3 Simples Rules to See if Your H1B Candidate Qualifies
- The candidate has a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its foreign equivalent.
- The candidate’s degree is in the field of their H1B job.
st, 2017 for visas for fiscal year 2018. The annual cap is 65,000 for candidates with bachelor’s degrees, and another 20,000 for candidates with master’s degrees of higher. This cap has not changed. Last year, CIS received a record 236,000 petitions in the first five days of opening its doors to petitions, during which CIS is mandated to continue to accept petitions even if the cap is exceeded. After that point, the petitions go into a randomized lottery for review for approval. Every year, more and more petitions have come in, exceeding the annual H1B cap in the first week. There will almost certainly be an H1B lottery again this year. That means if you or your employee or client has a cap-subject H1B job and is petitioning for a visa for FY2018, the petition MUST be filed on April 1st or very shortly after to make the lottery. Make sure that when you file, everything you or your employee or client needs to get the visa approved is included. If you or your employee or client has a degree that doesn’t fit their job title, a foreign degree, a three-year bachelor’s degree, or any other unusual education situation, do not file without first consulting with a foreign credential evaluation agency that specializes in H1B visas. Making the lottery only to receive an RFE or worse is not worth the time, money, and energy. 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.]]>
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, RFE, Denial, or NOID, please go to http://www.ccifree.com/ or call 800.771.4723. ]]>
Degree does not match the job title We expect this CIS approval trend that emerged about six or seven years ago to hold strong. Your degree, or your employee client’s degree must be an exact match for the job. H1B visa holders must work specialty jobs and have the specialized skills and expertise required to perform the duties of these jobs. To prove specialization, you or your employee or client must either hold a degree in that exact field, or have the individual credits and work experience to write an equivalency to that exact field. For example, if you or your employee or client has a job in finance and a Bachelor’s degree in business, you need to include a credential evaluation that takes a close look at the candidate’s courses taken in finance, as well as work experience in the field of finance. Work experience – so long as the candidate took on progressively more responsibility through this work – can be converted into years of college credit with three years of work experience equating to one year of college credit in the field. This evaluation is necessary to sidestep this VERY common RFE. Three-year bachelor’s degree At TheDegreePeople, we work with many clients with Indian three-year Bachelor’s degrees. Every year, we see that without a credential evaluation, virtually all of these clients receive an RFE. In the past, we’ve been able to answer these RFEs by showing that the course content of three-year degrees is the equivalent to a US four-year bachelor degree by converting classroom contact hours into college credit hours using the Carnegie Unit conversion of fifteen classroom contact hours to one hour of college credit. However, last year it did not work. Luckily, we always have a plan B. This year, if you or your employee or client has a three-year bachelor’s degree, you should understand right off the bat that your client will need a work experience conversion to get the H1B visa approved. CIS is hung up on that missing fourth year, and at the end of the day, it’s up to them whether or not to approve your visa, or your employee or client’s visa. Consult with a credential evaluation agency about the candidate’s education and work experience and include a credential evaluation with a work experience conversion in the initial H1B filing on April 1st. If either or both of these situation matches that of you or your employee or client, do not file without the appropriate work experience conversion. It’s important to remember that not all credential evaluation agencies are authorized to make this work experience conversion. Only a college or university professor is authorized to issue college credit for years of progressive work experience. The credential evaluation agency you want to work with has these professors on staff or on contract to write the evaluation you or your employee or client needs to sidestep an education RFE. 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.]]>
st is right around the corner and you want to make sure you have the time you need to file a petition that’s going to be approved. In the haste of preparation, it’s important to keep in mind that the rate of RFEs is high and climbing, and submitting a petition that doesn’t meet H1B requirements is a costly waste of time. Meeting H1B educational requirements clearly and initially is the key to visa approval. Successful H1B candidates must hold a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its foreign equivalent in their field of employ. This sounds simple enough, but matters get tricky when a candidate holds a degree or vocational certificate from outside of the United States. Many candidates are misinformed about their US educational equivalent. This leads to submitting petitions that are doomed to failure. For example, some candidates have earned diplomas and certificates that are not the equivalent of degrees in the United States. Sometimes, the value of the degree gets lost in translation into English. Some vocational certifications from other countries ARE the equivalent of a US bachelor’s degree even though the US vocational certification is not. Foreign credential evaluation is a highly nuanced process that encompasses international education, college and graduate program admissions policies, international trade and commerce agreements, federal case law, and CIS precedent decisions. All of these factors come into play when discerning whether or not you education, or your employee or client’s education meets H1B requirements, and does so with respect to CIS approval trends. Before you get too far on the H1B petition, take the candidate’s education and work experience to a credential evaluation agency. The right agency for you works regularly with H1B cases and their RFEs. When you call or email, they will respond promptly and ask about your or your employee or client’s job and visa. If the agency does not ask about the job and visa, look elsewhere. Don’t file an H1B petition with the wrong education. If a candidate does not meet CIS educational requirements with their foreign degree, they may be able to meet equivalency requirements by including a work experience conversion with a detailed credential 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.]]>
specialization. H1B visa status is for foreign workers with advanced degrees working specialty occupations. These jobs require a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its foreign equivalent as a minimum requirement. Additionally, CIS requires the degree to be in the exact specialization of the job, as has been proven by recurrent CIS approval trends over the past five plus years. If you or your employee or client is applying for H1B visa status, you have two jobs:
H1B eligibility has two main requirements:
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. ]]>