H1B Changes in Adjudication Means Getting the Initial Filing Correct

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.  ]]>