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EB2 visa

Case Study: EB-2 Education RFE – Overturned!

Credential Evaluation, immigration, Visa Approvals

  • They must have been hired for a job that requires a US master’s degree or higher, or a US bachelor’s degree or its equivalent FOLLOWED BY at least five years of progressive work experience in the field.
  • They must have the education required for the EB-2 qualified job or exceptional ability as clearly proven with a National Interest Waiver.
    • One of the most common RFEs EB-2 candidates run into is an education issue RFE.  Our client came to us with an Indian three-year bachelor’s degree, many years of progressive work experience, and an RFE.  He had the years of experience to more than cover the five years of progressive work experience following having earned the bachelor’s degree.  The issue arose because with EB-2 educational requirements the bachelor’s degree is required to be a SINGLE SOURCE and CIS does not accept that the Indian three-year degree is the equivalent of the US four-year bachelor’s degree regardless of the number of classroom contact hours.  CIS requires the missing fourth year to be accounted for. With other visas, like H-1B, our client could have included a work experience conversion that converts three years of progressive work experience in a given field of specialization into one year of college education towards that degree to account for the missing year.  This does not work for EB-2 because that would not meet the equivalency requirement of a single source bachelor’s degree. Our solution was to write a credential evaluation fortified by CIS approval precedents and federal case law that took twelve years of our client’s progressive work experience in the field and converted it into the equivalent of a US bachelor’s degree in the field.  Then, the next five years of work experience were included to meet EB-2 educational standards requiring a single source US bachelor’s degree FOLLOWED BY five years of work experience in the field.  The RFE was overturned. If you or your employee or client is facing an education RFE for EB-2, let us help you.  Even the candidate doesn’t have the years to cover a complete work experience conversion, there are other ways to address the equivalency issue through detailed credential evaluations tailored to your or your employee or client’s unique situation, and through expert opinion letters and National Interest Waiver options.  Let us review your case for free.  Visit ccifree.com/.  We will respond in 48 hours or less.    ]]>

    I-140 Prevention and Solutions

    Credential Evaluation, immigration, Visa Approvals

    Position indicated on Form I-140 fit the category indicated in Part 2. Part 2 is where you must indicate the visa classification. This is based on what credentials are required as minimum requirements for entry into the position. You must choose a classification, and you must ONLY choose one. Applicants selecting the EB2 category tend to run into the most trouble here. The EB2 category requires the position and the beneficiary to hold a minimum of a US Master’s degree in the field, or a Bachelor’s degree in the field FOLLOWED BY five years of progressive work experience, or its equivalent. Since EB2 processing time is much faster than the EB3 classification, beneficiaries and their sponsors have incentive to try to make the position – and the candidate – fit into the wrong category. Oftentimes, the positiondoes fit into the EB2 classification, but sufficient evidence and expert analysis is lacking, and this is what you need to provide in your RFE response. Answers between the PERM and Form I-140 are inconsistent. Inconsistent answers between forms are a surefire way to trigger an RFE. Make sure answers are consistent in their content and in their spelling between forms. If there are amendments, make sure to check yes for Part 4, Item 7 accompanied by an attached explanation of any changes made on a bright colored sheet placed directly beneath Form I-140. Write that the PERM has already been submitted and that this is an amended petition. Include the receipt number for the PERM. This way, inconsistencies between the PERM and I-140 will be clearly explained to CIS and they will not have to ask inquire about it. Sometimes they will anyway, but you will have already strengthened your case with the amendment and this will help you greatly in an RFE arrives. The petition did not include a credential evaluation or included the WRONG credential evaluation. If the beneficiary’s degree or degrees were earned outside of the United States, a credential evaluation will be needed to clearly show the educational value of the degree in question by US educational standards. If the degree does not match the field of employ, or if there is incomplete college – or no college, but a lot of work experience in the field – a credential evaluation will be needed to close any gaps between the education the beneficiary has, and the education the beneficiary needs to meet the educational requirements of the category indicated in Part 2 of Form I-140. If a credential evaluation is not included and the beneficiary has anything but a straightforward degree earned in the US in the exact field of the job in question, it will likely trigger an RFE. Choosing the right credential evaluator is essential because educational requirements when it comes to equivalencies differ between visas. If the evaluator doesn’t ask about your, or your employee or client’s job or visa, look elsewhere. The agency should not rely solely on online equivalency databases, but rather have their own updated reference library that includes CIS approval precedents, federal caselaw, and international trade agreements regarding employment and education portability. At TheDegreePeople, we have experts in every field on hand to write expert opinion letters to strengthen your case, or your employee or client’s case, and evaluators with extensive experience in international education, college and graduate program admissions, and working with Form I-140 cases and their RFEs. For a free review of your case, visit ccifree.com/. We will get back to you in 48 hours or less.]]>

    Your Best Solution to the EB2 Education Puzzle

    Credential Evaluation, immigration, Visa Approvals

    ccifree.com and submit the candidate’s educational documents and a current, accurate resume, along with the job and desired educational equivalency. We will get back to you within 24 hours with a pre-evaluation and full analysis, and consult with you on your options. Sheila Danzig Sheila Danzig is the Executive Director of TheDegreePeople.com a Foreign Credentials Evaluation Agency. For a no charge analysis of any difficult case, RFE, Denial, or NOID, please go to http://www.ccifree.com/ or call 800.771.4723.  ]]>

    EB2 or EB3? Know which one before you file!

    Credential Evaluation, immigration, Visa Approvals

  • The candidate’s job.
  • The candidate’s education.
    • For both EB2 and EB3, the job must hold as a minimum requirement the visa’s education requirements, and the candidate must meet these requirements within CIS guidelines for equivalency. That means the candidate must hold the required degree or training for the job, and the degree must be in the exact field of the job. EB3 is for skilled, unskilled, or professional workers. These requirements are different for the different kinds of jobs. If the job is classified as skilled work, to meet EB3 requirements the job must require at least two years of training or job experience, and the candidate must have this education or experience. For jobs classified as professional, the job must require and the candidate must hold a US bachelor’s degree or its foreign equivalent in that field. If the job is classified as “other” or unskilled, the job must require and the candidate require less than two years of training, and the job must be permanent to meet CIS requirements for EB3. As you can see, EB3 is a broad classification that most candidates can meet. EB2 visa requirements are much more strict and have very specific requirements surrounding equivalencies for candidate with degrees from outside of the United States. To meet EB2 requirements, candidates must either have:
    1. A US bachelor’s degree or a SINGLE SOURCE equivalent FOLLOWED BY five years of progressive work experience in the field, or
    2. A US Master’s Degree or higher or its foreign equivalent.
    For candidates with education outside of the United States, meeting EB2 education requirements can be difficult because of the single source equivalency rule. The Bachelor’s degree equivalency must be a single source, so when it comes writing equivalencies for three-year bachelor’s degrees, you or your employee or client may not be able to meet EB2 standards. For example, when we work with H1B visas, when candidates have three-year degrees and at least three years of progressive work experience in the field, we can write a credential evaluation that converts the three years of progressive work experience into one year of college credit in the field, signed off by a professor authorized to issue college credit for work experience. We can then add that additional year to the three-year degree and have what CIS would accept as the equivalency of a US four-year Bachelor’s degree. The does NOT work for EB2 because the Bachelor’s degree must be a single source, so combining years of education with work experience will just result in an RFE or Denial. If you or your employee or client has a three-year Bachelor’s degree and no additional education, their best option is to file for EB3 as a skilled worker with an Associate’s degree and work experience. Filing for EB2 would be a waste of time. However, there are situations where a candidate DOES qualify for EB2 with a detailed credential evaluation. Before you get too far on your case or your employee or client’s case, visit ccifree.com and submit the candidate’s educational documents and a current, accurate resume, along with the job or desired equivalency. We will get back to you within 24 hours with a pre-evaluation of the candidate’s education, a full analysis, and an overview 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.]]>

    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.]]>

    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.]]>

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