H-1B beneficiaries with education credentials earned outside of the United States need to include a credential evaluation in their initial petition.  This document shows USCIS the educational value of the foreign credential in terms of US academic value.  Since possessing a bachelor’s degree or higher is a central eligibility requirement

The notorious Specialty Occupation RFE has become a perennial roadblock to H-1B approval for applicants in positions that normally but NOT ALWAYS require a bachelor’s degree minimum.  Often, this issue grows into a Double RFE when the job is set at Level 1 Wages, causing applicants to revisit both specialty

To meet H-1B eligibility requirements, a job situation must entail an employer-employee relationship.  This essentially means that the employer has the right and ability to control the work of the employee.  Specifically, the employer may, “hire, pay, supervise, or otherwise control the work of any such employee.” Although this seems

Over the better part of the last decade, computer programmers have been running into H-1B eligibility issues for the first time.  This is because according to the Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook, entry level computer programmers can qualify for a position with just an associate’s degree.  This is the

The Biden Administration announced that marriage-based Green Card interviews are waived under the following circumstance: This policy follows the logic – that has been obvious to most of us for a LONG time – that if everything is in order and checks out at the Service Center, then the foreign-born

Petitioners selected in the FY 2024 H-1B lottery have been notified and have 90 days from the date of notification to file complete petitions.  We are a couple weeks into filing season and there is no time to waste! While the rate of RFEs has dropped, applicants are still running

USCIS has announced that the FY2024 H-1B cap-subject lottery is complete.  They have not released news regarding registration numbers and data, however those selected to submit complete petitions have been notified. Currently, it is predicted that between 550,000 and 600,000 electronic registrations were filed.  These are record numbers, continuing the

Filing season for all H-1B applications subject to the annual cap is coming right up.  There are 85,000 annual H-1B visas available for highly skilled foreign workers in specialty occupations, 20,000 reserved for applicants with master’s degrees or higher.  Last year, USCIS received 484,000 registrations.  USCIS selected 127,600 to submit

The Biden Administration’s Proposed Rule, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Fee Schedule Changes to Certain Other Immigration Benefit Request Requirements, CIS No. 2687-21; DHS Docket No. USCIS 2021-0010 is scheduled to be read on January 11, 2023 for a listening session with the final rule and changes taking effect after

Complex RFEs are a perennial issue facing H-1B applicants.  With the New Year right around the corner, it’s time for H-1B beneficiaries and their sponsors to start to work out the logistics of their cases.  This should include strategies to prevent complex RFEs. These occur when USCIS sees one red