Need Help?

visa approval

3 Reasons Why Your Client or Employee Got an RFE and How to Deal With It

  • Foreign Degree
  • For the same reason you wouldn’t just pay for a pair of shoes in the United States with foreign currency, you shouldn’t just petition the USCIS for a visa with your foreign degree. Why not? Because its value is unclear. Just like it’s the responsibility of the individual to exchange your money at the border, it’s also their responsibility to translate the value of your education across educational system structures. Your client can do this by sending in an evaluation of their foreign credentials along with the initial H1B petition, or if they receive and RFE, order an evaluation. In these evaluations, international education experts will examine the academic content of your client’s educational experience and write an evaluation of its US value equivalence.
    • Right Degree, Wrong Major
    This kind of RFE is surprising many petitioners and their employers because it’s a new standard. Until recently – like most employers – the USCIS would approve applicants whose advanced degree was in a field related to their field of employ. In the past five or six years, these standards have tightened and now the USCIS requires petitioners’ degrees to exactly match their field of employ. If your client has the right degree in the wrong field, you still have options. A detailed credential evaluation can show that your client’s degree in, for example, computer sciences, is the functional equivalent of an engineering degree with a detailed examination of your course content, work experience, and whether or not your client’s degree in engineering would qualify him for admission into a computer sciences master’s degree program.
    • Questionable Evaluator
    Say you foresaw the first two hang-ups and ordered a credential evaluation but were still met with an RFE. Sometimes, RFEs are issued because your client’s credentials were evaluated by an evaluation agency with questionable credentials of their own. It’s of the utmost importance the value of your client’s education be evaluated by international education experts with the knowledge and authority to accurately translate the meaning of the degree. Help your client choose carefully when selecting a credential evaluation agency. The agency should be affordable, easy to reach, and make you and your client feel comfortable when corresponding with them. They should be able to provide you references with grace and ease, have great reviews, and clearly be able to show their experience working with the kind of case you are working with. The best way to address an RFE is to meet all of the evidence requires in the first place. But if your client does get an RFE, don’t panic! While this is an undesirable and beyond inconvenient situation, it is not an NOID, it is not a Denial, and it is nothing out of the ordinary. Take the time to read over your RFE carefully with your client, fully understand what is being asked of them, and help them submit all of the evidence requested in order on time. Sheila Danzig is the director of Career Consulting International at www.TheDegreePeople.com, a foreign credential evaluation agency. They specialize in difficult cases and RFEs, Denials, NOIDs, 3-year degrees, etc. and offer a free review of all H1B, E2, and I140 education at http://www.ccifree.com/.]]>

    3 More Reasons to Get Your H1B Visa

  • Part-time employment option.
  • You can get an H1B visa for a part time job. So long as your job still requires a bachelor’s degree or higher, you can still get H1B visa status and enjoy the freedoms and protections that come along with it. This is a great option for students coming to the United States for education but cannot afford it without also working part time.
    1. Dual Intent
    Unlike travel visas and other short-term work visas, when you apply for an H1B visa, you don’t have to prove that you intend to return to your country of origin. Many visas require you to prove that you don’t intend to stay in the United States once your visa expires. This means you have to have a certain amount of money in your bank account, strong ties and responsibilities in your country of origin, and other indicators that would prove you don’t tend to stay. With an H1B visa, you don’t have to prove any of this to get approved. In fact, many people intend to use their H1B visa as a gateway to US naturalization and citizenship, and that’s just fine.
    1. Gateway to a Green Card
    A common trajectory for H1B visa holders is obtaining their Green Card. The initial H1B visa is for three years, then visa holders can apply for another three-year extension. After that, employers will often decide to sponsor visa holders for a Green Card so they can continue to live in the United States and work for their company. Since H1B visas allow for families to come and live with the H1B visa holders, this is a great way to introduce and integrate families into a permanent life in the United States. An H1B visa is the perfect visa for long-term intentions. Whether you’ve decided you want to ultimately get Green Card sponsorship, or if you’re not sure where your career path will ultimately take you, the H1B visa offers a unique freedom and flexibility for you and your family. Sheila Danzig is the director of Career Consulting International at www.TheDegreePeople.com, a foreign credential evaluation agency. They specialize in difficult cases and RFEs, Denials, NOIDs, 3-year degrees, etc. and offer a free review of all H1B, E2, and I140 education at http://www.ccifree.com/.]]>

    Top 5 Tips for Finding a Reliable Credential Evaluation Agency

  • 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.
    ]]>

    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.]]>

    Scroll to Top