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Simple Tips to Streamline Your H1B Petition Process

st is rapidly approaching. It’s officially crunch time. That means you’re finishing up your applications, gathering up the rest of your education and immigration documents, triple-checking your work, and getting your credential evaluations ordered. The USCIS is required to accept H1B petitions for a full business week before closing regardless of how many petitions they receive in that time. Last year it was literally hundreds of thousands for just 65,000 H1B visas. That means you need to have your petition submitted on April 1st and you’ve got to make it easy on the USCIS worker evaluating your petition to approve it. How can you make this happen? Simple. By making the USCIS worker’s job easier. Submit all of your documents, applications, and evaluations together, in order, on time, and to the correct address. Go over your forms to make sure all of the information in your H1B packet is accurate and consistent. If you’ve answered questions inconsistently that’s a big red flag and will land you in the rejected pile. Make sure to always put your signature in blue ink so the USCIS worker evaluating your petition can tell the difference between you and your employer’s signatures and signatures on original documents and copies of original documents. This will streamline the process for the USCIS – who has literally hundreds of thousands of packets to go through – and will make reading your petition a more enjoyable experience. Remember, people will be deciding whether or not you can get your visa. These people want to have a good day. Make theirs a good day by making their job easy and they will approve your visa. You also want to be sure to submit a credential evaluation along with your transcripts and diplomas if your education is from outside of the United States. You need to clearly show the US equivalent of the value of your education and the only way to do this is with a thorough evaluation from an authorized credential evaluation agency. At CCI, all of our evaluators are experts in international education with the authority to convert work experience and classroom contact hours into college credit hours to clearly show the value of the academic content of your degree. We are available 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. We will always answer the phone, text you back, or return your email promptly. We understand the time crunch you face and offer rush services on your credential evaluation order. We will also work off of emailed copies of your academic documents to save you time and hassle. Remember, no matter how hard you are feeling the crunch, it is essential to always make time to double-check your work, make sure you’re sending the right documents to the right addresses, and to make sure you have everything the USCIS has asked for in the proper order.]]>

3 Details to Remember When Filing Your H1B Petition

  • Keep a Blue Pen Nearby. You need to sign everything in blue ink so the USCIS work evaluating your petition knows which signatures are originals and which signatures are yours from the time you filled out your petition. They’re going to request a host of original documents. Make it easy on overworked eyes to tell which signatures are originals and which ones are yours.
    • Double-Check for Inconsistencies before Filing. This cannot be stressed enough. USCIS workers cannot assume what you meant if some of your answers contradict each other or don’t match up with the resumes, transcripts, and other documentation accompanying your application. Don’t mail in a petition without meticulously going over your answers.
    • Include a Credential Evaluation. If your degree is from somewhere besides the United States and you submit your petition without having your degree evaluated by an authorized credential evaluation agency, the USCIS has no way of knowing the value or your education. Since you need a bachelor’s degree or higher for an H1B visa, it is essential for you to be able to clearly show what your degree means in terms of US academic standards.
    USCIS workers cannot make assumptions about anything on your petition. Competition is too fierce to skimp on important details. Never be too hurried to double check your work, include all necessary documentation, and take that extra step to make your petition clear to the reader.  ]]>

    How to Circumvent the H1B Petition Lottery

    st of every year the USCIS begins accepting H1B visa petitions. Although they must stay open and continue accepting H1B petitions for at least five days, after the cap of 65,000 visas is exceeded the rest of the petitions are selected by lottery. That means if you don’t get your petition in as soon as you possibly can, the chance that your petition will even see the desk of a USCIS agent dwindles. How can you avoid the lottery? One way to circumvent the H1B lottery is to obtain an H1B job that is not subject to the annual cap. Government and non-profit research centers, non-profit sector occupations, and jobs working for colleges, universities, and other institutes of higher education are not subject to the cap. Another way is to get your visa in as soon as the USCIS begins accepting petitions on February 1st. Every year more and more petitions are being filed due to the exploding information technology industry. Make sure you are ready to file on February 1st with all of the proper documents in their proper order. One of these documents is an evaluation of your foreign education. If you got your degree outside of the United States it is your responsibility to clearly show what its academic value means in terms of US educational standards. The only way to do this is to get your degree evaluated by a credential evaluation agency with the authority to convert classroom contact hours into US college credit hours. This will bridge any gaps between the academic content of US degree programs and corresponding programs from other countries. Have everything ready to submit on time to avoid the H1B lottery and boost your chances of having your petition approved. Once you have your H1B visa, renewals, extensions, and transfers are exempt from the cap. You will also have your labor rights protected and your family will be able to join you for your stay in the United States.]]>

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