this requirement, you can provide the advertisement for the job that includes minimum qualifications for the job. You should also provide ads for similar jobs in the same industry for companies of a similar size and scope. If this particular job has higher requirements than similar jobs because this situation uniquely requires specialized knowledge, include an expert opinion letter clearly explaining why this is the case. Requirement 2 has become trickier every year. In the past, CIS has approved the visas of candidates with degrees in fields related to their specialty occupation. Now, candidates must have a degree that is an exact match for their job. Before you get bogged down in the wording of your RFE, find out what the education situation is and what you can do about it to answer the RFE. Simply go to ccifree.com and submit a current resume and the candidate’s educational documents. Indicate the job and desired degree equivalency and specialization, and we will get back to you within 24 hours with a pre-evaluation and analysis of your options. If the degree is not an exact match for the specialty occupation, a credential evaluation that converts years of work experience in the field into college credit towards a US bachelor’s degree in that major is needed. Candidates with degrees from outside of the US also run into trouble with this requirement, particularly candidates with 3-year bachelor’s degrees from India. If you or your employee or client earned the degree from outside of the US, do not submit it without a credential evaluation. Transcripts must be translated and evaluated. These are two very different, and VERY specialized services that cannot be grouped into a one-stop shop. The value of a degree gets lost in translation, and sometimes there is no direct translation for a degree from abroad. Sometimes, degrees do not have the word “degree” in the title but are the functional equivalent of a US bachelor’s degree. Be sure this is a two-step process that first utilizes the services of a translation agency, and THEN utilizes the services of a credential evaluation agency. Before you get too far into answering the RFE, let us provide a pre-evaluation of the candidate’s education to help overturn an educational RFE. Simply go to ccifree.com and attach the candidate’s educational documents and a current resume, along with the job title and desired degree specialization. We will get back to you within 24 hours with a full analysis and all of your options. 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.]]>

    What is a Degree? – Find out Before You File!

    Credential Evaluation, immigration, Visa Approvals

    ccifree.com, let us know the visa and job, and attach the candidate’s educational documents and resume. Within 24 hours, we will send you a pre-evaluation and full analysis of all of your options. You will know what you’re working with, and be able to move forward accordingly. It’s not uncommon for candidates to insist that their high school diploma is a college degree, or for a translated document to report a false academic equivalency. This happens for two main reasons. First, many degrees don’t actually have the word “degree” in the title. When this is translated, it is unclear whether or not the candidate actually has earned the postsecondary education necessary to meet the academic qualifications for their visa. On the same note, some credentials that do have the word degree in the title are not the academic equivalent of US postsecondary education, and some credentials don’t have the word “degree” in the title and are not degrees, period. Some countries have the same titles for different education. For example, the Indian Chartered Accountancy certification is the equivalent of a US bachelor’s degree in accounting while the Canadian Chartered Accountancy certification is not. The second reason this happens is because when documents are translated from their original language into English, some degree titles don’t actually have a direct linguistic translation into English. Others do, but the academic value is different. It’s easy for translators to accidentally insert misinformed judgment into the academic value of a degree through translation. It is always best for translators to simply perform a direct translation and then have the documents passed onto a credential evaluator for the next step. Understanding the value of a foreign degree requires a complex, specialized understanding of international education. Understanding the structures of education and the educational steps required to earn each credential, as well as international trade agreements, graduate program admissions trends, CIS trends and precedents, and federal case law is required to write an accurate evaluation that CIS will understand and accept. Before you file, make sure you, or your employee or client has the right education for the visa. If you’ve already received an RFE, it’s not too late! Simply go to ccifree.com and submit the educational documents and a current resume, and indicate the visa and job. We will get back to you within 24 hours with a pre-evaluation of your case and all of your options for 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.]]>

    Preempt an RFE: Beware of False Translations

    Credential Evaluation, immigration, Visa Approvals

    kandidat naouk is generally evaluated to be the equivalent of a US doctorate, but it cannot be TRANSLATED into this equivalency. Don’t get too far on your petition, or your employee or client’s petition before without an accurate account of their education. Simply go to ccifree.com and attach the academic documents and a current resume, and indicate the visa, and job or desired equivalency. Within 24 hours, we will get back to your with a pre-evaluation and full analysis of your options. Translation and evaluation are very different, highly specialized services. A good evaluator can spot and correct when academic value gets lost in translation. Foreign credential evaluators typically have significant experience with international credentials from working in university admissions or similar work environments, or have earned graduate level degrees in international education. Because of the complex nature of international education, evaluators must have a firm grasp of education structures across the world, as well as USCIS statutes and precedent decisions, international trade agreements, and more. Evaluations must be performed on a case-by-case basis because every candidate’s path through learning – both in institutions and on-the-job – is unique. Therefore, evaluators must have the experience and insight to pass judgment with integrity. Do not file an H1B or EB2 petition with falsely translated educational documents. Both of these visas rely heavily on academic eligibility and filing with the wrong education will result in an RFE at best, and a lot of extra work. Before you get too far on the petition, let us provide a pre-evaluation with all of your options to help prevent or overturn an educational RFE. Simply go to ccifree.com and attach all educational documents and a current, accurate resume, and indicate the visa, and job or desired academic equivalency. We will get back to you within 24 hours with a full analysis and all of your options. 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 Very Very Last Minute H1B Checklist

    Credential Evaluation, immigration, Visa Approvals

  • Consistent dates, locations, spellings and other answers.
    • Double-check all of the documents and applications included in the petition to make sure all of the answers are consistent. Inconsistencies between applications, educational documents, and resumes can trigger a pretty serious RFE as CIS is cracking down on visa fraud. Inconsistent dates and locations for where the candidate has lived, worked, and gone to school are big red flags, as are misspellings.
    1. Education clearly meets CIS requirements for H1B eligibility.
    Find out right now. Simply go to ccifree.com and attach the candidate’s educational documents and an accurate, current resume, along with the job title and we will respond within 24 hours with a full pre-evaluation of your case. We will include all of your options for writing the evaluation for the educational equivalency needed to get the H1B visa approved. We offer rush delivery options to get your credential evaluation to you in as fast as three hours. Educational requirements for CIS are tricky. If the candidate has a degree from outside of the United States, do NOT file without a credential evaluation. The candidate may have a degree earned in the United States that is not H1B qualified. The degree must be an exact match for the job or CIS will not approve the visa.
    1. Documentation clearly shows the job is specialized.
    H1B requirements state the job must require a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its foreign equivalent to be considered specialized. The H1B visa program’s purpose is to bring highly skilled workers to the US to fill these highly specialized jobs that the US workforce cannot fill on its own. That means you have to show that the job requires a specialized skillset, which means an advanced degree in the exact field of employ. To prove this, provide a copy of the ad for the job that includes duties and minimum requirements, as well as the official job description itself. Also include ads and descriptions for similar jobs in the same field to show that this job is specialized across the board and not just to accommodate the candidate’s visa. If the job is particularly specialized for this particular company, include an expert opinion letter as to why this is the case.
    1. Organized and in order!
    Make sure your petition is in order with all of the paperwork where CIS expects it to be. A disorganized petition is not pleasant to read and this will impact approval. File for the audience and it will pay off in the end. Good luck! 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.]]>

    Does the Education H1B Qualify? Find Out Fast!

    Credential Evaluation, immigration, Visa Approvals

    st, and since this year is predicted to follow the trend of those before, you won’t have long before CIS closes its doors. Don’t let the last minute cause you to file an incomplete petition that will only get met with an RFE or worse. CIS educational requirements have changed in the past few years and they’ve just gotten stricter. Your education, or the education of your employee or client alone may not be enough to get their visa approved. You will have to submit a credential evaluation along with the petition to clearly show that the candidate meets H1B educational requirements. At TheDegreePeople, we have been working with H1B cases for a LONG time, and we are well versed in the nature of your needs in the last weeks before filing season. Do not hesitate to contact us for rush services. We can have evaluations completed and sent to you within hours as needed. Here are some common situations where candidates run into trouble:

    1. Education from outside of the United States
    If your degree, or if your employee or client’s degree is from any country besides the United States, you will need a credential evaluation to show US equivalent academic value. CIS will not accept the transcripts as is. H1B requirements state candidates must have a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its foreign equivalent. CIS cannot discern academic equivalency for foreign degrees without a credential evaluation stating what the foreign degree means in terms of US academic value. If your petition, or if your employee or client’s petition makes the lottery with a foreign degree but no evaluation, you can count on an RFE or Denial that will be a whole lot harder to deal with a few months down the road.
    1. Three-Year Bachelor’s Degree
    CIS will NOT approve three-year Bachelor’s degrees, especially those earned in India, without more evidence. The problem lies in the missing fourth year. CIS requirements state that an H1B qualified candidate hold a US four-year bachelor’s degree or higher. While it has been shown that most Indian Bachelor’s degrees have the same or greater amount of classroom contact hours and thus college credit hours as the US four-year Bachelor’s degree, CIS requires candidates to account for the missing fourth year. The content vs. duration argument and supporting evidence simply will not work. If you have, or if your employee or client has a three-year Bachelor’s degree, the missing fourth year will need to be accounted for with progressive work experience. This is work experience in which the candidate took on increasing responsibility and complexity in their work as time went on indicating that skills and knowledge specialized to the field were learned through this work experience. This work experience must be in the candidate’s exact field of employ, which we will come back to soon. Three years of progressive work experience can be converted into one year of college credit in that field, and this conversion must be done by a professor authorized to award college credit for work experience. ONLY work with credential evaluation agencies that work with professors who can do this or it will not be helpful to your case at all.
    1. Degree Specialization Does Not Match the H1B Job
    In years past, CIS has accepted degrees in fields related to the candidate’s H1B job to meet the requirements of academic specialization. However, in the past six or seven years, CIS has been virtually only approving degrees that are an EXACT match. Even though employers hire candidates with related degrees, CIS will not flat out approve their visa. If your major, or if your employee or client’s major was in a field different than their H1B job, you can expect an RFE at best if you submit without a credential evaluation. If this is your situation, or your employee or client’s situation, you will need an evaluation that highlights the college courses taken in the field of the H1B job, as well as a work experience conversion that converts years of progressive work experience in the field into college credit towards a major in that field.
    1. No Degree At All
    If this is the situation, you CANNOT submit without a credential evaluation. H1B eligibility leans heavily on education because it is designed to bring highly skilled, highly educated workers to the United States for specialized jobs that the US workforce cannot fill on its own. However, many brilliant candidates are self-taught, learned on the job, or through other means. If this is your situation, or your employee or client’s situation, a credential evaluation that converts years of work experience into college credit will be needed. Yes, that’s twelve years of progressive work experience in the field. Before you file, let us review the candidate’s education and work experience to make sure they meet H1B requirements, and decide what needs to be done to fill in any gaps or clear up any questions CIS may have. At TheDegreePeople, we understand the last minute and offer rush delivery options down to THREE HOURS if necessary. Let us provide a pre-evaluation with all of your options to help prevent or overturn an educational RFE. Simply hit go to ccifree.com and submit the candidate’s educational documents, an accurate resume, the job title, and the desired equivalence. We will get back to you within 24 hours with the pre-evaluation and a full analysis of all of your options. 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 Last Minute Filing Tips

    Credential Evaluation, immigration, Visa Approvals

    st if possible because in the past few years CIS has been flooded with petitions and closed its doors in five days. Don’t let the time crunch cause you to file a disorganized or incomplete petition. There’s no point in making the FY2018 lottery if your petition, or your employee or client’s petition is just going to get an RFE or Denial. Here’s what you can do to make the most of the next few weeks:

    1. Double-check all documents for consistency.
    Make sure the dates, locations, and spellings are consistent on all documents included in your client’s petition. If there are errors or inconsistencies, CIS will be skeptical of the validity of the education and employment history, and H1B eligibility. Just a simple double-check will significantly reduce the likelihood of an RFE.
    1. Make sure everything you need is included and in order.
    The petition must CLEARLY SHOW that the job is a specialty occupation, and that the candidate has the proper education needed for their H1B job, and H1B visa status. That means the job must require a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its foreign equivalent, and you or your employee or client must meet these education requirements. That means you need the ad or employee contract for the job showing the minimum education requirements, as well as documentation that similar jobs for the same industry also hold these specialized education requirements. If this job is uniquely specialized, include an expert opinion letter explaining why this is the case. If you or your employee or client has a degree from outside of the United States, no degree, or a degree in a field that doesn’t EXACTLY match their job, you will need to include an evaluation of the candidate’s credentials and work experience. This evaluation must clearly show that you or your employee or client has the educational equivalence of the required degree. When you file, make sure all of this is in order and readable.
    1. Let us review the candidate’s education and work experience to make sure they qualify. There is no charge.
    Before you file, let us provide a pre-evaluation with all of your options to help prevent or overturn an educational RFE. Simply go to ccifree.com and send us the candidate’s full name and the title of the job, and attach copies of all of the education documents and a current, accurate resume. We will get back to you within 24 hours with a pre-evaluation and all of your options. Taking this extra step before you file will save you a ton of grief in the long run. If the candidate’s education will not stand up to CIS requirements, you need to know NOW. We work regularly with H1B cases and H1B RFE cases. Let us review the candidate’s education and work experience to make sure you have everything you need included in the petition for CIS to approve it. Sometimes, you or your employee or client WILL need a credential evaluation to fill in the gaps of the education. Work experience conversions to college credit are common with this visa, particularly for candidates with three-year Indian bachelor’s degrees. At TheDegreePeople, we have found that those who file petitions WITH a credential evaluation have had far fewer RFEs for specialty occupation issues than those who filed without one. There is no point in filing a petition CIS will not approve. Best-case scenario, you will have to deal with an RFE in the near future. No matter how crunched you are feeling for time, do NOT forgo this essential third tip. Fortunately, agencies that specialize in evaluations for visas understand the needs of their clients and anticipate your needs at the very last minute. At TheDegreePeople, we offer 3-hour rush delivery service when needed. Before you file, let us provide a pre-evaluation with all of your options to help prevent or overturn an educational 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.]]>

    Do’s and Don’ts for H1B Filing

    Credential Evaluation, immigration, Visa Approvals

    Don’t file without double-checking every document included for consistency. Inconsistent spelling of institutions, workplaces, and even names can hurt the credibility of the petition. Make sure location, education, and employment dates match on all documents. Don’t assume CIS knows the academic value of a foreign degree. Don’t assume CIS will see that the candidate’s education and work experience indicate the degree of skill and specialization needed for the candidate to excel at his or her H1B job simply because the employer did. Don’t file with pages out of order. Making your petition, or your employee or client’s petition readable and easy to digest is key to a favorable outcome. Do check in with a credential evaluator with experience working with H1B cases and their RFEs before you file to make sure the education is in order. Do include a foreign credential evaluation in the petition if the degree is from outside of the United States. Do include a foreign credential evaluation in the petition if you or your employee or client has a degree in a field other than their job, a generalized degree, or no college degree. Unless the degree is a four year US bachelor’s degree or higher in the exact field of the H1B job, never assume CIS understands the value of the education. CIS approval trends change, and the person adjudicating the petition is most likely NOT an international education expert. You will need to use the petition to hold CIS’ hand and guide them through the story of why you, or your employee or client is H1B qualified. 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.]]>

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