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Credential Evaluation

Countdown to April 2nd: Your H-1B Last Minute Checklist

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

The H-1B visa is the most competitive US work visa and the H-1B cap for FY 2019 opens in just a few weeks.

This year, USCIS opens its doors to H-1B petitions on Monday, April 2nd and is projected to exceed the cap of 65,000 visas plus an additional 20,000 for candidates with masters degrees or higher by Friday, April 6th. That means, you have to be ready as soon as filing begins to ensure you, or your employee or candidate makes the H-1B lottery.

Don’t let the last minute lure you into filing a sloppy or incomplete petition. Before you file, make sure that the answer and information are consistent across all documents including the LCA, the petition, and all documentation describing the duties and requirements for the job. Inconsistent answers will likely trigger an RFE, and a closer scrutiny of the case.

Common education RFEs occur when a client has a degree specialization that doesn’t match the job, incomplete or generalized education, or a degree from outside of the United States, and the petition is not filed with a credential evaluation that clearly articulates the academic value of your or your employee or client’s education and work experience in terms of US academic value. It is also important to verify that the degree was earned in an accredited institutions.

If you or your client or employee has one of these educational situations, it is important to order a credential evaluation to file WITH the H-1B petition come April 2nd. A work experience conversion may be necessary to account for the gaps between your education, or your client or employee’s education and H-1B educational eligibility requirements.

Last year, CIS issued a record number of RFEs for H-1B petitions, especially for beneficiaries working as computer programmers at level 1 wages. If your client has a borderline job that doesn’t ALWAYS require a US bachelors degree as a minimum requirement according to the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook, your case, or your client or employee’s case will need additional evidence including an expert opinion letter to prove why this position is uniquely specialized.

There are some situations that are RFE magnets. If you, or your employee or client:

• Has a degree from outside of the US,

• Has a three-year bachelors degree,

• Has an incomplete degree or no college at all,

• Has a generalized degree or a degree in a major that doesn’t exactly match the H-1B job, or

• Works a borderline occupation where it’s unclear whether the educational qualifications meet H-1B requirements for specialization,

You need to know before you file and address the situation accordingly to preempt an RFE.

At TheDegreePeople.com, we work with difficult H-1B cases and H-1B RFEs every year. We know what triggers and RFE and we know how to take steps to effectively preempt them. USCIS is always a wildcard, so we keep an eye on their approval trends every year. For a free review of your case, or your client or employee’s case, visit ccifree.com. We will get back to you in 48 hours or less with a full analysis, pre-evaluation, and our expert recommendations on what to do to avoid an RFE.

Countdown to April 2nd: Your H-1B Last Minute Checklist Read More »

Everything You Need to Know About the H-1B Cap

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

This visa is the most common among employers in STEM industries in the United States, industries with jobs expanding faster than the US workforce can accommodate. This makes it one of the most sought-after visas, and the most highly competitive visa.

There are only 65,000 annual H-1B visas available to foreign workers with US bachelors degrees or their equivalent or higher, and an additional 20,000 annual H-1B visas for those with US masters degrees or their equivalent or higher.

Some jobs are NOT subject to the H-1B annual cap. These include jobs for nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, and governmental and nonprofit research organizations. If a beneficiary has an H-1B visa already and is applying for a three-year extension or transfer, this petition is also not cap-subject UNLESS it is a transfer from a job that was not cap subject to a job that is.

The filing period for cap-subject visas begins Monday, April 2nd 2018 and is likely to only run through Friday, April 6th 2018. This is because once the number of petitions has exceeded the annual cap, CIS shuts its doors to more petitions. However, CIS must continue to accept petitions for five business days even if the cap is exceeded. In the last five years, the H-1B cap – including the 20,000 additional visa slots for beneficiaries with masters degrees or higher – was reached in the first five business days. Last year, CIS received about 199,000 during the five-day filing period.

This filing period is for employment that begins on October 1st 2018, the start of the fiscal year 2019 that runs October 1st 2018 to September 30th 2019. If the start date is set for any earlier than October 1st 2018, the petition will be rejected.

If the cap is exceeded, CIS runs a computer-generated random lottery to select which petitions will be considered for visa eligibility.

That means, to ensure you or your client or employee has a shot at H-1B visa approval, you must:

  1. Be ready to file the petition on Monday April 2nd.
  2. Have an impeccable petition with all of the necessary forms, evidence, and documentation to ensure that once selected the petition will be approved.

If you miss this upcoming filing period, you will not be able to file again until April of 2019, and your employee will not be able to start work until October 1st, 2019. That means it’s time to get those petitions organized.

For a free review of your case, or your client or employee’s case, visit ccifree.com.

Everything You Need to Know About the H-1B Cap Read More »

Specialty Occupation RFE: How to Prevent the Toughest RFE of Last Season

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

This RFE not only serves as a warning for computer programmers at level 1 wages coming up on this next H1B filing season, but also for all beneficiaries in borderline occupations, or in jobs that could be mistaken for borderline occupations. These jobs, like entry level computer programmers, don’t necessarily require a US bachelors degree as a minimum according to the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook.

To prove specialization, you will need to include a detailed job description and evidence to back up the claim that the job meets CIS specialization requirements. You will need to provide the ad for the job that shows a minimum requirement of a US bachelors degree or higher, and you will need evidence that shows that this position in that industry at similar companies also holds this minimum educational requirement. If the job in question is uniquely specialized as to require an advanced degree where similar positions in the industry do not, you will need to clearly show why this is the case and include an expert opinion letter to back up your claim.

Last year, CIS issued RFEs claiming that because entry level computer programmers are sometimes hired with only a US associate’s degree, the job doesn’t meet CIS specialization requirements. There were two problems here: First, the evidence CIS used to support this claim is a passage in the Occupational Outlook Handbook that states sometimes employers will hire entry level programmers with only an associates, but that same passage also states that this is not the norm, and the position typically requires a minimum of a bachelors degree. Second, just because a job is set at level 1 wages doesn’t mean it’s an entry level position, and that also doesn’t mean the beneficiary isn’t being paid the prevailing wage for that position. There are many factors to be taken into consideration when determining wage levels.

If you or your client or employee is a computer programmer working at level 1 wages, you will need to include an expert opinion letter to prevent an RFE. We have experts on hand 24 hours a day 7 days a week to write the letter you or your client or employee needs to prevent a specialty occupation RFE. For a no charge and no obligation review of your case, or your employee or client’s case, visit ccifree.com.

Specialty Occupation RFE: How to Prevent the Toughest RFE of Last Season Read More »

Avoid That RFE! No Charge Analysis of Any Case

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

Before you file, let us review your case. At TheDegreePeople, we work with difficult cases and RFEs every year. We know what triggers RFEs and we know how to respond to them. We also know when to spot when a case is vulnerable and how to prevent getting an RFE in the first place.

Last year, we saw an unprecedented number of specialty occupation RFEs targeting beneficiaries at Level 1 Wages, particularly computer programmers. If your client or employee is a computer programmer making Level 1 Wages, do not file without a review of your client’s case, a detailed job description, and an expert opinion letter explaining why the job meets H-1B specialization requirements even though it is at Level 1 Wages.

There are also a handful of situations that trigger an education RFE, including having a three-year bachelors degree, an incomplete degree or no college credit at all, a degree with a major that is generalized or not an exact match for the job, and foreign credentials without an evaluation. If your client or employee has anything but a US bachelors degree or higher with a major that exactly matches the H-1B job, you will need a detailed credential evaluation written with regards to the job, H-1B educational requirements, and CIS approval trends.

It’s always better to prevent an RFE in the first place than to have to answer one later. Visit ccifree.com for a free review of your employee or client’s case at no charge and no obligation.

Avoid That RFE! No Charge Analysis of Any Case Read More »

H1B Alert: Don't Submit the Right Evaluation for the Wrong Visa

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

However, not all evaluations will do the job. The right evaluation for you or your client or employee needs to take into consideration H1B requirements – as different visas have different regulations for combining education – as well as the beneficiary’s education, work experience, and job, and CIS approval trends.

It’s important to make sure you choose the right evaluation agency to work with because the industry is not well-regulated by a central governing body, so you could end up with an agency that is not up to quality standards. You could also choose an agency that writes a perfectly accurate evaluation that does not work for your client or employee’s situation. Not all agencies know how to work with visa cases.

When you contact a credential evaluation agency to write your evaluation, or your client or employee’s evaluation, here are three questions to keep in mind:

  1. Did they ask about the visa?
  2. Did they ask about the job?
  3. Do they work with H1B cases and their RFEs on a regular basis?

The right evaluation agency for you case, or your client or employee’s case is the one that asks about the visa and the job, and works regularly with H1B cases and H1B RFE cases.

At TheDegreePeople, we follow CIS approval trends, and work regularly with H1B cases and their RFEs. We know what triggers common RFEs, and we know how to prevent them. For a free review of your case, or your client or employee’s case, visit ccifree.com.

H1B Alert: Don't Submit the Right Evaluation for the Wrong Visa Read More »

Is H1B the Right Filing for You? Find out NOW

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

April 1st is coming up fast, and it’s time to organize those H1B petitions. Before you begin the filing process, it’s important to know for certain that the candidate and the job meet H1B eligibility requirements.

H1B requirements state that the job must require a minimum of a US bachelors degree or higher or its equivalent to perform, and the candidate must meet this educational standard in the field of the H1B job. That means you or your client or employee needs a US bachelors degree or higher or its equivalent in the correct field. Candidates with education from outside of the US, incomplete education, or complete education with a major in a field that doesn’t exactly match their H1B job get RFEs without taking precautionary measures in the initial petition. Last year, we saw a spike in occupational RFEs where computer programmers at level 1 wages were targeted for lacking in specialization.

This year, before you file, make sure that the requirements are met, and that you have the additional documentation and evidence needed to prevent any RFEs you or your employee or client may be susceptible to given their circumstance.

There are two factors to take into consideration when determining H1B eligibility:

1. The Occupation

Does the beneficiary’s occupation meet H1B requirements? To qualify, it must require a minimum of a US bachelors degree or higher or its equivalent to carry out the complex duties of the job. To prove this, you will need to clearly show that this educational requirement is the standard for the industry, meaning that similar jobs in the industry at similar companies also have this minimum educational requirement. If this job is uniquely complex, you will have to clearly show how its duties require an unusual level of specialization. If you or your employee or client is a computer programmer at level 1 wages, you will need to include an expert opinion letter that explains how wage levels work in this instance – that level 1 wages does not mean the job is an entry-level position – and a detailed description of the job’s duties showing that a minimum of a US bachelors degree or its equivalent is needed.

2. The Education

The beneficiary needs to have a US bachelors degree or higher or its equivalent in the exact field of the H1B job to get approved without an RFE. If you or your employee or client has a degree from outside of the US, a degree with a major that doesn’t match the job exactly, a generalized degree, or no completed degree, you will need to submit a credential evaluation along with the petition that fills in the missing gaps. This evaluation must be tailored to the beneficiary’s unique situation that takes their pathway through education, the job, and the visa requirements into consideration alongside CIS approval trends, graduate program and university admissions precedents, international trade agreements regarding educational portability, international education, and a whole host of other factors. If you talk to an agency and they don’t ask about the job or visa, look elsewhere, because without this information the right evaluation cannot be written.

However, before you go through the process of ordering the evaluation and organizing the petition, you need to make sure you have, or your employee or client has the progressive work experience, external training, and academic course content to meet CIS educational requirements. For a free review of your case, visit ccifree.com and submit the educational documents and resume, and indicate the job in question. We will get back to you in 48 hours or less with a full analysis, whether or not the beneficiary can meet CIS educational requirements, and if so what is needed to be done to meet these requirements clearly.

Is H1B the Right Filing for You? Find out NOW Read More »

H1B RFE Survival Guide For FY 2019

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

At the same time, last year saw an unprecedented spike in RFEs. Between January 1st and August 31st, CIS issued 85,000 RFEs, which is a 45% increase from that same period of time in 2016.

Going into this filing season starting Monday April 2nd, 2018 for FY 2019, we’re still anticipating the cap will be exceeded quickly and there will be an H1B lottery, and we’re anticipating a high volume of RFEs. To make sure your petition, or your client or employee’s petition gets into the H1B lottery, it MUST be filed between April 2nd and April 6th, 2018.

As you prepare the petition, it’s important to keep in mind common RFEs from last year so you can take measures to prevent them this year. Last year, CIS issued an unprecedented number of RFEs regarding wages levels and occupational specialization. Here’s how it breaks down:

First, H1B eligibility requires beneficiaries to be paid the prevailing wages and benefits for that position in companies in that industry of that size, and in that geographic location. Last year, a common RFE claimed that the wage level for the job in question was set too low, based on the complexity and specialization of the duties of the job.

Second, for a job to be eligible for H1B, it must require a minimum of a US bachelors degree or its equivalent or higher. CIS issued an unprecedented number of Level 1 Wages RFEs last year claiming that the wage level indicates the job is entry-level. This becomes a problem when entry-level positions in the industry, or the job in question don’t meet the minimum H1B educational requirements.

Before you file, make sure the beneficiary is being paid the prevailing wage for their H1B job. If the job is set at Level 1 Wages, but the position is not entry-level and does meet CIS educational requirements, you will need to include an expert opinion letter and additional documentation in the petition that states why the job and the wages still meet H1B requirements. We can help. Visit ccifree.com for a free review of your case.

H1B RFE Survival Guide For FY 2019 Read More »

Case Study: H1B Visa Approved with NO College

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

H1B educational requirements state that to qualify a candidate must hold a US bachelors degree or higher or its equivalent. What if you have, or your employee or client has the specialized skills and expertise necessary to excel that the job, but no college experience?

The trick is in the equivalency. At TheDegreePeople, we write evaluations every year for clients who got their education on-the-job, and through training that took place outside of a degree track.

Here’s how it works:

CIS accepts that three years of progressive work experience is the equivalent of one year of college credit in the field. You will need to document how during this work experience you or your employee or client took on an increasing level of responsibility in their work, and the duties of their work took on an increasingly higher level of complexity and specialization. This works similar to testing – you, or your client or employee clearly engaged in education on the job because they “tested out” by evidence of the nature of their work including skills and knowledge they learned on the job that they hadn’t known or been trusted to apply before.

Only a professor with the authority to grant college credit for work experience can write the evaluation you need, or your employee or client needs to get their H1B visa approved. Don’t wait until the last minute to order this evaluation. You need to know as soon as possible whether or not you have, or your employee or client has the progressive work experience needed to account for the missing degree.

We have professors on hand 24 hours a day 7 days a week to work with you. For a free review of your case, or your employee or client’s case, visit ccifree.com and submit the resume and educational documents, and indicate the occupation. We will get back to you in 48 hours or less with a full analysis and our recommendations.

Case Study: H1B Visa Approved with NO College Read More »

Case Study: Preempting the Indian Three-Year Bachelors Degree RFE

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

CIS will not accept that Indian three-year bachelors degree as the equivalent of a US four-year bachelors degree. Yes, US graduate programs do. Yes, international trade agreements do. Yes, there are an equivalent if not greater number of credit hours in the Indian three-year bachelors degree as the US four-year degree. None of this matters when it comes to getting your visa, or your employee or client’s visa approved because CIS is hung up on the missing fourth year.

When you file the H1B petition, you need to make sure it includes a credential evaluation that converts years of progressive work experience into college credit to account for the missing fourth year of education. This is the only way we’ve seen beneficiaries with this degree successfully answer and avoid these RFEs. Three years of progressive work experience can be converted into one full year of college credit in that field with a credential evaluation written by a professor with the authority to grant college credit for work experience. In this work, you or your employee or client must have taken on progressively more responsibility with duties of increasing specialization and complexity, indicating that the work experience was educational as well.

Make sure you have, or your employee or client has the right kind of work experience, and enough of it, to account for the missing fourth year of college education. Visit ccifree.com and attach the beneficiary’s resume and educational documents, and indicate the job in question. We will get back to you within 48 hours with a full analysis and our recommendations.

Case Study: Preempting the Indian Three-Year Bachelors Degree RFE Read More »

Prepare for Tough RFEs for Specialty Occupation this H1B Season

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

Last year, we saw an unprecedented expansion in RFEs for Specialty Occupation, hitting H1B candidates in computer programmer positions at level 1 wages the hardest. This year, we expect these RFEs to continue to be even tougher and more widespread.

That means, if you, or your client or employee has a “borderline” job – meaning these jobs don’t necessarily require a US bachelor’s degree or its equivalent according to the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) – or if your job, or your employee or client’s job can be misconstrued as a borderline job, you will need to go a step farther to prove that the job is specialized to meet H1B requirements. You also need to be extra careful to keep answers and information on all documents involved in the petition process consistent.

Here are some problems you may run into this H1B season when it comes to occupational specialization:

1. Job description in the LCA doesn’t exactly match the job description on the H1B petition.

This is very common, as most actual job descriptions are not a 100% match for the description of the occupation in the OOH. However, employers must choose a job on the LCA that is outlined in the OOH, and if there are any inconsistencies, CIS can use that for grounds to issue an RFE.

2. Job title in the LCA doesn’t match the job title on the H1B petition.

Last year, we saw an unprecedented number of RFEs with regards to Level 1 Wages for the job of computer programmer. CIS used a passage in the OOH that states employers sometimes hire entry level computer programmers with only a US Associates degree, which doesn’t meet the H1B educational requirement of a US Bachelors degree or higher. To avoid this RFE, employers may be tempted to select a different job title that doesn’t tend to attract so many RFEs in the LCA. If you decide to do this, make sure the job title on the LCA matches the job title on the H1B petition and is a good match for the job description.

3. The wage level stated in the OOH does not match the wages the H1B worker makes.

H1B workers must be paid the prevailing wage for similar jobs in that industry for companies of that size in that geographic region. If the wages you or your employee or client is making doesn’t match those indicated in the OOH, you need to explain why this is the case in the petition to avoid an RFE.

Last year, a big misunderstanding of how wage levels work caused computer programmers making level 1 wages to deal with a slew of difficult RFEs. CIS assumed that just because a job is set at level 1 wages means it’s an entry level position. There are many reasons an employee may start at level 1 wages, even if the job is not entry level. For example, recent college graduates entering the workforce with Bachelors degrees but little to no work experience need a high level of guidance, training, and supervision. Company resources are allocated to these needs as the employee starts, justifying the low starting wage. This needs to be explained in an expert opinion letter, along with a detailed job description and employer support letter.

If you or your client or employee has a borderline occupation or works as a computer programmer, visit us at ccifree.com or simply reply to this email for a no cost and no obligation full review of your case, or your client or employee’s case. At TheDegreePeople.com, we work with RFEs every year. We know what triggers them, and we know how to answer them, and most importantly, we know how to prevent them. We will review the entire case, and get back to you within 48 hours with a full analysis, pre-evaluation, and our recommendations moving forward.

Prepare for Tough RFEs for Specialty Occupation this H1B Season Read More »

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