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Credential Evaluation

TheDegreePeople Can Help Legal Assistants With Expert Letters

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

Family Immigration Cases While we specialize in visa cases that rely heavily on education, we also work on family immigration cases.  Expert opinion letters are often needed to lend an outsider’s objective input to your case.  An expert in the field or with advanced insight into the issues your client is dealing with can be the difference between approval and rejection.  For family cases, we can help you with the petition for an alien relative Form I-130, application to register for permanent residence to adjust status Form I-485, the Affidavit of Support Form I-864, and any additional forms. L-1A and L-1B Cases This work visa is for foreign employees working for a company abroad that has branches, subsidiaries, or a parent company in the United States to come work at one of these corporate family entities in the United States.  L-1A is for mangers and executives, and L-1B is for specialized knowledge professionals.  Let us go over your case and determine if expert opinion letters and credential evaluations are needed to show that the beneficiary meets educational requirements corresponding with the visa classification, and proving that the occupation meets L-1A or L-1B requirements.  We can help you with Form I-129 and the special L supplement, and Form I-797. E Visa Cases These visas are for treaty traders and investors (E-1 and E-2 respectively), and for Australian nationals coming to the United States to work specialty occupation positions (E-3). We also offer assistance with cover letters and business plans, which are crucial to this visa classification.  Any additional expert opinion letters or credential evaluations necessary to show that the beneficiary meets the educational requirements of the visa, or that the position meets specialty occupation requirements can also be ordered through us alongside form assistance.  We can also help with Form I-129, and with the LCA required for E-3 cases. Waivers and Permission to Reapply Cases If your client is facing inadmissibility or legal issues when attempting to enter the United States, or has been removed or deported from the country in the past, we can help you file the waiver you need to get your client admitted.  We can help with the Waiver of Grounds for Inadmissibility Form 601, and Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiter Form I-601A.  Both I-601 forms also require From G-1145.  The Permission to Reapply for Admission into the United States After Deportation or Removal Form I-212 also requires a Form G-1145. We handle expert opinion letters and credential evaluations for visa cases, and can help you determine which immigration forms you will need for any given case and how to obtain them.  Let us help you get organized.  For a free quote, visit ccifree.com/.  We will get back to you in 48 hours or less.]]>

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Case Study: EB-2 Education RFE – Overturned!

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

  • They must have been hired for a job that requires a US master’s degree or higher, or a US bachelor’s degree or its equivalent FOLLOWED BY at least five years of progressive work experience in the field.
  • They must have the education required for the EB-2 qualified job or exceptional ability as clearly proven with a National Interest Waiver.
    • One of the most common RFEs EB-2 candidates run into is an education issue RFE.  Our client came to us with an Indian three-year bachelor’s degree, many years of progressive work experience, and an RFE.  He had the years of experience to more than cover the five years of progressive work experience following having earned the bachelor’s degree.  The issue arose because with EB-2 educational requirements the bachelor’s degree is required to be a SINGLE SOURCE and CIS does not accept that the Indian three-year degree is the equivalent of the US four-year bachelor’s degree regardless of the number of classroom contact hours.  CIS requires the missing fourth year to be accounted for. With other visas, like H-1B, our client could have included a work experience conversion that converts three years of progressive work experience in a given field of specialization into one year of college education towards that degree to account for the missing year.  This does not work for EB-2 because that would not meet the equivalency requirement of a single source bachelor’s degree. Our solution was to write a credential evaluation fortified by CIS approval precedents and federal case law that took twelve years of our client’s progressive work experience in the field and converted it into the equivalent of a US bachelor’s degree in the field.  Then, the next five years of work experience were included to meet EB-2 educational standards requiring a single source US bachelor’s degree FOLLOWED BY five years of work experience in the field.  The RFE was overturned. If you or your employee or client is facing an education RFE for EB-2, let us help you.  Even the candidate doesn’t have the years to cover a complete work experience conversion, there are other ways to address the equivalency issue through detailed credential evaluations tailored to your or your employee or client’s unique situation, and through expert opinion letters and National Interest Waiver options.  Let us review your case for free.  Visit ccifree.com/.  We will respond in 48 hours or less.    ]]>

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    H1B Changes in Adjudication Means Getting the Initial Filing Correct

    Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

    If you, or if your client or employee is planning to file for H1-B status for FY2020, the process has changed.  This coming season, you will still file the first week of April as always.  The good news is no paperwork must be submitted until AFTER your employee or client is selected in the H-1B lottery. The troubling news is that CIS will now be denying petitions outright without issuing RFEs. Denials are much more difficult to overturn than RFEs.  This change has lawyers talking about submitting the specialty occupation expert opinion letter right away with the rest of the paperwork to avoid an RFE that won’t come anymore. While every year at TheDegreePeople we urge H1-B hopefuls and their teams that the best answer to an RFE is to avoid it in the first place.  This coming season it’s more important than ever to identify where your employee or client’s case is likely to run into trouble and include any additional evidence and documentation in the initial petition. The past two years, the rate of specialty occupation RFEs has made a sharp rise.  If you hold, or if your employee or client holds a job that does not require a US Bachelor’s degree or its equivalent or higher in all cases as an industry standard, you need to include an expert opinion letter that clearly shows why the job in question meets H1-B standards for what qualifies as a specialty occupation.  Don’t take any chances this year.  If you are selected, or if your employee or client is selected in the H-1B lottery, you need to include any credential evaluations, supporting evidence, and expert opinion letters needed in the first paperwork filing because you will not get a second chance anymore.  At TheDegreePeople we have experts on hand 24/7 to write the letter you need, or your employee or client needs to get that H1-B petition approved.  We work with difficult RFEs every year and we know what tends to trigger an RFE and how to prevent them.  Don’t file without a specialty occupation letter.  Visit ccifree.com/ for a free consultation on your case, or your employee or client’s case.  We will get back to you in 48 hours or less.  ]]>

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    Round 2: What to do if the 2nd RFE Arrives After Resolving the First RFE

    Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals


    If the petition process and first round of H1B RFEs aren’t stressful enough here comes round two of RFEs. 

    When CIS finds something wrong with a petition, it opens the floodgates to finding more details out of place that would have otherwise gone unnoticed.  The best way to prevent round two of RFEs is to prevent round one by identifying the common RFE triggers inherent to the situation in your case and plan accordingly, but this doesn’t always work.

    If you or your employee or client is facing down RFE round two, don’t panic.  The petition has not been denied, CIS just needs more information to make a decision.

    The trick with any RFE is not to get caught up in the wording or individual demands, but rather to go back to the basics and see where evidence and analysis is lacking. 

    To qualify for H1B status, the job must be a specialty occupation, which means as an industry standard or a standard hiring practice a minimum of a US bachelor’s degree or higher in the specialization is required for entry into the occupation.  The beneficiary must hold a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its acceptable equivalency in the exact field of the specialty occupation.  The employer must be economically viable and pay the beneficiary the prevailing wages and benefits for the specialty occupation, and there must be an employer-employee relationship in which the employer can hire, fire, promote, supervise and otherwise control the work the beneficiary does.

    Read the RFE and identify which of these requirements CIS is having trouble adjudicating.  Is it the job?  Is it the education?  Is it the working conditions? 

    At TheDegreePeople we work with difficult RFEs every year and we know how to identify where cases are lacking in evidence and analysis, and which common RFE traps beneficiaries fall into as CIS approval trends change from year to year.  Let us review your case for free before you answer that second round of RFEs.  Visit ccifree.com and we will get back to you in 48 hours or less.]]>

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    I-140 Problems: Common RFE Triggers and their Solutions

    Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

    In light of the new USCIS policy memorandum, adjudicators now have the discretion to deny a petition without first issuing and RFE or NOID for all visas, and this includes visas that require a Form I-140.

    While the new memorandum can feel like a reason to be nervous because we don’t know how this law on the books will play out in practice, it actually changes very little in how beneficiaries and their teams should approach the process.  That means looking at common places where applicants run into problems and then taking steps to prevent running into them.

    If you or your employee or client’s education or job don’t clearly meet the educational standards of the classification chosen in Part 2 of Form I-140, you need to make sure to provide the evidence and documentation you need to fill in the gaps between the requirements and you or your employee or client’s situation.  Incomplete college, education attained outside of the United States, or no formal education are all situations that require a detailed credential evaluation that takes the specific educational requirements of the visa and the classification into consideration.  If an evaluation agency does not ask about the job or the visa before you order, look elsewhere. 

    Before you file, make sure all answers on the PERM and on Form I-140 are consistent.  Inconsistencies will trigger an RFE, even if it is just a spelling error.  If there are changes needed, make sure to check yes for Part 4 Item 7 on the Form I-140.  Place a bright sheet of paper directly beneath Form I-140 that states this is an amended petition and the PERM has already been submitted and include the receipt number for the PERM.  This way, inconsistencies will be accompanied with a clear explanation.  CIS may inquire anyway – there are never any guarantees with CIS – but this will be much less likely and if you do receive an RFE you will be ready.

    At TheDegreePeople we work with I-140 RFEs every year and understand CIS approval trends and what triggers RFEs.  This year, you may not get a chance to fortify your case with an RFE.  Before you file, let us review your case and identify where in the petition an RFE is likely to be triggered so you can accommodate accordingly.  For a free review of your case visit ccifree.com/.  We will get back to you in 48 hours or less.

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