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USCIS accepted electronic submissions for cap-subject H-1B petitions for FY2021 March 1^st through 20^th 2020.  More than enough applications were filed electronically to meet the annual cap, sending the process to a randomized electronic lottery.  The lottery is now complete, and those selected will be notified by March 31^st, 2020, USCIS says.

You can check the status of your visa application, or of your employee or client’s visa application by going to the beneficiary’s online USCIS account.  The status of the submission will either say submitted, selected, or denied.  Submitted means the application was successfully submitted but not selected.  However, even if it was not selected, the petition will continue to be under consideration until the fiscal year’s end, when the status will change to selected, not selected, or denied.

Denied means that the electronic petition was denied due to duplicate submissions, self-submission, declined payment, and so forth.

Selected means that your petition, or your employee or client’s petition has been selected in the H-1B lottery, and you now have 90 days to complete and submit the full H-1B petition.  Due to COVID-19 related issues, premium processing has been suspended, but all deadlines are still on schedule for when you need to complete the filing.  This may be subject to change, and we will keep you updated.  In the meantime, it is time, for those selected, it is time to complete the petition as soon as possible to ensure an on-time start date.  That means anticipating and addressing all possible issues that may arise in adjudicating your case, or your employee or client’s case in your complete filing.

At CCI TheDegreePeople.com we work with difficult cases and RFEs every year.  We have an understanding of what triggers them, and what prevents them.  Let us review your case and give you a free consultation before you file.  Simply visit ccifree.com/ and we will get back to you in 48 hours or less.  All rush delivery fees are waived for the month of March!

Guest Blog by Eric Lyons

Being the most sought-after visa to enter the United States of America, an H1B visa is difficult to get. Applicants for H1B jobs in USA (beneficiaries of H1B visa petitions) can either be living in the USA or outside the USA at the time of filing of the petition.

Even though H1B visa petitioners and prospective visa holders have a slight knowledge of RFE, most of the time they cannot decode the reason why they got one. In this blog post, we have tried to cover the essential information related to H1B RFE, including its meaning, probable reasons, and response practices. Continue reading to get answers to all your questions.

What is RFE?

RFE stands for ‘Request for Evidence’, a request made by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), against the H1B visa petitions. The objective behind issuing an RFE is to seek additional evidence in the form of explanatory answers and documents before adjudicating an H1B visa petition.

How do you get notified?

Once the H1B petition filed by your current employer, prospective employer, or staffing consultant in the USA gets picked up in the lottery, you will get a USCIS case/receipt number. You need to ask your sponsor to share this number with you. With the help of the USCIS case/receipt number, you can check the status of your petition online.

Why do you get an H1B RFE?

Though an RFE for the H1B petition can be received because of any reason, the following are some typical reasons that are observed in the majority of the cases.

• A discrepancy in Information between Application and VIBE

The VIBE, which stands for ‘Validation Instrument for Business Enterprises’ is a web-based tool used by the USCIS for verifying the details mentioned about the H1B employer in the application. If the details don’t match, you are likely to receive an H1B RFE.

• Relationship between an Employer and an Employee

The relationship between a current/prospective employer and a current/prospective employee plays a strong role in the approval of H1B visa. For the application to be considered legitimate, it has to be proved that an employer-employee relationship exists between the employing organization itself. Supervision is done for this.

If the job has to be performed offsite, you need to explain the reason and follow the necessary rules.

• Inconsistency between the Prescribed and Offered Wage Rate

The government has prescribed a wage for employees at different levels, giving priority to citizens.

The employees at level 1 are entry level employees, whereas the employees at level 4 are fully competent. H1B jobs in USA are provided to job seekers in specialty occupations. So, they should be given the wages or remuneration as. 

If the wages offered to you as mentioned in the H1B visa petition filed on your behalf does not match the level 4 wages, you will receive a request for evidence. Explaining the reason behind the inconsistency between the wages might be difficult for you and your employer.

What should you do on receiving an H1B RFE? You should coordinate with your employer to respond to the H1B RFE. If an H1B RFE is issued to you despite taking all the precautions, you must submit the response carefully as you will not get a second chance.

Eric Lyons is a PR strategist and writer at OPTnation, with extensive professional management experience in both public and private sectors.

Today, Friday March 27, USCIS announced that any applicants responding to RFEs or NOIDs between March 1^st and May 1^st of 2020 will have until 60 calendar days FOLLOWING their given response deadlines to submit. 

“USCIS is adopting several measures to protect our workforce and community, and to minimize the immigration consequences for those seeking immigration benefits during this time,” USCIS announced in the email announcing this extension.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, USCIS has suspended premium processing on H-1B visa petitions – both cap-subject and cap-exempt.  As the global situation regarding the pandemic evolves, USCIS will keep up-to-date information regarding changes to services, deadlines, and response times at uscis.gov/coronavirus.

In the meantime, CCI TheDegreePeople.com is operating at full speed with our entire staff working remotely.  We continue to meet delivery timelines and are offering rush delivery of expert letters and academic evaluations at no extra charge for the month of March.  You don’t have to wait to file your response and risk a late work start date.

For a free review of your case visit ccifree.com/.  We will get back to you in 48 hours or less.

Even though USCIS is suspending premium processing due to COVID-19, we are not!  At CCI TheDegreePeople.com, we are operating with a FULL STAFF remotely and continue to honor our rush delivery schedules.

We anticipate USCIS will take longer than usual to turn visa approvals around.  This means it is more important than ever to get those petitions completed as soon as possible to allow enough turnaround time for employees to meet their October 1^st start dates this year.  When you file, it is important to anticipate and take steps to prevent any issues that may arise that could prolong adjudication period.  Education issues, specialty occupation issues, employer-employee relationship issues, wage level issues, and more have become increasingly common since the passage of the “Buy American and Hire American” executive order of 2017.  Cases that would never have run into trouble before 2017 are now receiving at least one round of RFEs before approval.

That is why we are waiving rush delivery fees for expert letters and evaluations for the month of March! 

Our rush delivery options include 4-Day Service, Next Business Day Service, and Special 12 Hour Service.  Our 12 Hour Service goes by clock hours, NOT by business hours.  We know that when it comes to visa application, time is of the essence.  That is why we make ourselves available to you 24/7 and offer a variety of delivery options to best suit your filing needs.

To get started, visit ccifree.com/ for a free review of your case. 

As of March 20, 2020, USCIS ceased accepting premium processing requests for I-129 and I-140 due to COVID-19 related issues.  This impacts H-1B cap-subject petitions, as well as H-1B cap-exempt petitions for FY2021.  No new requests will be carried out.

What does this mean for those who filed H-1B cap-subject petitions starting at the beginning of this month?  Expect delays.  This does not mean you can take your time.  Over the past few years, the rate of RFEs and Denials – and the rate of second and third rounds of RFEs – have seen a sharp increase.  This caused many H-1B employees to start work late for FY2020, harming employer workflow.

This is even more reason to file your complete petition as soon as possible, with possible issues anticipated and prepared for with additional evidence and documentation.

All CCI TheDegreePeople.com staff are set up to work remotely, and our workflow has not slowed.  We are committed to on-time delivery and 24/7 communication through your preferred channel.  As always, we are offering free consultations to identify any weaknesses in your case, or in your employee or client’s case, and consult on how to best prevent subsequent issues.  Whether it’s a credential evaluation, and expert opinion letter, or additional documentation, we can help you determine how to best proceed.  It is more important this year than ever to get that petition right and airtight the first time to ensure an on-time start date.

For a free review of your case, or of your employee or client’s case, visit ccifree.com/.  We will respond in 48 hours or less.

This year, USCIS began opened electronic registration for H-1B visa cap-subject petitions on March 1^st and will continue to accept electronic applications through 12:00pm Eastern Time on March 20^th.

Employers filing on behalf of H-1B employees must create a myUSCIS online account to register and pay a fee of $10 per employee.  While each individual employee must be registered separately with a separate fee, all of this can be completed in one session, and employers can store and edit electronic registration drafts in their myUSCIS account throughout the registration period ending March 20^th.

It is expected that the number of electronic submissions will far exceed the H-1B cap of 65,000 visas for beneficiaries with US bachelor’s degrees or higher, and an additional 20,000 for applicants with US master’s degrees and higher.  This year, applicants with advanced degrees will get two rounds in the selection process, with the 20,000 advanced degree visas being chosen first and all applicants not selected entered into the subsequent general lottery.  USCIS says applicants selected will be informed by March 31^st, as that is their goal.

For more detailed information and access portals for electronic submission, go to uscis.gov/h-1b. 

Following notification, those selected will have 90 days to file the completed H-1B petition.  It is important to have this filed as soon as possible as we anticipate another year of record-high rates of RFEs, and multiple rounds of them.  Last year, many H-1B employees were prevented from starting work on time on October 1^st 2019 because they were still embroiled in the RFE response process, delaying workflow for their sponsors and their sponsors’ clients.  To prevent this from happening this year, file as soon as possible and anticipate RFEs by providing in the initial filing:

1. An expert opinion letter that addresses specialty occupation, wage level, and employer-employee relationship issues.
2. A credential evaluation uniquely written to address the beneficiary’s education, work experience, proffered position, H-1B educational standards and USCIS approval trends.

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.

This year, USCIS is implementing a new application process for cap-subject H-1B visa petitions for FY 2021.  This will be a two-step application process, and the first step begins NEXT WEEK on March 1, 2020 and runs through March 20.

H-1B petitioners must register with USCIS electronically and pay a $10 fee for every beneficiary applying for an H-1B visa.  An application for each H-1B worker must be submitted separately, even if working for the same employer.  If the number of applicants exceeds the number of annual cap-subject H-1B visas – which is extremely likely to happen – there will be an electronic lottery wherein 85,000 total applicants will be randomly selected to file completed H-1B petitions.  20,000 visas are allocated to beneficiaries with advanced degrees of US master’s degrees or higher or the degree’s equivalent, and applicants with US bachelor’s degrees or higher or its equivalent are eligible for the remaining 65,000 slots. 

What is also different this year is that those with degrees beyond a bachelor’s degree or its equivalency get two shots at the lottery.  The first 20,000 visas are selected, and then all applicants with these advanced degrees not chosen get a second chance to be selected in the general lottery.

For step-by-step instructions for how to register for the H-1B electronic application process that begins next week, reference https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/temporary-workers/h-1b-specialty-occupations-and-fashion-models/h-1b-electronic-registration-process/.  The first step is to set up an online USCIS account.

USCIS states that all selected applicants will be notified by March 31, 2020.  Applicants selected will then have 90 days to submit their complete H-1B petitions, but USCIS will begin accepting completed petitions on April 1, 2020.

The sooner the complete H-1B petition is submitted the better.  For the past two years, applicants have been receiving record rates of RFEs, and record rates of second rounds of RFEs.  This has forced many H-1B employers to push back their employees’ start dates, which completely throws a monkey wrench in employers’ workflow, and the workflow of employers’ clients and customers.  The sooner your petition, or your employee or client’s complete petition is ready to submit, the better.  To prevent an RFE – or two, or even three rounds of RFEs – be sure to include in every complete petition:

1. A credential evaluation that closes ANY gaps between your education, or your employee or client’s education and the H-1B job.  This means that if the degree earned is in a different major than the field of the H-1B job, is generalized or incomplete, if there is no college degree or the degree was earned at an unaccredited school, or if the degree was earned outside of the United States, a credential evaluation written uniquely to address the beneficiary’s education, work experience, job, and visa requirements is necessary.
2. An expert opinion letter that validates that the job does in fact meet H-1B specialty occupation requirements, the wage level is set appropriately, and that the situation constitutes an employer-employee relationship.

At TheDegreePeople.com we have experts and credential evaluators on hand 24/7 to write the evaluations and opinion letters you need, or your employee or client needs to get that petition submitted as soon as possible.  We offer rush delivery options to meet your needs at reasonable prices, each credential evaluation is written uniquely and thoroughly researched, and all of our experts have extensive field experience.

For a free review of your case, or your employee or client’s case, simply reply to this email or visit ccifree.com/.  We will get back to you in 48 hours or less.

H-1B visa registration for the 2021 fiscal year begins in just over a week.  Sponsors must submit their employee’s electronic registration between March 1^st and March 20^th to be eligible for the H-1B lottery.

While it may be tempting to wait until you hear back from USCIS to get started on the complete petition, being ready to file as soon as possible is essential if you want your H-1B employee to start working on time.  The approval process can take months, especially if there are multiple rounds of RFEs to answer.  Last year, many H-1B workers were late to start due to delays with the visa approval process, which was a detriment to their employers’ business and workflow.

To make sure you, or your H-1B employee or client starts work on time on October 1^st, 2020, have the complete visa petition ready to file as soon as possible, and include one extra preventative step to avoid the Double RFE.  The Double RFE has become commonplace in the H-1B adjudication process and calls the specialty occupation and wage level into question.  Over the past few years, jobs that had never received RFEs questioning whether they met H-1B specialty occupation requirements received RFEs in unprecedented numbers.  Many of these RFEs were double RFEs that also questioned whether the H-1B employee was being paid the prevailing wage for the position.

To prevent this Double RFE – which may come in one or two rounds, stretching the process out for months into fiscal year 2021 – it is essential to submit an expert opinion letter with the initial petition.  This letter must be written by an expert in the field of the H-1B job with extensive experience working directly in the field.  This letter must address both how the H-1B position meets specialty occupation requirements, and that the wage level for the position was set appropriately with all factors taken into consideration.

At TheDegreePeople.com, we work with experts in every field who have over a decade of field experience and have held a wide range of positions spanning the industry, as well as positions of authority.  These experts have made hiring and wage level decisions and can lend validity to your case, or to your employee or client’s case.  This can be done with just one letter, with rush service options available.

As with every H-1B season, time is of the essence.  That does not change with the new application rules.  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 happens when you, or when your employee or client receives an H-1B RFE that calls into question the wage level, the specialty occupation, and the H-1B employee’s education?  This Triple Threat RFE is virtually impossible to answer within the time constraints by its own guidelines set forth in the RFE.

Coming up on this H-1B application season, it is essential to remember that many RFEs cannot be answered by their own instructions.  Then how does one answer the Triple Threat RFE?  By going back to the original H-1B requirements to make sure they are clearly met, explained, documented, and fortified with expert opinion

To meet H-1B eligibility requirements, the job must be a specialty occupation, meaning as a minimum requirement the H-1B employee must hold a US bachelor’s degree or higher, or its equivalency in the exact field of the H-1B job.  The employer must pay the employee the prevailing wage and provide the prevailing benefits for the H-1B position for companies of that size, in that industry, in that geographical location.

The first step is to address specialty occupation and wage level issues.  This can be done in just one expert opinion letter.  The trick with this is, you need to provide adequate documentation for the expert to write a detailed letter that clearly and validly answers all of USCIS’ questions regarding the job, and the expert must have extensive experience working in the field of the H-1B job, not simply be an instructor.

Second, to address any educational questions USCIS has, you need, or if your employee or client needs a detailed credential evaluation uniquely written for your situation, or for your employee or client’s situation, taking into consideration the education completed, progressive work experience in the field, the H-1B job, the H-1B visa, and USCIS approval trends and precedents.  Any gaps between your education, or your employee or client’s degree and the H-1B job must be closed, and if the degree was earned outside of the United States, a credential evaluation is virtually required to prevent or answer an RFE.

At CCI TheDegreePeople.com, we have worked with Triple Threat RFE cases over the past few years with the highest rate of success in overturning them.  However, the best way to answer any RFE is to prevent it in the first place.  Make sure all possible vulnerabilities in your case are addressed before you file. 

For a no-charge and no-obligation review of your case by our visa experts at CCI TheDegreePeople.com visit ccifree.com or simply reply to this email.  We will get back to you within 48 hours.

The H-1B cap-subject application timeline has shifted for the FY2021 petition season starting this Spring.  On March 1^st, electronic application opens and H-1B sponsors must register all potential H-1B workers electronically.  Registration will be open until March 20^th and if the number of applicants exceeds the number of annual H-1B visas available – which we can almost GUARANTEE will happen – there will be a lottery.  Those selected in the lottery will then have 90 days to submit their complete petition.

This timeline comes with the trap of a false sense of time leniency.  For the past two years, we have seen rounds and rounds of complex RFEs and Denials instead of outright approval for cases that have historically been straightforward green lights.  If you, or if your employee or client is selected, you need to be ready to submit the completed petition with all additional evidence and supporting documents as soon as possible to ensure they have the right to work in the United States on their start date, October 1, 2020.  Answering rounds of RFEs will likely lead to a late start date and interrupt workflow to the detriment of sponsoring employers.

All H-1B employees to be registered in March should have as much of their petition as possible completed, including supporting immigration forms, education and work experience documentation, and information regarding the sponsoring employer, the business, and the H-1B job. 

When the letter of confirmation arrives, file the completed petition as soon as possible and anticipate any possible issues right from the get-go.  That means including a credential evaluation that closes any gaps between the employee’s education and the degree requirement – a US bachelor’s degree or higher in the exact field of the H-1B job.  That means employees with incomplete college, a degree earned outside of the United States, or a degree in a field that is not an exact match for the H-1B job needs a detailed credential evaluation written uniquely for the candidate, the education, and the job.  This may require a progressive work experience conversion wherein three years of progressive work experience in the field of the H-1B job is converted into one year of college credit towards a major in that exact field.

To address wage level, specialty occupation, and employer-employee relationship issues – which ran rampant in the RFEs we encountered last year – an expert opinion letter is needed to address these concerns within the case before they turn into RFEs or Denials.  This letter must be written by an expert in the field of the H-1B job who has over ten years of field experience, has worked in the field in many different positions including supervisory positions and positions of authority, who has credibility in the field, and who has hired employees to the position in question.

Before you file, it is important to go over your case and identify possible areas of weakness.  USCIS approval trends and recently declassified USCIS memos have shown a massively increased burden of proof placed on H-1B applicants since 2017.  At TheDegreePeople.com, we follow USCIS approval trends closely and help our clients prevent and answer difficult RFEs every year.  Let us look at your case to see where you need to fortify it before you file.  We have experts in every field and expert credential evaluators ready 24/7 to help you get that H-1B visa approved.  We offer rush delivery options to ensure that you, or your employee or client gets to work by their start date.

For a free review of your case, visit ccifree.com/.  We will get back to you in 48 hours or less.