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It’s time for those selected in the H-1B lottery to file complete petitions.  An airtight petition will prevent any RFEs or other adjudication hang-ups standing between your employee and their start date. 

Before you file, go through this checklist to make sure any potential weaknesses in your case are addressed:

• Double-check all documents to make sure answers, timelines, addresses and other contact information, and spellings are consistent.
• Make sure all documents, forms, and supporting evidence are accounted for and filed in the proper order.
• If the wage level is set at Level One Wages or if the entry for the H-1B job in the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook lists that the job does not ALWAYS require a bachelor’s degree minimum, include an expert opinion letter addressing wage level and specialty occupation issues.
• Include a detailed breakdown of the duties and responsibilities of the job and how attainment of an advanced degree apply.
• Provide evidence of past hiring practices and hiring practices for parallel positions within the industry showing specialty occupation.
• If the wage level is set at Level One Wages, include a breakdown of the factors that went into setting the wage level appropriately and proof of prevailing wage.
• If the beneficiary’s degree is ANYTHING EXCEPT a US bachelor’s degree or higher in the exact field of the H-1B job, include a credential evaluation showing that the beneficiary has the academic equivalent of the required degree in terms of US academic value.
• If the H-1B position is a consultant or works on a per-project basis, include a complete itinerary of the work to be performed for the 3-year H-1B visa period.
• If the H-1B employee will spend time at third-party worksites, explain how the employer will be able to control the work of the employee offsite.
• Have a professional review of your case to check for any omissions or weaknesses and advise accordingly.

At CCI TheDegreePeople.com we work with difficult cases every year.  We know what triggers adjudication issues, and we know what petitioners need to show to prevent them.  Let us help you hold USCIS’ hand as they approve your petition.  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.

For those selected in the H-1B lottery, it is time to start filing completed petitions.  That means it is time to anticipate likely hurdles to outright approval based on USCIS adjudication trends.

One common complex RFE we have been seeing over the past few years is the Double RFE.  We expect this one to be a common issue again this year since legislation proposing to change eligibility and selection order surrounding specialty occupation and wage level components is still on the table. 

Here is what you need to know about the Double RFE:

1. USCIS assumes that if a job is set at Level One Wages it is an entry level position.
2. If the entry level position’s entry in the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook states that the position does not ALWAYS require a minimum of a US bachelor’s degree to perform, USCIS will state it does not meet Specialty Occupation requirements.

The way the RFE is structured, petitioners must defend that the H-1B beneficiary is being paid the prevailing wage, and that the job is a specialty occupation.

This situation is unfortunately common for recent college graduates who have the advanced degree but little or no work experience and thus require a higher level of training and supervision.  These are factors that play into the wage level.  Additionally, while Specialty Occupations are definitionally jobs that NORMALLY require a bachelor’s degree or higher, USCIS has been consistently adjudicating in terms of ALWAYS rather than NORMALLY effectively making the exception the rule.

Here is how we answer this RFE:

1. Include a detailed breakdown of the factors that went into setting the wage level appropriately, including documentation of prevailing wage.
2. Provide a detailed breakdown of the specialized duties and responsibilities of the job and how attainment of an advanced degree in the field of the H-1B job directly apply.
3. Provide evidence of past hiring practices showing this position requires a bachelor’s degree minimum.
4. Provide documentation of hiring practices for this position for similar employers in the industry showing the bachelor’s degree minimum requirement consistently.
5. Include an expert opinion letter written by an expert in the field of the H-1B job with extensive experience working in the field of the H-1B job, with leadership experience wherein they made hiring decisions regarding this position.  This letter should address both the wage level and the specialty occupation justifications.

At CCI TheDegreePeople.com we work with experts in every H-1B field.  Our strategy works for both preventing and answering the Double RFE.

Let us review your case for free before you file.  Visit www.ccifree.com and we will respond in four hours or less.

Sheila Danzig

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

USCIS announced that on March 29, 2022 the H-1B lottery for cap-subject annual visas was complete and those selected had been notified.  Petitioners selected have 90 days from notification to file complete H-1B petitions.  If your registration, or if your employee or client’s registration was selected, there is no time to waste.  While denial rates have dropped, H-1B petitioners are not off the hook.  Even last year, we saw high levels of RFEs that petitioners had to answer before visa approval, in some cases pushing back employee start dates and interrupting employer workflow.

If your registration, or if your employee or client’s registration was not selected, there is a significant chance you will get another shot.  Last fiscal year, there were three rounds of H-1B lotteries to fill all 65,000 regular cap and 20,000 advanced degree cap visa slots.  Under this new system, those selected in the lottery have 90 days to file complete petitions, and it turns out they are not always doing so.  

Don’t let the clock tick down before you start organizing the petition.   Always file a COMPLETE petition, in order, with all documents double-checked for accuracy and consistency.  If the beneficiary has ANYTHING EXCEPT a bachelor’s degree or higher from a US academic institution in the exact field of the H-1B job, you must include a credential evaluation written uniquely to fit the situation or risk non-approval.  At CCI TheDegreePeople.com, we work with difficult education situations every year.  Each evaluation is written uniquely to take the job, the education, work experience, visa eligibility and USCIS approval trends into account to fill in any gaps between the education the beneficiary has and the education the beneficiary needs.

If the H-1B job normally but NOT ALWAYS requires a US bachelor’s degree or higher to perform, you will need to include an expert opinion letter to strengthen the case that this specific position ALWAYS requires this minimum education to perform.  In addition, include the ad for the job showing the minimum degree requirement, proof of past hiring practices showing the minimum degree requirement, and a breakdown of the specialized skills and knowledge required to perform this job learned through completion of an advanced degree program.  At CCI TheDegreePeople.com we work with experts in all H-1B fields who have the credentials USCIS will accept as valid.  That means they have extensive experience working in the field of the H-1B job including in positions of leadership where they made hiring decisions regarding the position in question.

We anticipate wage level and employer-employee relationship issues will reemerge this year as petitions are adjudicated.  Changes to these two eligibility requirements were proposed during the Trump Administration and continue to be under consideration during the Biden Administration that threaten to destabilize the H-1B program.  It is through filing petitions and fighting for visa approval that the health of the H-1B program, and in consequence, the economic health of the United States – can persevere and thrive.

Let us review your case for free before you file.  Visit www.ccifree.com and we will respond in four hours or less.

Sheila Danzig

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

The period for electronic registration for H-1B visas for FY2023 closed on March 18^th.  With the annual cap of 65,000 regular visas and 20,000 additional advanced degree visas met, USCIS now conducts a randomized lottery and those selected will be notified starting March 31^st.  Those selected will be invited to file complete H-1B petitions.

We are in the midst of the waiting period.  What can we do?

If selected, petitioners will have 90 days to file.  However, this filing can become a long, complex process and even though the Denial rate is down, RFEs are still common hang-ups for H-1B petitioners.  In recent years, we have seen as many as three rounds of RFEs before visa approval, delaying work start dates and hindering employer workflow. 

Now is a good time to get all your ducks in a row and prepare to file.  It is time to look over the case in search of areas of weakness and red flags:

• Degrees earned outside of the United States
• Incomplete college, degree that does not match the H-1B job, or no college
• Level One Wages
• Computer Programmer or any other job that NORMALLY but doesn’t always require a minimum bachelor’s degree attainment
• Work performed at a third-party worksite
• Beneficiary is a consultant or works on a per-project basis

Education issues will require a detailed credential evaluation that takes the job, the education, the visa requirements, and the beneficiary’s past work experience into account to fill in any gaps between the education the beneficiary has and the exact degree USCIS will approve.  Specialty occupation and wage level issues can be addressed with an expert opinion letter written by an expert with extensive experience working in the field of the H-1B job.  Employer-employee relationship issues require an itinerary for the work the beneficiary will perform for the duration of the visa period and evidence as to how the employer will be able to control the employee’s work offsite.

At CCI TheDegreePeople.com, we work with difficult cases every year, and know how to successfully prevent RFEs and Denials.  We work with experts in all H-1B fields, and all of our credential evaluations are written uniquely to fit each client’s situation.  We offer consulting services to ensure that you have all your bases covered before you file.

Take this week to 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 director of CCI TheDegreePeople.com.  Sheila specializes in overturning RFEs and Denials for work visas.

USCIS began accepting cap-subject H-1B electronic registrations on March 1^st and will continue to accept them until March 18^th.  In this time, petitioners planning to sponsor H-1B employees for FY2022 can submit one electronic registration per employee for a fee of $10 through the myUSCIS online portal.  Those selected to submit complete petitions will be notified on March 31^st. 

That means it’s time for employers to get every potential H-1B employee registered.  Even at this stage before the lottery, it is important to be aware of any issues that may arise come filing time.

• Education Issues – the employee must hold a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its equivalent in the exact field of the H-1B job.  This is a blend of H-1B requirements and the USCIS approval trend that degrees in fields not exactly matching the H-1B job receive RFEs rather than approvals.
• Specialty Occupation Issues – Trump-era adjudication trends still persist even though the denial rate has dropped.  Proposed changes to H-1B rules still influence adjudication trends even if they are not yet written into law.  In regards to Specialty Occupation, previously for a job to qualify it must normally require a bachelor’s degree minimum to be hired.  USCIS began adjudicating the qualifier as ALWAYS, making the exception the norm.  Computer programmers were hit especially hard by this trend.
• Employer-Employee Relationship Issues – this is another issue influenced by Trump-era adjudication trends and in current proposed legislation that continue to influence USCIS approval trends.  If the H-1B employee is working as a consultant, or for a company that contracts work offsite, any gaps in work for the duration of the three-year visa period and any work conducted at a third-party worksite raise red flags.

If the case includes any of these situations, it is never too early to start working with your team to identify solutions.   Find the weaknesses and red flags in the case and address them with additional evidence and documentation before USCIS adjudicators do.

At CCI TheDegreePeople.com we work with difficult cases every year.  We know what triggers RFEs and Denials, and we know what additional steps to take to prevent them.  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 director of CCI TheDegreePeople.com.  Sheila specializes in overturning RFEs and Denials for work visas.

H-1B cap-subject registration season for FY2023 is open and runs through noon Eastern Time on March 18^th.  During this time period, petitioners can register beneficiaries electronically through the myUSCIS portal for $10/registration.  The number of registrations submitted is virtually guaranteed to exceed the allotted annual H-1B visas available, in which case there will be a randomized lottery to select registrations to file complete petitions. 

20,000 masters cap petitions will be selected first, then those who meet master’s cap requirements not selected will have a second chance to be selected for the remaining 65,000 visas in the regular cap lottery.  That means if the beneficiary qualifies for the master’s cap, they have a leg up in being selected.

Who qualifies for the master’s cap? 

Master’s cap educational requirements are much stricter than for the regular cap.  The beneficiary hold a master’s degree or higher from a US academic institution.  The institution must be nonprofit or public – for-profit colleges and universities do not count.  The institution must be accredited or have pre-accreditation status.  That means credential evaluation strategies that work for regular cap petitions do not work to meet master’s cap eligibility requirements.

Beneficiaries in the process of completing a master’s degree may still be eligible for the master’s cap.  While the complete petition cannot be filed until the degree has been attained, those selected will have 90 days to file starting April 1, 2022.  That means so long as the beneficiary completes the advanced degree program by the end of June they can still register under the master’s cap.

This is the same for beneficiaries who will complete their bachelor’s degree program before the end of June 2022 in terms of the regular H-1B cap.

Education issues are perennial RFE triggers when it comes to cap-subject H-1B petitions.  The good news is that education issues are relatively simple to prevent.  At CCI TheDegreePeople.com we work with difficult education cases every year.  We know the red flags and we know how to fix them in the initial petition before they become adjudication issues. 

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.

The countdown has begun.  H-1B registration opens at noon Eastern Time on March 1, 2021 and runs through March 18^th at noon Eastern Time.  FY2023 petitioners must file separate registrations for each H-1B employee through the myUSCIS online registration system for a fee of $10 per beneficiary.  If the H-1B cap is met by March 18^th, which is almost guaranteed to occur, there will be a lottery and those selected will be notified by March 31^st.  If selected, petitioners can then submit completed petitions.

Last year, over 300,000 registrations were submitted and at the same time the denial rate dropped from 13% to 4%.  However, this does not take the RFE rate into account.  Just because petitions are being denied at lower rates does not mean petitioners are out of the woods.  Many had to go through up to three rounds of justifying their case before visa approval due to restrictions of the H-1B program.  Beneficiaries targeted by the previous administration’s H-1B restrictions still face the same strict USCIS approval trends.

While petitioners won’t find out if they will have to submit completed petitions until March 31^st, it is important to consider the potential challenges facing H-1B employees should their registration be selected.

Potentially challenging H-1B cases include:

• Computer programmers making level one wages are at risk of specialty occupation issues because entry level computer programming positions NORMALLY but NOT ALWAYS require a bachelor’s degree. 
• Other occupations the NORMALLY but NOT ALWAYS require a bachelor’s degree are also at risk of specialty occupation issues.
• Beneficiaries making level one wages.
• Employees who work at third-party worksites.
• Employees who work for firms that take on clients and do not have a complete itinerary of the work to be performed for the duration of the visa.
• Beneficiaries with degrees earned outside of the United States.
• Beneficiaries with incomplete college or no college.
• Beneficiaries with generalized degrees or in degrees in a major that does not match the H-1B job.

These cases are at risk because current proposed rules seek to limit the scope of what constitutes a specialty occupation and the employer-employee relationship and give preference to the highest wage-earners.  Education issues are perennial RFE and Denial triggers we see every year that crop up when the beneficiary has anything except a US bachelor’s degree or higher in the exact field of the H-1B job. 

The best way to answer RFEs and Denials is to prevent them in the first place, and that means anticipating red flags at the early stages of the petition process.  At CCI TheDegreePeople.com we work with difficult cases every year.  We know what triggers Denials and RFEs and we know what additional evidence and documentation is needed to strengthen cases to prevent these situations.

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.

Education issues is a perennial RFE trigger for H-1B beneficiaries.  If the beneficiary’s education is ANYTHING EXCEPT a bachelor’s degree or higher in the exact field of the H-1B job from an accredited US college or university, outright approval is unlikely without including a credential evaluation.  This evaluation must be written uniquely for the situation and fill in any gaps between the education the beneficiary has and the exact degree USCIS will approve, taking USCIS approval trends into account.

The key to getting the RIGHT credential evaluation is finding the RIGHT credential evaluation agency to write it.  The problem is, the credential evaluation industry is not regulated, and not all agencies are equipped to get the job done for this finicky visa.

Always ask for past client references.  Always check reviews.  Even in a time crunch, do your due diligence because the wrong credential evaluation will not save you time when the RFE arrives.

When looking for the right credential evaluation agency, here are the big red flags that you need to keep looking:

• Communication issues.  They must respond promptly on all platforms – social media, email, text or call.  If they can’t respond promptly that shows they are not set up for quality service.
• They charge too much.  The right agency should charge reasonable fees, including reasonable rush delivery fees.  In the credential evaluation field, you don’t necessarily get what you pay for.  High costs – especially for rush deliveries – shows that the agency is out of touch with the world of visa approval which is rife with high fees and fast-approaching deadlines.
• They don’t ask enough questions.  To write an effective credential evaluation, the evaluator must know the job, the visa, the education, and past progressive work experience.  If they don’t ask enough questions to generate the right evaluation it means they are not writing their evaluations to uniquely meet the needs of their clients.  Look elsewhere.

The RIGHT credential evaluation agency responds promptly on any communication channel, charges reasonable fees, and asks the questions necessary to get a full grasp of your case and all of the factors that make up the beneficiary’s unique educational pathway.  The RIGHT credential evaluation agency is a member of professional organizations that lend to regulating the industry, such as NACE, ICAE, NAFSA, or the American Evaluation Association.  These organizations enforce standards in an otherwise unregulated industry.

At CCI TheDegreePeople.com, our international education experts write each evaluation uniquely to address the job, the education and work experience, the visa, and USCIS approval trends.  We work with professors authorized to grant college credit for work experience to ensure academic equivalency to the right degree in the right major.  Our consultations are always free and our evaluation fees are always reasonable.  We are active members of six different credential evaluation professional organizations. 

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.

Complex H-1B RFEs are not new, and they are not going away.  When USCIS finds one issue with a petition it triggers a closer look to find more – even if there aren’t any there!  That is how too many petitioners end up with multi-issue RFEs.  The Nightmare RFE dredges up so many issues that it is virtually impossible to answer in time by its own guidelines.

How do we answer the Nightmare RFE with an over 90% success rate?  We don’t follow the guidelines.

We advise our clients to read through the RFE, then put it down and go back to the original H-1B requirements and USCIS approval trends.  Then, look at the case in question and determine what evidence and documentation can better strengthen each requirement area.

When it comes to the Nightmare, this is what the solution looks like:

1. Education Issues.  Include a credential evaluation written uniquely to address the visa, the job, the beneficiary’s education, and USCIS approval trends.  This means showing that the beneficiary has the clear educational equivalency of a US bachelor’s degree or higher in the exact field of the H-1B job.  This often includes a progressive work experience conversion wherein a professor with the authority to grant college credit for work experience converts three years of the beneficiary’s progressive work experience in the field of the H-1B job into one year of college credit towards that major.
2. Specialty Occupation Issues.  Provide the ad for the job and ads for the same job at similar companies that show a bachelor’s degree is a minimum requirement to be hired to the position.  Include evidence of past hiring practices within the company showing the required bachelor’s degree minimum for the H-1B position in question. Include a detailed breakdown of the duties and responsibilities of the job highlighting specific skills and knowledge applied learned specifically through completion of a degree program in the field of the H-1B job.  Finally, include an expert opinion letter written by a professional in the field of the H-1B job with at least 10 years of field experience based on the additional information provided.  This expert should have experience in leadership and authority positions within the field in which they made hiring decisions regarding the position in question and supporting positions.
3. Employer-Employee Relationship Issues.  Show how the employer will be able to control the work of the employee even at third-party worksites.  In addition, provide a complete itinerary of the work the H-1B employee will perform for the duration of the H-1B visa. 
4. Wage Level Issues.  Provide a detailed breakdown of the factors that went into determining the appropriate wage level.  This issue can also be addressed in the Specialty Occupation expert opinion letter.

The best way to prevent a complex RFE is to anticipate and prevent it.  Taking the extra steps to clearly show USCIS that the beneficiary, the employer, and the position meet H-1B eligibility requirements is always worth it even if it feels like an unnecessary amount of hand holding.  At CCI TheDegreePeople.com we work with Nightmare RFE cases every year.  We know how to answer them, and we know how to prevent them.

Let us review your case for free before you file.  Visit www.ccifree.com and 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.

While exact dates have not been announced, USCIS will begin accepting registrations for cap-subject H-1B visas the first week of March 2022. 

Again, this year employers must register each potential H-1B employee for the lottery electronically with a fee of $10 per employee.  Then, USCIS will conduct a randomized lottery, choosing for the 20,000 Master’s degree cap petitions first, and the 65,000 Bachelor’s degree cap petitions second, giving applicants with advanced degrees two shots at selection.  Registrants selected in the lottery will then have 90 days to file a complete H-1B petition.

For FY-2022 H-1B visas, over 308,000 electronic registrations were submitted.  However, it took three rounds of H-1B lotteries to fill all H-1B visa slots.  By the end of the selection process, 131,970 registrations were selected giving the opportunity to submit a completed petition.  That means that beneficiaries not selected in the first lottery still have the opportunity to be selected to file.

Employers have one month to identify potential H-1B employees and prepare to register for the lottery.  That means getting started on the Labor Conditions Application and taking stock of current USCIS approval trends likely to impact their employees:

• Specialty Occupation Qualification – this H-1B requirement will likely impact employees working entry level jobs and/or making level one wages. 
• Employees working at third-party worksites – employers must be able to show how they will be able to maintain the employer-employee relationship at third-party worksites, meaning the employer will continue to be able to control the work of the employee offsite.
• Education Issues – if the H-1B employee has anything but a US bachelor’s degree or higher in the exact field of the H-1B job a credential evaluation must be included to fill in any gaps between the education the employee has and that exact degree needed.  This means taking course content, professional training, and progressive work experience into account.

At CCI TheDegreePeople.com we work with difficult cases every year.  We know what triggers approval issues and we know how to take preventative action.  Let us review your case for free before registration.  Visit www.ccifree.com and 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.