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Credential Evaluation

Credential Fraud Alert: How TheDegreePeople.com Protects Your Academic Integrity

Credential Evaluation

Academic credential fraud threatens the foundation of professional trust across industries worldwide. As sophisticated forgery techniques evolve, employers and educational institutions face increasing challenges distinguishing authentic qualifications from fraudulent documents. TheDegreePeople.com has emerged as the leading defense against this growing threat through comprehensive verification processes and advanced detection capabilities.

Advanced Fraud Detection Methods

TheDegreePeople.com employs rigorous examination protocols that scrutinize every aspect of educational documentation. Their systematic approach identifies inconsistencies, verifies institutional authenticity, and confirms academic achievement legitimacy. This thorough process protects employers from hiring decisions based on false credentials while safeguarding educational institutions from fraudulent admission applications.

Collaborative Industry Defense

Beyond individual verification services, TheDegreePeople.com actively partners with educational institutions and employers to strengthen collective defenses against credential fraud. This collaborative approach shares critical intelligence about emerging fraud patterns and develops innovative detection strategies. Such partnerships create comprehensive protection networks that benefit entire industries and professional communities.

Protecting Professional Standards

The impact of TheDegreePeople.com’s anti-fraud efforts extends throughout the professional landscape, ensuring that academic credentials maintain their value as reliable indicators of knowledge and competency. Employers can confidently make hiring decisions knowing that presented qualifications have undergone rigorous authentication processes. Educational institutions benefit from enhanced admission integrity, protecting their academic reputation and standards.

Commitment to Excellence

TheDegreePeople.com’s dedication to combating credential fraud reflects their broader commitment to maintaining trust in academic achievement recognition. Their comprehensive verification measures ensure that genuine educational accomplishments receive proper recognition while preventing fraudulent credentials from undermining professional integrity. This commitment makes TheDegreePeople.com an essential partner for organizations requiring authentic credential verification services.​

Through continued innovation and industry collaboration, TheDegreePeople.com remains at the forefront of credential fraud prevention, protecting the integrity of academic qualifications across all professional sectors.

About Sheila Danzig

Sheila Danzig is the executive director of TheDegreePeople.com and a leading expert in foreign degree evaluations. She is widely recognized for her innovative approach to difficult cases, helping thousands of clients successfully obtain visa approvals even when facing RFEs or denials. Her expertise in USCIS requirements and commitment to providing personalized, effective solutions make her a trusted resource for professionals navigating the immigration process.

Get a Free Review of Your Case

If you’ve received an RFE, don’t wait. Sheila Danzig and TheDegreePeople.com offer a free review of your case to determine the best course of action. Our expertise has helped thousands of professionals, including H-1B applicants, secure approvals even in challenging cases.

To get your free case review, visit www.ccifree.com today. Don’t let an RFE stand in your way—get the expert help you need to strengthen your petition and move forward with confidence.

Credential Fraud Alert: How TheDegreePeople.com Protects Your Academic Integrity Read More »

Document-by-Document vs. Course-by-Course: Choosing the Right Credential Evaluation

Credential Evaluation

TheDegreePeople.com stands as a leader in foreign credential evaluations, providing essential insights into selecting the appropriate evaluation type for immigration, employment, or academic purposes. Understanding the distinction between document-by-document and course-by-course evaluations ensures compliance with USCIS standards and maximizes success in visa applications or educational pursuits.​

Document-by-Document Evaluations

This evaluation type verifies the authenticity of academic credentials and provides general equivalency information. Document-by-document evaluations detail each diploma or certificate, along with its U.S. equivalent and the accreditation status of the issuing institution. This type of evaluation typically proves adequate for immigration purposes, employment, and occasionally for licensing requirements.

TheDegreePeople.com excels in providing these evaluations with precision and attention to detail. The process involves examining foreign degrees and determining their U.S. equivalency without breaking down individual courses or credit hours. This approach offers a streamlined assessment that meets most basic requirements for visa applications and employment verification.​

Course-by-Course Evaluations

Course-by-course evaluations offer detailed breakdowns of foreign education into specific courses and credits, creating precise comparisons to U.S. coursework. This comprehensive analysis includes grades, credits, and their U.S. equivalents. The detailed information proves essential for applications requiring thorough understanding of educational backgrounds, particularly for professional licensing or specialized positions.​

TheDegreePeople.com provides these comprehensive evaluations when circumstances demand granular analysis of academic qualifications. The process involves detailed examination of coursework, converting each course to its U.S. equivalent, making it essential for academic admissions and professional licensing scenarios.​

Strategic Selection Process

A crucial element of foreign credential evaluations involves selecting the appropriate evaluation type for each situation. TheDegreePeople.com excels in guiding clients through options between these two evaluation methods. The selection depends on the specific requirements of the intended use, whether for immigration, employment, or educational purposes.

For employment-based visa applications, document-by-document evaluations often provide sufficient information to meet USCIS requirements. However, specialized positions or professional licensing may require the detailed analysis that course-by-course evaluations provide.

Quality and Accuracy Standards

TheDegreePeople.com maintains the highest standards for precision and USCIS compliance in all evaluations. Their extensive case experience provides unique insights into common issues and best practices. The team offers individual attention to each case, understanding that every client presents unique circumstances.

Foreign credential evaluation plays a pivotal role for individuals educated outside the U.S. who seek employment or wish to continue their education within the country. TheDegreePeople.com aims to clarify common misconceptions surrounding the evaluation of international credentials, ensuring that the process is both understood and accessible to all.​

Professional Expertise and Recognition

TheDegreePeople.com prides itself on being a trusted member of recognized associations, ensuring reliable and respected evaluation reports. While most credential evaluation services adhere to ethical standards and are affiliated with recognized boards, results can vary between companies. It remains crucial to research and select a service that is not only reputable but also recognized by the appropriate educational and professional bodies.

The team understands that credential evaluation services do not issue new diplomas or transcripts. Instead, they provide a credential evaluation report, which assesses whether an individual’s foreign education is equivalent to U.S. standards. This clarification proves vital for both applicants and institutions relying on these evaluations.

Final Thoughts

Choosing between document-by-document and course-by-course evaluations requires careful consideration of specific needs and requirements. TheDegreePeople.com excels at guiding clients through this decision-making process, understanding the importance of selecting the appropriate evaluation type. Their expertise ensures that academic credentials are accurately and effectively translated into their U.S. equivalents.

About Sheila Danzig

Sheila Danzig is the executive director of TheDegreePeople.com and a leading expert in foreign degree evaluations. She is widely recognized for her innovative approach to difficult cases, helping thousands of clients successfully obtain visa approvals even when facing RFEs or denials. Her expertise in USCIS requirements and commitment to providing personalized, effective solutions make her a trusted resource for professionals navigating the immigration process.

Get a Free Review of Your Case

If you’ve received an RFE, don’t wait. Sheila Danzig and TheDegreePeople.com offer a free review of your case to determine the best course of action. Our expertise has helped thousands of professionals, including H-1B applicants, secure approvals even in challenging cases.

To get your free case review, visit www.ccifree.com today. Don’t let an RFE stand in your way—get the expert help you need to strengthen your petition and move forward with confidence.

Document-by-Document vs. Course-by-Course: Choosing the Right Credential Evaluation Read More »

Common Education H-1B RFEs and How to Prevent Them

Credential Evaluation, immigration

To be eligible for H-1B status, a beneficiary must hold a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its equivalent in the field of the H-1B job.  Beneficiaries run into education issues when the beneficiary does not have the required US degree in the exact field of the H-1B job and does not clearly show USCIS they have the educational equivalence in terms of US educational standards.

If USCIS sees the following educational situations, it will raise a big red flag:

  • Foreign degree
  • Three-year bachelor’s degree
  • Degree in a major that is different from the H-1B job
  • Generalized degree
  • Incomplete college
  • No college
  • Credentials from an unaccredited institution

To address these situations, you must show that the beneficiary has met H-1B educational requirements with a credential evaluation that shows their education, non-collegiate training, and work experience comprises the equivalent of a US bachelor’s degree or higher in the field of the job.  This must be a detailed evaluation written uniquely to address the situation.  This means a detailed evaluation of courses taken, evaluation of academic value of any professional or other non-collegiate training, and/or a work experience conversion. 

Work experience conversions are common ways to surmount educational hurdles because USCIS accepts that three years of progressive work experience in the field of the H-1B job is the equivalent of one year of college credit in that major.  Progressive work experience means education occurred on the job as evidenced by promotions or the work becoming provably more complex with greater responsibility over the course of employment.  A professor with the authority to convert work experience into college credit can perform this conversion which is why we work with such professors when writing H-1B credential evaluations.

Of course, the easiest way to answer and RFE is to avoid it in the first place.  Whether you have already filed or are just finishing up your petition, don’t forget to include a credential evaluation to fill in any gaps between the education the beneficiary has and the education your beneficiary needs for visa approval.

For a free review of your case visit www.ccifree.com.  We will respond in 4 hours or less.

Sheila Danzig

Sheila Danzig is the director of CCI TheDegreePeople.com.  Sheila specializes in overturning RFEs and Denials for work visas.

Common Education H-1B RFEs and How to Prevent Them Read More »

RFE Alert: How to Answer the Double H-1B RFE

Credential Evaluation, immigration, Visa Approvals

The fight against the proposed final rule that would give preference to H-1B applicants with the highest wages is heating up.  The American Immigration Lawyer’s Association is representing five nonprofits from tech and medical industries to sue the Biden Administration to block this rule from being finalized. 

What does that mean for those filing H-1B cap-subject petitions this summer?  We anticipate seeing an onslaught of Double RFEs.  These RFEs raise specialty occupation and wage level requirement issues.  H-1B beneficiaries making level one wages are particularly vulnerable to this RFE.

Here is how it works:

First, USCIS assumes that because the H-1B employee’s pay is set at level one wages the position is entry level.  Since many entry-level positions H-1B employees are hired for normally – but not ALWAYS – have a minimum bachelor’s degree educational requirement, USCIS will take issue with the job meeting specialty occupation eligibility requirements.  If the position is not entry level, USCIS will circle back around to wage level issues in that the H-1B requirement that the employee be paid the prevailing wage for the job may not be met.  This is the logic loop that causes the Double RFE.

There are two main problems with USCIS’ reasoning for this RFE: 1) Level one wages does not necessarily mean the job is entry level.  Many factors go into setting an employee’s starting wage.  2) H-1B eligibility requirements state that a job is a specialty occupation if it normally requires a bachelor’s degree minimum to perform.  In recent years, USCIS has been adjudicating normally as always, effectively making the exception the norm when applied to visa approval.

The best way to prevent or answer a Double RFE is with an expert opinion letter that addresses both issues.  The expert must have at least a decade of experience working directly in the field of the H-1B job and have a leadership role within the field.  Ideally, this expert has made hiring decisions regarding the H-1B position in question along with supporting roles to have a clear understanding of the credentials and experience an employee must have to perform the job.  The more information you can provide the expert about the employer, past hiring practices, parallel positions at similar companies within the industry, and the job itself the more compelling the letter will be for USCIS to approve the visa.

At CCI TheDegreePeople.com we work with experts in all H-1B fields.  They have experience writing letters to address Double RFE issues as we always keep an eye on USCIS approval trends.

For a free review of your case visit www.ccifree.com.  We will respond in 4 hours or less.

Sheila Danzig

Sheila Danzig is the director of CCI TheDegreePeople.com.  Sheila specializes in overturning RFEs and Denials for work visas.

RFE Alert: How to Answer the Double H-1B RFE Read More »

Case Study: Indian Three-Year Degree H-1B RFE Overturned!

Case Studies, Credential Evaluation, immigration

Case Study: Indian Three-Year Degree H-1B RFE Overturned!

A recurring RFE we see every year with H-1B candidates is the education RFE for the Indian three-year bachelor’s degree.  Candidates who do not submit credential evaluations that account for the missing fourth year of education with their initial petition get RFEs about it this time of year.

Graduate schools commonly accept the Indian three-year bachelor’s degree as an acceptable prerequisite to their programs, and employers will hire employees to specialty occupations with this credential.  International trade and labor agreements recognize the Indian three-year bachelor’s degree as the functional equivalency of a US four-year bachelor’s degree.  The number of actual classroom contact hours and college credit hours in an Indian three-year degree is equal to or greater than the 120 college credit hours that make up the US four-year bachelor’s degree.  For all of these reasons, H-1B candidates and their teams overlook the persistent USCIS approval trend of NOT APPROVING beneficiaries with just this credential.

The best way to both prevent and answer this RFE is to include a detailed credential evaluation that accounts for the missing fourth year of education.  Regardless of how many college credit hours this three-year program actually has, USCIS is hung up on that missing fourth year, and USCIS is the gatekeeper of your visa, or your employee or client’s visa.

At CCI TheDegreePeople.com, we rely on the work experience conversion option in these credential evaluations to account for the missing fourth year.  USCIS accepts that three years of progressive work experience in the field of the H-1B job is the equivalent to one year of college credit in that major.  You must prove that you, or your employee or client took on progressively more responsibility as time went on, and that the nature of the work increased in complexity.  Then, one of our professors at TheDegreePeople.com with the authority to issue college credit for work experience, will write this conversion and it will be included in the credential evaluation.  This evaluation will show USCIS that you DO have, or your employee or client DOES have the academic equivalent of a US four-year bachelor’s degree in the field of the H-1B job.

If you have, or if your employee or client has an education RFE for an Indian three-year bachelor’s degree, we can help get it overturned.  For a free consultation, visit ccifree.com/.  We will get back to you in 48 hours or less.

Case Study: Indian Three-Year Degree H-1B RFE Overturned! Read More »

What to Expect and When to Expect it this H-1B Adjudication Season

Credential Evaluation, immigration, Visa Approvals

What to Expect and When to Expect it this H-1B Adjudication Season

USCIS has completed selecting the 85,000 H-1B petitions to be adjudicated for approval for cap-subject petitions for FY 2020.


Those selected that filed for premium processing may begin receiving notice this week as to their approval status with the anticipated date of completion set at June 4th. Case adjudication for those who did not file under premium processing will begin early to mid-June and often takes months. Last year, adjudication for FY 2019 – which began October 1st, 2018 – extended into the 2019 calendar year.


If you are unsure of whether or not your case was selected, check the account activity on the account of the check written for the H-1B processing fee. If it has been cashed, your case was selected in the lottery.


When notice arrives of the status of the case, do not be alarmed if you receive an RFE or Denial. This is NOT the end of the road. Over the past few years the prevalence of H-1B RFEs spiked, especially for beneficiaries working entry-level positions, working as computer programmers, and working at wage level one. This year, USCIS adjudicators have been given the authority and encouragement to deny petitions outright without first issuing an RFE. This may lead to a spike in Denials instead of RFEs. Either way, they are possible to overturn and get the visa approved in time to get to work for FY 2020.


If you expect an RFE or Denial is coming this H-1B adjudication season, you can better prepare to defend your case, or your employee or client’s case. You will need a detailed credential evaluation that takes the job, the visa, USCIS approval trends, and any issues found in the case into consideration. You will also need documentation that details the demands, duties, tasks, and responsibilities of the job, and a detailed breakdown of employer and industry hiring practices with regards to minimum qualifications for the position in question. Finally, you will need an expert who works IN THE FIELD rather than just teaches it to write an opinion letter that ties the evidence you have provided together. First and foremost, however, you will need to take an honest look at your case, or your employee or client’s case and identify what might attract scrutiny by USCIS that could result in a visa Denial.


At TheDegreePeople.com, we work with RFEs and Denials every year. We understand what triggers them and we know how to successfully respond to them. For a free review of your case, or your employee or client’s case visit ccifree.com/. We will get back to you in 48 hours or less.

What to Expect and When to Expect it this H-1B Adjudication Season Read More »

Common H-1B Issues to Anticipate this Adjudication Season

Credential Evaluation, immigration, Visa Approvals

Common H-1B Issues to Anticipate this Adjudication Season

In the next few months, H-1B petitioners and beneficiaries will find out if their petitions have been selected in the lottery, and accepted for approval.

We predict this year will follow the trend of the previous few years with an increase in H-1B issues that block beneficiaries from outright approval. What is unclear is whether beneficiaries will be receiving RFEs or Denials in response to these issues. Last year, adjudicators were given the authority and encouragement to deny petitions outright without offering an RFE as an opportunity to respond questionable cases. This was announced in a USCIS memorandum along with several other changes to the H-1B selection and adjudication process, some of which went into effect this lottery season, and some of which did not.

One thing is certain: preparation is key. It is FAR from impossible to overturn a Denial. You just need to stay one step ahead of the game. That means understanding what about your case may raise red flags, and that means going back to the basic H-1B eligibility requirements and taking an honest look at where your case may fall short.

Employer-Employee Relationship

Small businesses often run into trouble here if they cannot clearly show in the LCA that they can afford to pay the prevailing wage to the H-1B worker and maintain economic viability. Another big issue is when the beneficiary is an owner, founder or co-founder, or sole proprietor of the business. H-1B workers must have their work, wage, and employment status controlled by an employer to meet this requirement and beneficiaries cannot self-petition for this visa. If this is the situation, there must be a CEO or board of directors different from the H-1B worker that fills this role to prove an employer-employee relationship exists in the arrangement.

Wage Level

The H-1B employee must make the prevailing wages for the position. Factors that influence the prevailing wage include industry standards, company size, geographic location, and more. Workers making level one wages often run into issues. In a response to an RFE or Denial, you must articulate all of the factors that went in to setting the wage level and an expert opinion letter that assures the prevailing wage requirement has been met.

Specialty Occupation

For the last two H-1B seasons, this RFE has spiked in prevalence and is often linked with wage level issues. If you, or your employee or client’s job sometimes requires a US bachelor’s degree or higher, but not always, or if this job is particularly specialized, you need to take extra steps to meet this requirement. That means providing a detailed breakdown of the duties and tasks of the job, as well as the advanced knowledge, skills, and understanding that must be applied every day in this position. You will also need to show that a US bachelor’s degree or higher is a typical minimum requirement for this job as either an industry standard, or as a company standard as evidenced in the ad for the job and in past hiring practices. An expert opinion letter must also be included to lend validity to and analysis of the documentation provided by your team.

Educational Requirements

H-1B requires the beneficiary have a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its equivalent. Foreign degrees that are not accompanied by the right credential evaluation raise red flags, especially the Indian three-year bachelor’s degree. The right credential evaluation takes the H-1B job into consideration and makes the necessary work experience conversions and detailed course breakdowns necessary to fill in any gaps between the job and the degree as the degree must be in the exact field of the H-1B job to address the demands of a specialty occupation. Incomplete college or no college experience must be compensated for with work experience conversion that must be written by a professor with the authority to convert work experience into college credit.

Any situation out of the ordinary or that is not completely straightforward can raise a red flag, which in turn triggers and RFE or Denial. At TheDegreePeople.com we work with RFE and Denial cases every year. We know what to look for and we know how to successfully address it. For a free review of your case visit ccifree.com/. We will get back to you in 48 hours or less.

Common H-1B Issues to Anticipate this Adjudication Season Read More »

What Makes an H-1B Job a Specialty Occupation?

Credential Evaluation, immigration, Visa Approvals

What Makes an H-1B Job a Specialty Occupation?

Over the past few years, H-1B cap-subject petitions have received record-breaking rates of RFEs for Specialty Occupation.  Many of these RFEs struck occupations that had never been called into question before.

USCIS visa approval trends change every year, and often the RFEs issued are virtually unanswerable by their own guidelines.  At TheDegreePeople.com we always advise our clients facing difficult RFEs to go back to the basics: what are the original H-1B requirements?  Specifically for the Specialty Occupation RFE, the central question is what makes a job a Specialty Occupation?  Answer this question and you’ve answered the issue.

USCIS determines that a job does meet specialty occupation requirements if it meets one of these four standards:

  1. This position normally requires a minimum of a US bachelor’s degree or higher to be hired.
  2. This position in the specific industry or for this specific employer requires a minimum of a US bachelor’s degree or higher because of the unique complexity of this position.
  3. A bachelor’s degree or higher minimum requirement for this position is a standard hiring practice for this specific employer.
  4. This specific position in question is uniquely specialized to the extent that only a candidate with a minimum of a US bachelor’s degree or higher has the skills and knowledge necessary to performing the duties and responsibilities of the position.

The decision is based on the entry for the position in the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook, on the opinions of experts, and on the details and documentation provided about the duties and responsibilities of the job, past hiring practices for the position, and industry standards when it comes to educational and experiential background for the position in question.

Read the Occupational Outlook Handbook for your H-1B position, or your employee or client’s H-1B position to understand which avenue is most appropriate to take for proving specialization.  Then, it’s your job to find the right expert to lend their opinion in a letter to fortify your case.  This expert works in the field of the specialty occupation, which means the expert cannot just be a professor who TEACHES the field but must have extensive field experience.  Then you must provide the expert and USCIS a detailed job description that emphasizes theoretical and practical application of specialized skills and knowledge on the job.  Provide proof of industry standard through showing USCIS ads for the same position for a different company in the industry, and provide documentation of past hiring practices.

At TheDegreePeople.com, we have experts in every specialization on hand to write the expert opinion letter you need, or your employee or client needs to get that H-1B visa approved.  They all have extensive experience and prestige in their field.  For a free review of your case, visit HERE.  We will get back to you in 48 hours or less.

What Makes an H-1B Job a Specialty Occupation? Read More »

Case Study: Specialty Occupation RFE Overturned with Some Expert Opinion Letters but not Others

Case Studies, Credential Evaluation, immigration, Visa Approvals

Case Study: Specialty Occupation RFE Overturned with Some Expert Opinion Letters but not Others

The Specialty Occupation RFE has become the new nightmare facing H-1B beneficiaries, their sponsors, and their lawyers.  They can be answered successfully with the inclusion of an expert opinion letter, but this does not always work.

There are two reasons why:

1. The letter is lacking in detail.  USCIS requires a very detailed letter with a breakdown of the daily duties and responsibilities of the job and how specialized knowledge and skills are required to carry them out.  They need to understand this position and its educational requirements within the broader context of the industry, and they need to know all of the factors that went into setting the wage
level.  A detailed expert opinion letter can only accomplish this if you provide said expert with as many details as possible.  USCIS needs to know absolutely everything.

2. The expert lacks field experience.  Every expert we work with at CCI TheDegreePeople.com has extensive experience working in their field of expertise.  While some of our experts are professors in that field, they also work directly in the field.  Teaching about the field is not good enough for USCIS to consider someone an expert – they must WORK IN THE FIELD beyond simply teaching it, and have extensive field experience and respect within the field of specialization. When the right expert writes a detailed letter, the Specialty Occupation RFE is overturned and the visa is approved. When the WRONG expert writes it, even if the letter is detailed, USCIS
denies the visa.

Make sure you work with the RIGHT expert this RFE season.  We have the right kind of experts on hand in every field ready to help you get that RFE overturned.  Your job is to provide the details, and their job is to lend their authority to strengthen your case and get that RFE overturned.  Get a free review of your case. We will get back to you in 48 hours or less.

Case Study: Specialty Occupation RFE Overturned with Some Expert Opinion Letters but not Others Read More »

International Student Enrollment Critical to the Survival of Community Colleges in the United States

Case Studies, Credential Evaluation, immigration

International Student Enrollment Critical to the Survival of Community Colleges in the United States

We recently wrote a press release regarding the alarming drop in enrollment in community colleges across the country due to dropping high school graduation rates and the low unemployment rate. At the same time, community colleges that make it easy for international students to enroll are seeing stable – and even rising – enrollment rates. Our press release appeared in dozens of news sources to spread the word to community colleges to open their doors to international students, and how best to do this.

International Student Enrollment Critical to the Survival of Community Colleges in the United States Read More »

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