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education RFE

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.  ]]>

Four Tips to Successfully Answering an H-1B RFE

Credential Evaluation, immigration, Visa Approvals

an RFE is not a roadmap for success. USCIS is NOT trying to help you. Instead of looking at your RFE for answers, focus on H-1B requirements for guidance. If you, or your employee or client has received an RFE, here are four tips to successfully respond:

  1. Read the RFE thoroughly to understand what is being asked of you.
Sit down with your team, including an evaluator with experience working with RFEs for your client’s visa, read over the RFE word for word, and gain a detailed understanding of what is being asked of you, and WHY CIS is asking for the evidence requested. You only have one shot at responding to this, so you want to make sure you provide everything CIS is asking for at once, alongside a clear explanation of what it is and what is proves.
  1. Understand that sometimes the RFE materials requested cannot be provided.
Sometimes CIS requests evidence that cannot be provided in the time allotted to respond, or within the constraints of the budget, or sometimes even not at all. RFEs like the Nightmare RFE are virtually impossible to answer based on what is asked. With this in mind, it’s important to go back to the H-1B requirements and use these guidelines as the framework for your response. Work with a credential evaluation agency with experience responding to these kinds of RFEs because they understand the underlying questions CIS is seeking to answer in the evidence they are asking you or your employee client to provide. Sometimes you can’t meet the demands of the RFE. Even if providing the requested evidence is virtually impossible, answering the underlying questions is very much possible. In this case, all you have to do to respond successfully is to meet H-1B regulations, if handled properly.
  1. Understand H-1B education requirements.
Every work visa has different educational requirements, and different rules surrounding what education can be combined for US equivalency. For example, an H-1B visa requires beneficiaries to hold a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its foreign equivalent in the exact specialization of the beneficiary’s job position. If you or your employee or client has a foreign degree, or a degree in a mismatched specialization, you need a credential evaluation that clearly shows the value of your education and work experience, or your employee or client’s education and work experience in terms of US academic value. On top of that, you need to do this according to CIS approval trends for this particular visa. For example, a three-year bachelor’s degree from India needs a credential evaluation that converts years of work experience into college credit to account for the missing fourth year even if your degree, or your employee or client’s degree had the same or greater amount of classroom contact hours as a US four-year bachelor’s degree. Talk to a credential evaluation agency that works with professors with the authority to make the work experience to college credit conversion. Make sure the evaluator you work with has experience working with H-1B visa beneficiaries, RFEs, and difficult cases.
  1. MEET THE DEADLINE!
Make sure the RFE is answered by the deadline. Extensions are highly unlikely and filing after the deadline will likely result in the case being rejected. 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.    ]]>

Fall into an H-1B Education Trap? Fix that RFE!

Credential Evaluation, immigration, Visa Approvals

The degree came from a college or university that is not government accredited. Many institutions that provide a rigorous, quality education that fully prepare you or your employee or client for the specialty occupation he or she has been hired for are not actually government accredited. Two common examples of this situation are NIIT and Aptech. CIS will not approve unaccredited education. The “college” degree is actually a high school diploma. Yes, this happens. Attorneys: don’t listen to your clients when they insist that their high school diploma is a college degree. This tends to be an honest mistake that gets taken too far. Mistranslations, misunderstandings, and different educational systems from one country to the next cause a lot of confusion in this area. Different degrees are often called by the same name, which becomes a problem when transcripts and credentials are translated but not evaluated for academic equivalence. The H-1B visa requires a US bachelor’s degree or higher. A high school diploma does NOT meet these requirements. If your degree, or your employee or client has a degree from an unaccredited college or university, or no bachelor’s degree equivalence at all, talk to a credential evaluator with the authority to convert years of work experience into college credit. You may be able to salvage your case. The degree was not evaluated correctly. If your degree, or your employee or client’s degree is from a different country with a different language, the transcripts must be translated into English and evaluated for US academic equivalence. Sometimes, documents do not get translated correctly, or they are only translated but never evaluated. Sometimes, they are evaluated, but incorrectly. Sometimes they are evaluated correctly, but not for the H-1B visa. This H-1B trap is becoming increasingly common because some translation agencies now offer a sort of one-stop-shop for translation and evaluation. Just like document translation, evaluation is a highly specialized field that requires extensive knowledge of international education, international trade agreements, CIS precedent decisions, federal case law, and various visa requirements. This is because some visas allow education and experience from different sources to be combined to show equivalence while others do not accept that combination but require others. This is also because some degrees exist in one country but not in another, and others don’t have a direct English translation. Some degrees don’t call themselves degrees but are actually the equivalent of post-secondary education. Simply translating documents from one language to another means understanding of the academic content is lost. A credential evaluator can identify where this occurs and fix it. Each evaluation must be conducted on a case-by-case basis. Before you file your case, or your employee or client’s case, be aware that it may not be as straightforward as you think. Educational systems vary from country to country, and your degree or your employee or client’s degree may not be what you think it is in terms of US academic value.   At the same time, the right degree may be in the wrong field, or difficult to find a US equivalent degree for. Talk to a credential evaluator with experience working with H-1B visas and their RFEs. The evaluator you want understands the specific requirements of H-1B visas as well as CIS trends regarding these much sought-after visas. About the Author 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, RFEs, Denials, or NOIDs, please go to http://www.ccifree.com/ or call 800.771.4723.]]>

Does the Beneficiary Meet H-1B Education Requirements?

Credential Evaluation, Visa Approvals

  • The beneficiary has been hired for a specialty occupation.
  • The beneficiary holds a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its equivalent.
  • That degree is in the field of the specialty occupation.
    • To show that you, or your employee or client has secured a position in a specialty occupation, you must provide documentation that this job – as well as similar jobs for similar companies in the industry – requires an advanced degree to perform. You can do this by submitting a copy of the ad for the job that spells out its minimum requirements, as well as ads for similar job as discussed earlier. If this particular job requires a more specialized skill set than is typical for this position, include an expert opinion letter stating why this is so. Once you have established that your job, or your employee or client’s job is a specialty occupation, you need to find out whether they have the correct degree. If your job, or your employee or client’s job requires a minimum of a US bachelor’s degree, you, or your employee or client must hold a US bachelor’s degree. Since many H-1B beneficiaries earned their degrees outside of the United States, you will need to submit a credential evaluation along with the transcripts. Some countries have three-year bachelor’s degree structures where academic content is condensed. Some countries have degrees that do not call themselves degrees but are evaluated to be the equivalent of post-secondary education in the United States. One such example is the Indian Chartered Accountancy certificate, which is the functional equivalent of a US bachelor’s degree in accounting. Some beneficiaries who went to school in the United States never completed a degree but have the skills and knowledge necessary to perform specialized job duties. All of these situations require a careful evaluation that takes detailed account of your coursework, or your employee or client’s coursework, as well as work experience in the field. Missing years – whether they be from incomplete education or condensed education from abroad – can be accounted for by converting years of progressive work experience into years of college credit using a three years of work to one year of college credit ratio. Second, your degree, or your employee or client’s degree must be a match for the field of employ. While employers will hire candidates who hold degrees in related fields because there is enough skill and knowledge overlap, particularly if they have worked in the exact field they have been hired to, CIS will not approve their visas. This is a recent CIS trend, one that does not look like it will go away any time soon. If you, or your employee or client has the right degree in the wrong field – or in a generalized field – talk to a credential evaluator. An evaluation that takes a close look at the course content of your, your employee or your client’s education and their work experience is needed to write the equivalencies that convert years of work experience in the field into college credit in that specialization, and also count course credits earned in that field towards that specialization as well. Sometimes, your education, or your employee or client’s education will not meet the requirements of an H-1B visa. This is best to find out BEFORE you file. While the H-1B visa has very strong benefits, if it is the wrong visa it is not worth taking the time and money to petition for it. There may be another work visa that better suits the particular job and education. However, if you or your employee or client received an RFE regarding the job or education, sit down with a credential evaluator and go over your, or your employee or client’s education and work history. Find out if the gaps in your degree or your employee or client’s degree can be filled in with course content and work experience. About the Author   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, RFEs, Denials, or NOIDs, please go to http://www.ccifree.com/ or call 800.771.4723.        ]]>

    4 Common H-1B RFEs You Need to Know About

    Credential Evaluation, Visa Approvals

  • Degree and Job Don’t Match
  • Three-Year Bachelor’s Degree
  • Job is Not Clearly a Specialty Occupation
  • Degree Has a Difficult Equivalency
    • The H-1B visa is for foreign nationals coming to work in the United States with a bachelor’s degree or higher to work in a specialty occupation. No doubt, this is why we are seeing so many RFEs that deal precisely with these factors. Let’s take a closer look. Education-Related RFEs What is the foreign equivalent of a US bachelor’s degree or higher? This has proven a difficult question because educational systems differ greatly across borders. The two most common RFEs we have seen resulting from this have to do with degrees that don’t call themselves degrees or do not have a direct equivalent specialization, and Indian three-year bachelor’s degrees. If you or your employee or client has an Indian three-year bachelor’s degree, do NOT submit a petition without a credential evaluation or you will get an RFE regarding this. Although the Indian three-year degree tends to have more classroom contact hours than a US four-year degree, CIS requires you or your employee or client account for the missing fourth year to have an acceptable equivalency for the H-1B visa. Three years of progressive work experience can be converted into one year of college credit to account for this year. Talk to a credential evaluation agency with the authority to do this, and the knowledge of international education to provide the evidence to fortify this equivalency. The Indian three-year bachelor’s degree is not the only difficult degree. Degrees without a clear US equivalency are often met with RFEs. One example of this is the Chartered Accountancy Certificate from India. This is a degree that does not call itself a degree, and due to the educational steps required to attain their certificate, it is the functional equivalent of a US bachelor’s degree in accounting. However, the US CPA and the Canadian Chartered Accountancy certificate are not functional equivalents to a US bachelor’s degree. You can see how this can get very confusing very quickly without a thorough evaluation that guides CIS through the functional steps of you or your employee or client’s degree. Another education-related problem that triggers an RFE is when a specialty occupation does not have a major that fits it. In fact, the job that receives the most RFEs is Computer Systems Analyst. This is a very specific occupation that requires a very specific specialization – one that there are very few bachelor’s degrees in to draw an equivalency from. A credential evaluation that clearly spells out a functional equivalence – meaning what graduate programs, licenses or jobs having a particular degree or certification functions as a prerequisite for – of you or your employee or client’s degree is necessary for difficult degrees and difficult jobs. If you or your employee or client has a difficult degree, or a job that does not have a clear field specialization in terms of college majors, talk to a credential evaluator with an in depth understanding of international education. This kind of evaluator will know which degree to reference for the equivalency, and the steps in education required to earn a certificate in the country you or your employee or client completed their education in. Job-Related RFEs The two common job-related RFEs we see are the degree not matching the job, and CIS not having enough evidence to determine whether or not the job is a specialty occupation. A specialty occupation means that to perform the duties of the job at hand, the employee must possess specialized skills and knowledge unique to the position. This typically means that the position requires a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its foreign equivalent. If CIS issues an RFE seeking insight into whether or not your or your employee or client’s job is a specialty occupation, you can provide the ad for the job showing the minimum requirements necessary to perform its duties. Include ads for similar jobs in similar companies in the industry to show that these are typical requirements for such positions. If this job does require a level of expertise unusual to what the same job in this industry typically requires, include an expert opinion letter about why this particular position for this particular country, or in the particular geographic location is unique. If the RFE arrived because your job or your employee or client’s job was not an exact match for the degree, this is also the result of the job being a specialty occupation. While most employers will hire employees with degrees in fields related to their job, in the past seven or so years CIS has made an approval trend shift and stopped approving these visas. CIS now requires the degree to be an exact match to the job to ensure that the employee has learned the specialized skills and knowledge required for their H-1B job. However, employers understand that skills and expertise can be learned through related degrees, classes taken in the field even if that was not the central major of the degree, and through hands-on work experience. This can be translated in CIS approval standards through a credential evaluation in which the evaluator takes into account the course content of your degree or your employee or client’s degree as well as years of progressive work experience in the field. Courses in the specialization of your job or your employee or client’s job can be evaluated to count towards a degree equivalency in that field, as well as progressive work experience. Three years of work experience in which you or your employee or client took on more skilled work and responsibilities as the job progressed can be converted into the equivalency of one year of college credit in that field. If you receive this RFE, consult with a credential evaluator about your education or your employee or client’s education and work experience to see what can be done. 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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