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In the past year, USCIS faced three convictions regarding illegally denying RFEs due to specialty occupation issues.  Despite these judicial decisions, USCIS continues to adjudicate H-1B petitions wrongly, which means H-1B beneficiaries still must take steps to prevent and fight these specialty occupation RFEs.

Here is the issue: USCIS defines a “specialty occupation” as a job that normally requires a minimum of a bachelor’s degree or higher to perform.  Instead of adjudicating the job based on “normally” USCIS has been issuing RFEs for jobs that some employers will sometimes hire those without this degree to the position.  In doing so, USCIS adjudicated the exception as the norm without any actual changes to laws regarding this definition.  That means, unless you want to take USCIS to court, you need to prepare for this.  If the entry in the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook for your job, or for your employee or client’s job states that while a bachelor’s degree is normally a minimum requirement sometimes employees without this degree are hired, you need to take an extra step to protect against a specialty occupation RFE.

At CCI, TheDegreePeople.com, we have been working closely with specialty occupation RFE and Denial cases.  We have found that the best way to prevent and answer this issue is with an expert opinion letter written by an expert in the field of the H-1B job with extensive experience working in the field.  This experience includes hiring employees to the position in question, similar positions, and positions that rely on the person hired to the position in question being fully qualified to do their job.  This opinion letter provides a detailed breakdown of how specific skills and knowledge acquired through a bachelor’s degree program are applied to the duties and responsibilities of the job. 

The more information about the job, the employer, and past hiring practices you can provide to the expert, the better the letter will be.  We have found that submitting an expert opinion letter in the response has a 90% success rate in getting it overturned.  Our clients who get one ahead of time and submit the letter with initial petitions do not come back to us with an RFE later.

Since 2017, positions that had never before been called into question began receiving specialty occupation RFEs and Denials.  We strongly encourage H-1B applicants to include an expert opinion letter regarding specialty occupation issues in the initial petition.

For a free review of your case, visit www.ccifree.com or simply reply to this email.  We will get back to you in 4 hours or less.

Sheila Danzig

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

There are many pathways through education and they don’t all include the classroom.  However, USCIS needs a clear quantitative measure of qualitative learning – whether it’s on the job, from incomplete college, or from an unaccredited program.

H-1B beneficiaries that have the specialized skills and knowledge necessary to perform the specialty occupation but do not have a completed four-year bachelor’s degree should not file without taking additional steps.  It is essential to find out whether or not the school the degree was earned at is accredited or not.  Oddly enough, it is common for H-1B applicants to think their school is accredited only to find out it is not.  If either of these three situations applies to your employee or client, the best way to prevent this RFE is to include a credential evaluation with a work experience conversion in the initial petition. 

This credential evaluation must prove a clear equivalency to a four-year US bachelor’s degree in the field of the H-1B job.  A professor authorized to grant college credit for work experience can write an evaluation that converts three years of progressive work experience into one year of college credit.  Progressive work experience means that education occurred on the job as evidenced by the applicant having taken on progressively more complex work and more responsibility over the duration of the work experience.  It may take up to twelve years of progressive work experience to make this equivalency work.  Credits earned can also be applied to the equivalency. 

If your employee or client received an RFE or Denial for any of these three education issues, a customized credential evaluation that takes work experience and earned college credits, along with the job, H-1B eligibility requirements, and USCIS approval trends into consideration can get it overturned.

At CCI, TheDegreePeople.com, we work with professors who can issue college credit for work experience to write unique credential evaluations tailored to fill in any gaps between the beneficiary’s education and the correct degree and specialization for the H-1B job.

For a free review of your case visit ccifree.com or reply to this email.  We will respond in 4 hours or less.

Sheila Danzig

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

Wage Level Issue RFEs and Denials are common for H-1B jobs set at Level 1 Wages.  The reason for this comes in two steps: first, H-1B visas are reserved for foreign nationals working in specialty occupations.  These jobs require a bachelor’s degree or higher as a minimum requirement to perform.  At the same time, H-1B employers are required to pay H-1B employees the prevailing wage for the job.  If the job is set at Level 1 Wages, USCIS assumes that the position is entry level, which does not always require a bachelor’s degree minimum, or that the employer is underpaying the H-1B employee.

Computer programmers have been hit hardest by this issue, and it often comes as a double RFE that forces beneficiaries to address specialty occupation issues as well.

To prevent or answer a wage level issue RFE, the best way to go about this is with a detailed breakdown of the factors that went into determining the wage level.  This should be accompanied by wage levels for the same position in the industry in the geographical location.  A major factor in setting a low starting wage level is that the H-1B visa program was designed to attract foreign students to US schools by giving them the opportunity to stay in the United States after graduation to work specialty occupations under dual-intent visa status.  For this reason, many H-1B employees have the degree for the job, but not the work experience to jump right in without a high level of training and supervision.  This factors into making the wage level one determination.

All of this additional evidence must be accompanied by an expert opinion letter written by an expert in the field of the H-1B job with extensive experience working in the field.  This experience should include hiring employees to the position in question and to similar positions.  This letter will add analysis and credibility to justify the wage level determination.  Include this with the initial petition if the job is set at level one wages to prevent an RFE or Denial.  If the RFE or Denial has already arrived, include this in the response.

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 executive director of CCI, TheDegreePeople.com.  Sheila specializes in overturning RFEs and Denials for work visas.

When USCIS finds one issue in an H-1B petition, they tend to find more.  That’s because an RFE issue raises a red flag that triggers a close scrutiny of the rest of the petition.  The most common Double RFE we see is the Specialty Occupation + Wage Level Issue RFE.

In this case, Wage Level tends to trigger Specialty Occupation, and this Double RFE has hit computer programmers the hardest.  Here’s how it works:  USCIS sees that the job is set at level one wages, and so they assume that it is an entry level position.  Then, they go to the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook and read the passage for the entry level position.  Often, these entry level positions NORMALLY require a minimum of a bachelor’s degree to be hired, but NOT ALWAYS.

USCIS has been caught illegally adjudicating specialty occupation based on “ALWAYS” instead of what the regulation actually, reads, which is “NORMALLY,” thereby making the exception the rule of determination.  This makes H-1B employees starting at level one wages especially vulnerable to the Double RFE.

If you, or if your employee or client is at this wage level – ESPECIALLY if the job is computer programmer – you need to make it very clear that the wage level is set appropriately.  Explain all of the factors that went into the wage level determination, along with the wage level for the same position at different companies in the industry and geographical location of the H-1B job.  You also must be clear that the job requires theoretical and practical application of skills and knowledge learned in a bachelor’s degree program in the field of the H-1B job. 

Along with this additional documentation, include an expert opinion letter written by a professional with extensive experience working in the field of the H-1B job.  This expert should have experience hiring employees to the position in question.  This letter can address both specialty occupation and wage level issues.  You must provide as much evidence and documentation as possible so the expert can write a strong letter to lend authority to your case.

At CCI, TheDegreePeople.com, we work with experts in all H-1B fields to write the letters applicants need to address these issues before they turn into RFEs.  Applicants that come to us for case reviews and expert letters for their initial petition do not come back with a Double RFE.  At the same time, we have seen that Double RFEs are successfully answered over 90% of the time with this added documentation and expert opinion letter included in the response. 

USCIS faced litigation last year, which included three separate judicial rulings against them for wrongly denying H-1B visas.  USCIS knows that these petitions may end up in front of judges.  When you file the initial petition or RFE response, make sure it is air-tight and clearly shows that H-1B eligibility requirements are met, and taking USCIS adjudication trends into account. 

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 executive director of CCI, TheDegreePeople.com.  Sheila specializes in overturning RFEs and Denials for work visas.

When USCIS finds one problem with an H-1B petition, they usually find more.  One RFE issue opens the door for close scrutiny of the entire case, and that is how we get situations like the Nightmare RFE.

This RFE is virtually impossible to answer by its own guidelines in the given timeframe and includes absolutely everything.  That’s why this RFE is also called the Kitchen Sink.  How can beneficiaries answer an RFE like this?

The answer is to not get caught up in the wording, but instead go back to the original H-1B eligibility guidelines and work from the ground up based on the guidelines themselves and USIS approval trends.  This means strengthening all areas of the case with additional evidence and documentation to address employer-employee, wage level, and specialty occupation issues.  Include a credential evaluation that closes any gaps between the H-1B beneficiary’s education and the H-1B job, and include an expert opinion letter that strengthens specialty occupation and wage level areas.  For consulting firms and similar companies, include a complete itinerary of the H-1B employee’s work for the entire three-year duration of the visa, along with client contact information.

The more information you can provide in the initial petition, the better chance you have of preventing the Nightmare RFE.  That means including an expert opinion letter, credential evaluation, and work itinerary in the initial petition.  It is essential to keep an eye on USCIS approval trends when crafting the initial petition.  At CCI TheDegreePeople.com, we pay close attention to USCIS approval trends and advise our clients based on common RFE and Denial triggers.  A strong, clear, and well-documented case is the best defense against the Nightmare RFE.

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 executive director of CCI, TheDegreePeople.com.  Sheila specializes in overturning RFEs and Denials for work visas.

While specialty occupation, wage level, and employer-employee issue RFEs have been all the rage since 2017, the classic 3-Year Degree H-1B RFE has not gone away.  H-1B beneficiaries with 3-year bachelor’s degrees earned outside of the United States consistently receive RFEs and Denials for the missing fourth year of college. 

Even though the Indian 3-year bachelor’s degree has the same – if not greater – amount of classroom contact hours as the US 4-year bachelor’s degree, beneficiaries with this degree are consistently hit the hardest.

If you, or if your employee or client has a 3-year bachelor’s degree, the petition will run into issues virtually every time unless you take the one preventative step that works.  That means submitting a credential evaluation with the initial petition that includes a work experience conversion to account for the missing fourth year of college.  With the evaluation, three years of progressive work experience in the field of the H-1B job can be converted into one year of college credit towards a major in that field provided the evaluation is written by a professor with the authority to issue college credit for work experience.

What is progressive work experience?  For work experience to be considered progressive, it must be shown that throughout the duration of the job, the nature of the beneficiary’s work became increasingly complex with increasingly specialized skills.  This shows that education and professional development occurred on the job. 

The right credential evaluation must take the job, the education, and the nuances of H-1B visa requirements into consideration.  If you call a credential evaluation agency and they do not ask about any one of these three factors, hang up and look elsewhere.

Submitting a credential evaluation with a work experience conversion with the initial petition is the best way to avoid these issues.  If it’s too late and you’ve already received the RFE, including this evaluation and work experience conversion with the response is the best way to get that RFE overturned.  At CCI TheDegreePeople.com we work with these cases every year, and our method of writing a credential evaluation with work experience conversion tailored to each beneficiary’s unique situation works virtually every time to get the RFE overturned.

If you, or if your employee or client has a 3-year bachelor’s degree, do not submit that petition or RFE response without the right credential evaluation and work experience conversion.  Let us review your case for free.  Visit www.ccifree.com and we will respond in 4 hours or less.

Sheila Danzig

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

The second quarter of FY2020 brought a slight increase in H-1B RFE rates to 35.8%, which is up 0.5% from FY2019’s second quarter.  By the same comparison, H-1B approval rate jumped up 4% to 87.1%.  The rate of approval following an RFE is 68.2%, which may seem low, but is a 10% increase from this time last year.

Over the course of the past year, there have been three decisive judicial decisions penalizing USCIS illegally denying H-1B visas.  These numbers show us that USCIS is sticking with its strict – and in many cases, illegal – approval trends.  We expect this litigative trend to continue until the RFE rate drops. 

What does this mean for H-1B applicants and their sponsors?  Anticipate common RFEs.  Specialty occupation, wage level, and employer-employee relationships have become some of the most common RFEs since USCIS began misreading their own approval rules. 

Specialty Occupation

USCIS defines a specialty occupation as normally requiring a minimum of a bachelor’s degree to perform.  Since 2017, USCIS has been adjudicating this as ALWAYS instead of NORMALLY, making the exception the rule.  If you have, or if your employee or client has a job that list listen in the Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook as usually but not always requiring this minimum advanced degree, you need to provide additional evidence about the specific job in question.  This evidence must show that specialized skills and understanding is needed and how it is applied in the day-to-day duties and responsibilities of the job.  Along with this, an expert opinion letter is advised to lend authority and analysis to the additional evidence and documentation provided.

Wage Level

H-1B employees with low wage level starting salaries have run into trouble in recent years.  This is because USCIS has been associating level one wages with an entry level position in the adjudication process.  If the entry level position does not always require the employee to have a bachelor’s degree, the petition receives a double RFE for specialty occupation and wage level issues.  To prevent this issue, include a detailed breakdown of the factors that went into setting the wage level to show that it was set appropriately for the position, and set at the prevailing wage.  The same expert opinion letter than can prevent or address the specialty occupation issue can and should incorporate any wage level issues anticipated.

Employer-Employee Relationship

Employers now must prove that there will be work for the H-1B employee throughout the duration of the H-1B visa period of three years.  This can be difficult for consulting firms, which is why in past years this was not a requirement.  Now, petitions that do not have a complete itinerary of projects, clients, and client contact information are receiving employer-employee relationship issue RFEs.  We advise that employers work with their clients to create an itinerary that covers the entire three-year duration and include this with the initial petition. 

While 87.1% of initial petitions were approved in the second quarter of FY2020, only 68.2% of RFEs were overturned.  The best way to beat an RFE is to prevent it.  Do not file without a complete review of your case to see where additional evidence and documentation – including credential evaluations, expert opinion letters, and work itineraries – are needed.

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

Sheila Danzig, EdD

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

Is studying for a test cheating?  No!  Is editing a book necessary?  Always!  Same goes for an H-1B petition.  Reviewing the case for potential adjudication problems is an essential step to preventing an RFE.  RFEs are time consuming, costly, and can lead to a second or third round of RFEs, delaying the work start date and throwing a monkey wrench in the sponsor’s workflow.  The best step to answering one is to avoid getting one in the first place.

Having one issue in a case is a big red flag that triggers a closer scrutiny of the rest of the case.  This is where Double RFEs, the Nightmare RFE, and other difficult RFEs that are virtually impossible to answer by their own guidelines in the timeline required.  Common educational issues often boil down to filing without a credential evaluation to fill in gaps between the education a beneficiary has, and the exact degree major of the H-1B job.  For example, applicants with degrees in fields that do not match the H-1B job title run into trouble.  Applicants with degrees earned outside of the United States run into trouble, especially with three-year bachelor’s degrees.  A unique credential evaluation that takes years of education and progressive work experience into account to write a valid equivalency for a degree that is an exact match for the job title will prevent an RFE.

Sometimes, applicants have education from unaccredited universities, or through no fault of their own have forged documents.  These problems will most definitely raise red flags.  A review of your case will expose these problems to you before USCIS sees them.  In these circumstances, a work experience conversion combined with any accredited education the applicant has can address the issue before it becomes an RFE trigger.

Other issues include specialty occupation issues for borderline jobs that usually – but not always – require a bachelor’s degree or higher, wage level one, or there is not a complete itinerary of work for the three-year duration of the H-1B visa.  These issues can be addressed before they become RFEs if they are caught in a review of your case.  That is why we offer free reviews and consultations for H-1B visa cases.

For a free review of your case, visit www.ccifree.com.  We will respond in 48 hours or less.

The mad rush to file work visas is here, and to help essential workers and first responders get on the job in haste we are offering free document evaluations for those with a foreign degree.  

An estimated 6 million immigrants already work essential jobs and immigrants make up one-sixth of the overall US health care workforce.  New proposed legislation recaptures visas for health care workers and expedites processing of temporary and permanent work visas for health care workers and essential business workers.  At the same time, increased demand for and high turnover rate for first responders have far exceeded what the US workforce can provide.  Essential businesses – especially those along the food supply chain – have increased hiring to meet overwhelming demands.

The HEROES Act, which is currently circulating through the legislature, prompts visa applicants to move fast to file.  This legislation would expedite temporary and permanent work visa processing for health care workers.  It also includes extending work authorization for undocumented workers in essential industries including health care, farm workers, food processors, and first responders.  The Department of Homeland Security would be directed to relax regulations governing H-2A and H-2B visas as well.

The related proposed Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act that is set to recapture 40,000 green cards for nurses and physicians limits time to file to 90 days after the termination of the President’s COVID-19 emergency declaration.  Similar limits to file under these expedited and relaxed conditions is expected.  That means it’s time to file. 

CCI TheDegreePeople.com is here to help our essential workers and first responders.  For the entire month of June, we are offering FREE document evaluation for those applying for these jobs with foreign degrees.

For more information, visit our website www.TheDegreePeople.com.  For a free review of your visa case visit www.ccifree.com.  We will respond to you in 48 hours or less.

The United States healthcare system had been experiencing a severe shortage of registered nurses and primary care physicians long before the COVID-19 crisis.  At the same time, hundreds of thousands of foreign nurses and doctors who want to work in the United States are prevented from doing so by long green card processing periods that can take years, and restrictive per-country quotas.  The purpose of the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act currently circulating through the legislature is to alleviate long delays and remove per-country quotas.

US Senator Dick Durbin, one of the key proponents of this bipartisan bill explains, “One-sixth of our health care workforce is foreign-born.  Immigrant nurses and doctors play a vital role in our health care system, and their contributions are now more important than ever. […] This bipartisan, targeted and timely legislation will strengthen our health care workforce and improve health care access for Americans in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

With this legislation, 40,000 unused immigrant visas would be recaptured for use by 25,000 nurses and 15,000 doctors and remove per-country quotas in regard to these recaptured visas.  The State Department and the Department of Homeland Security would be directed to expedite processing for these visas.  The filing period is 90 days following the COVID-19 emergency declaration’s termination.    Current immigration numbers would not be increased by this legislation, and employers would have to attest that no American workers were displaced by hiring foreign workers.  This should not be difficult to do considering the statistics:

Currently, over 80 million Americans live in areas that have less than one primary care physician for every 3500 people.  Nationally, only 55% of the need for primary care is met.  The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 200,000 new registered nurses will be needed every year through 2026, which is far more than annually graduate from US nursing schools.

At CCI TheDegreePeople.com, we are pleased to see bipartisan support for this legislation and the recognition that healthcare in the United States depends on foreign-born skilled workers, as well as the need for swift green card processing time.  We will be keeping an eye on this legislation as it progresses.

We are fully operational with our full staff working remotely, and are waiving 72-hour rush delivery fees on academic evaluations and expert letters for the month of May.  For a free review of your case visit www.ccifree.com.  We will get back to you in 48 hours or less.