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immigration

Who is to Blame for Your H1B RFE?

Credential Evaluation, immigration, Visa Approvals

When is it the attorney’s fault? Very rarely, an attorney will file an application incorrectly. Generally, however, the attorney error occurs when the candidate’s education is not reviewed by an education specialist before the application is filed. In this case, the candidate’s account of their education and experience is incorrect or does not meet the CIS requirements for the H1-B. Unless this is the case, don’t fire your attorney over an RFE. When is it the evaluator’s fault, and how can it be the fault of the evaluation but NOT the person who wrote the evaluation? There are situations when the RFE is clearly the evaluator’s fault because the evaluation was done incorrectly. For example, when a non-accredited PGD is listed as accredited, CIS jumps on that inaccuracy to issue an RFE.   This rarely happens, because most evaluators are highly trained in spotting unaccredited education. However, every evaluation is different, and evaluations for different Visas must be written very differently. When an evaluator writes an evaluation for any particular visa, he or she needs to know both the Visa regulations AND current CIS trends. Not every evaluation agency is aware of the Visa regulations. The evaluator may have provided the evaluation ordered by the client, only to find that the equivalence does not work for the particular Visa. For example, if you have a four-year degree in electrical engineering, you can receive an evaluation written correctly showing an equivalency to a US bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, but then receive an RFE anyway because your job is in the field of computer software analysis. This sort of mismatch triggered an onslaught of RFEs this year. The evaluator did a good job, but the evaluation was not correct for the purposes of the Visa. In this case, you may have likely found the right evaluator, but he or she provided you with the wrong evaluation even though they acted in good faith. To avoid this, make sure you order your evaluation from an agency that knows education regulations for each Visa. If you advise an evaluation agency that you need an evaluation for an H1-B visa and they don’t ask about the job offer, find a new agency. The degree must precisely fit the field of employment for this Visa and the evaluator needs to know this information so they can evaluate an equivalency to the proper degree. If you are not asked about the job offer, the agency does not look at the Visa regulations and is not right for this job. If you have already paid an evaluator and a mistake was made, I suggest you go back to that evaluator to try to address your RFE. However, if the evaluation agency did not make sure that the evaluation was written for the particular Visa it was ordered for, that may just be how they operate. There is nothing wrong with that unless they lead you to believe that they evaluate for immigration and meet Visa requirements as part of their service. They may just be writing standard evaluations and not be authorized to make the conversions from work experience to education, which is necessary to prove equivalency between fields or across educational system structures. You cannot expect an agency to do something they don’t claim to do. So the evaluation agency you want and need is one that will look at the education, as well as the visa requirements and current CIS trends. When is it CIS’s fault? Government bureaucracies make mistakes and some RFEs are simply factually incorrect. Everything in a petition could be done correctly and you can still receive an RFE. Often when CIS is at fault, the RFE will state that an accredited university is not accredited, or that a qualified evaluator is not qualified. While these RFEs are frustrating, they are usually also easy fixes. With the help of your evaluator, you can easily provide these facts and receive an approval. When is it the Candidate’s Fault? Yes, you make mistakes too. Candidates have been known to insist that their high school documents are college level or that unaccredited education is accredited. They have also been known to provide poorly translated documents, or even fraudulently translated documents. Generally, a good evaluator can pick up on these problems before starting in on the evaluation, but not all evaluation agencies will review a candidate’s case before accepting payment and writing it. To be sure that no problems arise further down the road that can trigger an RFE, we always review all of the documents before accepting a credential evaluation order. Before we have seen all of your education documents, a resume, and the RFE or Denial if one has been issued, we have no way to discuss your case. We want to discover any issues in the documents right away in order to eliminate the vast majority of the confusion and misinformation you may experience down the road. When is it no one’s fault? Sometimes, it really is no one’s fault. CIS trends change. As we have seen especially in the past seven or so years, CIS trends can change very quickly. We can only know what they generally do and what they have done in the past, which helps a great deal. CIS can be a wildcard, and no one can guarantee what they are going to do. When this happens, all you can do is carefully read the RFE with your team, understand what is being asked of whom and who can provide the requested evidence, and then do your best to beat it. Can we draw a usable conclusion? Yes. The entire team should review the RFE. Your attorney, your employer, your evaluator, and, of course, you should review the RFE. An evaluator with extensive experience with RFEs could be familiar with the RFE and know how they have been resolved. Work with him or her to resolve the RFE. If you used an evaluation agency before receiving an RFE, go back to them. Next time, make sure you are working with an evaluation agency that reviews the education and Visa requirements and gives you all of your options before you order. If that is not their policy, it might be best to try a new agency. Remember that few agencies have passed through the RFE gauntlet this year unscathed, and many of these RFEs are not the fault of the agency, or the fault of the attorney or employer or you. Do your homework before you file because avoiding RFEs is far superior to resolving them. About the Author Sheila Danzig Sheila Danzig is the Executive Director of CCI TheDegreePeople.com a Foreign Credentials Evaluation Agency. For a no charge analysis of any difficult case, RFEs, Denials, or NOIDs, please go to http://www.ccifree.com or call 800.771.4723. Mention that you saw this in the ILW article and get 72 hour rush service at no charge.  ]]>

Moving Your Life Abroad: The Five Stages of Adjustment and How You Can Smooth Your Transition

immigration

  • Honeymoon Period
    • When you first arrive in your new life, you will likely find yourself ecstatic. Everything will be fresh and new. Your new job, your new home, your new life will all be exciting and interesting. Adrenaline will guide you through the hardest period of this initial burst of change. Much like the shock that accompanies the first stage of grief, the honeymoon period acts as a survival mechanism as you interface with the massive changes in your life.
    1. Stage of Culture Shock
    When the haze of the honeymoon phase wears off, you are likely to find yourself facing culture shock. You are in a new place, with a new language and culture. Many people describe this stage as feeling like a child again, and it is exhausting. In every interaction, you will have to work harder to understand and be understood. Even if you arrived knowing the language, you will have to learn a new accent. Not being able to express yourself as your used to causes feelings of frustration and loneliness. Getting lost in your new location is common. If you have come over as a student or to work with an advanced degree or license, you will likely have to go back to school, make up classes to fill in the gaps between educational systems, or get relicensed for something you have been doing for many years. Your standard of living is likely to take a dive, recovering from the expenses of your transition and having to repeat education and get relicensed or certified. In many ways, you will find yourself back at square one. You will be beginning your adulthood all over again. By the time you reach the second stage, you are likely to feel you have made a big mistake. At first, it was great to be in a new place, now you are having profound second thoughts. Don’t panic! This stage will pass. Moving from being in a constant state of wonder and excitement to experiencing the reality of a massive life change is a step in the right direction even if it feels like a step backwards.
    1. Actual Adjustment
    While the honeymoon stage was pleasant and exciting, it was not an adjustment. Once you move through culture shock, you begin to adjust to the new culture and your new place in your new life. In this stage, you begin connecting with local people in meaningful ways. You have officially landed in your new life and are ready to tap in to your place in it. This stage comes along more quickly if you are in school or in a workplace. As you make meaningful professional and social connections, you gain a sense of belonging and being needed in your new life. Rather than being new, or a spectator, you take on an active role in the world around you. By now, you will be able to communicate better with those around you and engage in a deeper way. This is just your first stage of adjustment, and things are about to get hard one more time. Remember, even if the next step feels like a step backwards, you are actually moving towards acceptance and integration, which is the end goal in your transition into your new life.
    1. Isolation Period
    As you make your adjustment into your new life in a new place, bewilderment and isolation will set in. This is the period when you start comparing your new life to your life back home. You compare the new culture of your host country to the culture back in your country of origin. You may begin to resent your host culture and feel trapped by it. You may fear that friends and family back in your home country are starting to forget about you as they adjust to your absence. Feeling stuck and out of place are natural aspects of this period of isolation. This is a stage where it is easy to feel that you’ve made the wrong choice in moving, or that your unhappiness is a personal failing on your part. This is not the case. You are a human being going through a natural progression of adjustment. Depression and isolation are possible aspects of the isolation period. Reaching out to friends and family is a helpful step in dealing with this stage of adjustment. Sending emails or talking on Skype with old friends and family deeply know you is a great way to stay grounded. Reaching out to friends and coworkers in your new home is also a great way keep things in perspective. It’s always a good idea to seek the advice of people who were where you are now and have progressed to where you want to be. Maybe a friend from your apartment building, or a coworker immigrated to this new country a year before you did. Talk to him or her about it if you can. They will assure you that what you are feeling is normal and you are almost through the woods. Don’t give up on your new life because it is different from your old one. Keep trying.
    1. Stage of Acceptance and Integration
    Yes, this stage does exist. This is when you accept your new home for what it is – the good and the bad. You recognize that you have stopped comparing your new country and culture to your country and culture of origin and accept it for what it is. You have built meaningful relationships with friends and coworkers, and you have integrated into your new life. Yes, you will still have bad days and get homesick every once in a while, but for the most part, you will feel content. The interesting thing about the fifth stage is that many of the most meaningful connections your will have built by this point were the direct result of the harder times. When you reach out for support in times of isolation, you make authentic connections in your time of vulnerability. You and the people who took the time to understand you when you were having trouble communicating earlier on will have deep and complex connections. Your notions of who you are and what concepts like home, culture, and belonging are will be forever changed. One of the most valuable lessons of moving to a new country and building yourself a new life there is humility. This change forces you to completely redefine your notions of who you are. Of course, this progression is not a precise roadmap or structure for anyone’s personal adjustment. Depending on your motivations and goals in your move, you may experience some but not all of these stages. They may cycle through several times before settling into acceptance. Sometimes, you honestly did make the wrong choice and you honestly are doing something that is blocking you from adjusting. But don’t just jump to these conclusions.   These stages are natural, and it’s important to remember to not make a value judgment of your life, your decision, and yourself as you go through this adaptation. If you are planning to move to a different country for the long-term or indefinitely, here are some things you can do to ease your transition:
    1. Go to school. Whether it’s a language school, university, a graduate program, or a school to learn a skill like weaving, being in school provides you with purpose and with peers.
    1. Get a job. Oftentimes, travelers can get jobs working in hostels, bars, and restaurants. Be sure to learn about work visa requirements as they vary from country to country, and also vary depending on the skills and knowledge required for your job. You may need to have your educational credentials evaluated to determine the value of your education in terms of your host country’s educational standards. In getting an evaluation, you may be able to avoid having to repeat years of school in your new country to make up the difference between the academic structures of your new country and your country of origin.
    1. Learn the language. If you know you will be moving to a country with a different language than you know, take classes before you get there. Once you arrive, you will have to adjust to a new language and to a new way of hearing it spoken. Take language classes when you get there. This will help you communicate and develop friendships that will help you when you hit periods of isolation. One of the biggest aspects of integration into your new life is the relationships you forge with the people around you. Learn the language and you will be able to express yourself and make connections.
    About the Author Sheila Danzig Sheila Danzig is the Executive Director of CCI TheDegreePeople.com a Foreign Credentials Evaluation Agency. For a no charge analysis of any difficult case, RFEs, Denials, or NOIDs, please go to http://www.ccifree.com/?CodeLWA/ or call 800.771.4723. Mention that you saw this in the ILW article and get 72 hour rush service at no charge.]]>

    Top 5 Tips for Finding a Reliable Credential Evaluation Agency

    Credential Evaluation, immigration, Visa Approvals

  • The price is right. If it costs an arm and a leg to get a credential evaluation, look elsewhere. Reliable agencies are low-cost, regardless of what the expensive ones may want you to believe.
    1. The conversation flows. When you feel comfortable talking with an agency, it’s a reflection of their confidence in their work. Discomfort is an indicator that your questions aren’t being answered smoothly, the agency is not confident in their work or knowledgeable about visa and immigration issues, or are otherwise failing to meet your needs. A good conversation that you can walk away from feeling satisfied is a good indicator you’ve found a reliable agency.
    1. Past clients are happy. Never order an evaluation without first getting testimonials from past clients and reading their reviews. No matter how good an agency looks on paper, or sounds over the phone, the experience of people who have done what you are about to do speaks the loudest.
    1. They answer the phone…or email, or text. If you can’t count on an agency to be reliable enough to answer your communications, you can’t count on their evaluation to be reliable either. A credible agency will be available to you in any medium you choose, day or night, every day. This is because reliable agencies that do good work understand the timeframe and pressures of the immigration process. If you can’t reach an agency, don’t order from them.
    1. They offer a range of options. Reliable credential evaluation agencies understand the time crunch of visa deadlines. They are well-versed in the many surprise hang-ups that may arise in the process of H1b petitioning. For this reason, agencies that actually understand the ins and outs of your situation will have a variety of rush delivery options, also available at low prices. Order from agencies that give you inexpensive options.
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    Some H-4 Spouses Now Eligible to Work in the US

    immigration, News, Visa Approvals

    th, 2015, certain H-4 spouses of H-1B visa holders in the United States will be eligible to seek employment in the United States during their stay. These are the spouses of H-1B visa workers who seek lawful permanent resident status based on employment. A big reason H-1B workers decide to pull out of their jobs in the US and go to work in other countries with more progressive immigration policies is because their spouses can’t work. This puts both economic and emotional strain on H-1B families. Spouses often come to feel isolated and lonely, and the family is forced to survive on a single income. This is a leading cause for H-1B workers to quit, which puts hardship on the companies that hired them. With this new policy, these burdens will be taken off of H-1B families and the companies that sponsor their visas. Allowing H-4 spouses to work while their family seeks lawful permanent will also help the family integrate into life in the United States.  ]]>

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