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Right Degree, Wrong Major: How to Avoid an EB2 Education RFE

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

Green card beneficiaries seeking EB2 status need to either hold a US master’s degree or a US bachelor’s degree followed by five years of progressive work experience, or the equivalency of one of these requirements.

What if you, or your employee or client holds a degree with a major in a field related to the EB2 job? Employers will often hire workers with degrees in related fields because there is enough skill and knowledge overlap to ensure the worker will be able to perform the duties of the job. Then, CIS will not approve the visa.

In recent years, CIS has tightened its approval standards, only approving beneficiaries with degree specializations that exactly match the job title on the PERM. If you, or your employee or client has a degree in a related field that doesn’t exactly match the EB2 job, you need to include a credential evaluation with the petition that meets equivalency requirements by specific EB2 standards.

This is where the second problem arises: for EB2, the bachelor’s degree must be a single source. That means you must, or your employee or client must either have a US bachelor’s degree in the exact field of the EB2 job, or enough years of progressive work experience to account for the entire degree equivalency. That’s twelve years of progressive work experience because a professor with the authority to grant college credit for work experience can convert three years or work experience in the field into one year of college credit.

At TheDegreePeople, we have developed several creative strategies to address degree equivalencies for EB2 to prevent the mismatched education RFE from years of working with EB2 cases and their RFEs. For a free review of your case, or your client or employee’s case, visit ccifree.com.

Right Degree, Wrong Major: How to Avoid an EB2 Education RFE Read More »

Common EB2 Education RFEs and How to Preempt Them

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

To meet EB2 requirements and CIS approval trends, a beneficiary must hold a US masters degree or higher or its foreign equivalent, OR a US bachelors degree or its equivalent FOLLOWED BY at least five years of work experience in the field that matches the EB2 job. The education must be an exact match for the job, and the job must hold these minimum educational requirements.

That means if your client has a degree from outside of the United States, incomplete education, or a degree in a field that doesn’t match the job title, they will need a credential evaluation that fills in the gaps between their education and EB2 educational requirements.

However, different visas have different requirements for evaluating equivalencies. For example, let’s say a beneficiary is petitioning for H-1B status with an Indian three-year bachelors degree. CIS needs them to account for the missing fourth year to meet their approval trend for the equivalency of a US four-year bachelors degree. With H-1B, the candidate could have three years of progressive work experience converted into one year of college credit in a credential evaluation, which would account for the missing fourth year and CIS would accept that.

With EB2, this would not work because the bachelors degree must be a SINGLE SOURCE. That means, if you have, or your employee or client has that same Indian three-year degree, you cannot simply add work experience until you get four years. The best option is to try for the masters degree equivalency. This gets complicated when you take sequence into account concerning the bachelors degree equivalency.

Since the wait period for EB2 is so much shorter than EB3, it can be enticing to try to apply for the Green Card under EB2 and make the education work. This works sometimes if the beneficiary has the right education, enough work experience, and the sequence of education and work experience works for the EB2 academic puzzle. You don’t want to take chances. If you think you meet, or your employee or client meets EB2 education requirements, visit ccifree.com.

We will get back to your in 48 hours or less about whether or not EB2 educational requirements can be met. Often, all that is needed is the right credential evaluation that takes the beneficiary’s education and work experience, the job in question, specific EB2 requirements, and CIS approval trends into account to get that EB2 petition approved.

Common EB2 Education RFEs and How to Preempt Them Read More »

Mismatched Education EB2 RFE – Triggers and Solutions

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

Employers will hire workers who meet the degree requirement in a related field because there is enough overlap in specialized skills and knowledge to do a quality job. However, none of this matters to CIS. Over the past seven or eight years, CIS has been issuing RFEs for beneficiaries with degrees in related fields because they are not an exact match to the job title on the PERM.

While this detail may not stop the new hire from performing their job excellently, it will get in the way of CIS approving their visa, and the bottom line is CIS gets their way.

The best way to address this RFE is to avoid it in the first place. Here’s how:

When you file the beneficiary’s EB2 petition, make sure to include a credential evaluation that takes EB2 educational standards, the job, and CIS approval trends into consideration. The right credential evaluation is written by an agency that works regularly with EB2 cases and their RFEs, keeps up to date on CIS approval trends, international trade agreements, and federal case law, and has an in-depth understanding of education internationally. When it comes to EB2, the bachelors degree must be a single source. That means that a creative approach is often needed that requires in-depth understanding of international education. Sometimes a work experience conversion is needed, other times writing a functional equivalency works best. It all depends on the beneficiary’s education and resume, and on the job in question.

If your education, or if your employee or client’s education is not an EXACT match for the job title on the perm, let us help you. Visit ccifree.com and submit the beneficiary’s educational documents and resume, and indicate the job in question. We will get back to you in 48 hours or less with our recommendations on what needs to be included in the evaluation you, or your client or employee needs to meet EB2 educational requirements.

Mismatched Education EB2 RFE – Triggers and Solutions Read More »

Degree Equivalency or False Translation? – Find Out Now!

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

When a beneficiary files for EB2 status with credentials from outside of the United States – especially if the transcripts are in a language other than English – educational documentation can get tricky really fast.

That’s because it’s easy to accidentally insert academic value judgment on a credential when translating it into English.

Preparing educational documents in order to understand whether or not the beneficiary actually meets the educational requirements for the visa in question – or can meet them through including the right credential evaluation – is a two-step process. The first is translation, and the second is academic evaluation. You would never send documents to an evaluator for translation, and so you should never expect your translator to complete the evaluation. These are two very different and very specialized services, and expecting these steps to be a one-stop shop is a recipe for an RFE at best.

Beneficiary educational documents are especially vulnerable to false translations when the credential doesn’t have the word “degree” in the title, or a word that translates into it. For example, the Indian Chartered Accountancy credential is the academic equivalent of a US bachelors degree in accounting even though the word “degree” is not in the credential. However, the Canadian Chartered Accountancy and US CPA credentials do not meet equivalency requirements for a bachelors degree in accounting and don’t have the word “degree” in them either.

Some credentials simply don’t have a direct English translation. For example, “postgraduate” degree is often mistranslated into a masters degree even though they are not the academic equivalent. The Russian credential kandidat naouk is generally the academic equivalent of a US doctorate degree, but the words do not translate into this academic value by simply translating the language into English. Another very common translation that inserts a false academic value judgment is the translation of Baccalaureate into bachelors degree. These two credentials are NOT the same.

The best practice for avoiding problems stemming from false translation of academic documents is to first have the documents translated into English word for word without any academic value judgment. The second step is to take these translated documents to a credential evaluator to determine the US academic value. At TheDegreePeople, our evaluators know how to spot common translation errors, or when a credential without the word “degree” in it is actually a degree equivalency.

For a free review of your case, or your client or employees case, visit ccifree.com. We will get back to you in 48 hours or less with a full pre-evaluation of your case, or your employee or client’s case, and our recommendations for how to best proceed.

Degree Equivalency or False Translation? – Find Out Now! Read More »

Source & Sequence: Get Your EB2 Education Right

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

Every visa that leans heavily on education has different requirements, especially when it comes to equivalencies for education completed outside of the United States. The EB2 visa in particular is fraught with notorious education traps.

Before you file, make sure you, or your employee or client’s education checks out or you’ll end up with an RFE at best, instead of that approval.

The two big components of EB2 education to keep in mind and source and sequence. Candidates eligible for EB2 status have earned a US Masters degree or higher or its foreign equivalent, or have completed a US Bachelor’s degree or its equivalent followed by at least five years of progressive work experience in the field. Sounds simple enough, right? Not when it comes to equivalencies.

If you, or your employee or client has a degree from outside of the United States, or has a degree in a specialization that does not match the field of occupation, you will need to include a credential evaluation that fills in the gaps. Often, this includes converting progressive years of work experience in the field to years of college credit.

Remember, source and sequence are crucial. Consider, for example, you have, or your employee or client has an Indian three-year degree. You will need to account for the missing fourth year of education for CIS approval. Three years of progressive work experience in the field can be converted into the equivalent for one year of college credit towards that major. This also comes in handy when the degree specialization and job are mismatched. While other visas like H-1B will let you combine the three years of education, or education completed in the wrong major, with years of progressive work experience to meet equivalency and specialization requirements, that’s not how it works for EB2.

With EB2, the Bachelors degree must be a SINGLE SOURCE. This means your client will either need a US Bachelors or Masters degree in the exact field of the EB2 job, or a whole lot of progressive work experience.

The second component to remember is sequence. If you, or your employee or client holds a Bachelors degree or its single source equivalent, they will need an additional five years of progressive work experience, and this work experience must have occurred AFTER the Bachelors degree or its equivalency was earned. This shows that a Bachelors degree or its equivalent was a MINIMUM requirement for the following five years of work experience.

If you have any questions regarding your EB2 education, or your employee or client’s EB2 education, don’t let them go unanswered. Visit ccifree.com for a no charge and no obligation review of the. We will get back to you in 48 hours or less with a full analysis, pre-evaluation, and our recommendations.

Source & Sequence: Get Your EB2 Education Right Read More »

EB2 or EB3? – Find out Before You File

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

While there are extensive wait times for approval for both categories, EB2 has a much shorter wait time.  For this reason, it can be tempting for beneficiaries to try to meet EB2 requirements with EB3 education.

To qualify for EB2 status, a beneficiary must hold a US Masters degree or higher, or its foreign equivalent, OR a US Bachelors degree or its foreign equivalent FOLLOWED BY five years of progressive work experience.

It’s important to not here that simply having a Bachelors degree or its equivalent and five years of work experience in the field of the EB2 job is not enough to meet these requirements.  To count towards the educational qualifications, the work experience must follow having earned the Bachelors degree to show that the advanced education was a minimum requirement for the work experience.

Before filing, let us review your case, or your client or employee’s case.  It is not always clear whether or not the beneficiary will qualify for EB2 or EB3, and you definitely don’t want to miss out on the opportunity to file EB2.  The right credential evaluation takes the requirements of the visa into consideration, along with a whole host of other factors by which equivalency is determined.

For a free review, pre-evaluation, and analysis of your case, or your client or employee’s case, simply go to ccifree.com and submit your clients resume and educational documents.  We will get back to you within 48 hours with our recommendations.

EB2 or EB3? – Find out Before You File Read More »

Your Best Solution to the EB2 Education Puzzle

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

For other visas, as well as for entrance to graduate programs in the US, candidates can combine education with work experience to meet equivalency requirements for a US Bachelors degree. This is not the case for EB2.

If you or your employee or client does not have the education or work experience to meet EB2 education requirements right off the bat, they may still qualify for this classification. There are ways a credential evaluator with in-depth understanding of CIS precedents, federal case law, international education, and international trade agreements can write the evaluation needed to get the visa approved. However, this is NOT a judgment call you can make on your own.

Your best solution to the EB2 education puzzle is to ask for help.

Before you get too far on the petition, let us review the case. Simply go to ccifree.com and submit the candidate’s educational documents and a current, accurate resume, along with the job and desired educational equivalency. We will get back to you within 24 hours with a pre-evaluation and full analysis, and consult with you on your options.

Sheila Danzig

Sheila Danzig is the Executive Director of TheDegreePeople.com a Foreign Credentials Evaluation Agency. For a no charge analysis of any difficult case, RFE, Denial, or NOID, please go to http://www.ccifree.com/ or call 800.771.4723.

Your Best Solution to the EB2 Education Puzzle Read More »

EB2 or EB3? Know which one before you file!

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

Oftentimes, candidates are tempted to file for EB2 instead of EB3 because the processing time can be years shorter. However, EB2 is scrutinized VERY carefully and requirements surrounding educational equivalencies for this particular visa are very strict and different from EB2. This can sometimes motivate candidates to say that the education is more than it actually is. Sometimes the misunderstanding is a mistake. Don’t take anything for granted, be 100% certain of the education you’re working with. Filing for EB2 with EB3 education successfully is a long shot and should only be done once EB3 is secured.

Before you get too far on the petition, let us review provide a pre-evaluation with all of your options so you can make the right decision about which classification to file for. Simply hit visit ccifree.com and attach the candidate’s resume and educational documents along with the job title or desired academic equivalency. We will get back to you within 24 hours with the pre-evaluation and a full analysis of all of your options.

One major difference between EB2 and EB3 is that EB3 allows for education to be combined, if, and only if it is so stated on the PERM. EB2 requires a single source degree. However, there are some interesting ways “around” it that have worked.

Both EB2 and EB3 visas are Green Card (permanent residency) visas, and the requirements are education-based for academics and skilled professionals. CIS takes two key aspects into account when assessing eligibility for these visas:

  1. The candidate’s job.
  2. The candidate’s education.

For both EB2 and EB3, the job must hold as a minimum requirement the visa’s education requirements, and the candidate must meet these requirements within CIS guidelines for equivalency. That means the candidate must hold the required degree or training for the job, and the degree must be in the exact field of the job.

EB3 is for skilled, unskilled, or professional workers. These requirements are different for the different kinds of jobs. If the job is classified as skilled work, to meet EB3 requirements the job must require at least two years of training or job experience, and the candidate must have this education or experience. For jobs classified as professional, the job must require and the candidate must hold a US bachelor’s degree or its foreign equivalent in that field. If the job is classified as “other” or unskilled, the job must require and the candidate require less than two years of training, and the job must be permanent to meet CIS requirements for EB3.

As you can see, EB3 is a broad classification that most candidates can meet. EB2 visa requirements are much more strict and have very specific requirements surrounding equivalencies for candidate with degrees from outside of the United States.

To meet EB2 requirements, candidates must either have:

  1. A US bachelor’s degree or a SINGLE SOURCE equivalent FOLLOWED BY five years of progressive work experience in the field, or
  2. A US Master’s Degree or higher or its foreign equivalent.

For candidates with education outside of the United States, meeting EB2 education requirements can be difficult because of the single source equivalency rule. The Bachelor’s degree equivalency must be a single source, so when it comes writing equivalencies for three-year bachelor’s degrees, you or your employee or client may not be able to meet EB2 standards. For example, when we work with H1B visas, when candidates have three-year degrees and at least three years of progressive work experience in the field, we can write a credential evaluation that converts the three years of progressive work experience into one year of college credit in the field, signed off by a professor authorized to issue college credit for work experience. We can then add that additional year to the three-year degree and have what CIS would accept as the equivalency of a US four-year Bachelor’s degree. The does NOT work for EB2 because the Bachelor’s degree must be a single source, so combining years of education with work experience will just result in an RFE or Denial.

If you or your employee or client has a three-year Bachelor’s degree and no additional education, their best option is to file for EB3 as a skilled worker with an Associate’s degree and work experience. Filing for EB2 would be a waste of time.

However, there are situations where a candidate DOES qualify for EB2 with a detailed credential evaluation. Before you get too far on your case or your employee or client’s case, visit ccifree.com and submit the candidate’s educational documents and a current, accurate resume, along with the job or desired equivalency. We will get back to you within 24 hours with a pre-evaluation of the candidate’s education, a full analysis, and an overview of all of your options.

About the Author

Sheila Danzig

Sheila Danzig is the Executive Director at TheDegreePeople.com, a Foreign Credentials Evaluation Agency. For a free analysis of any difficult case, RFE, Denial, or NOID, please go to http://ccifree.com/ or call 800.771.4723.

EB2 or EB3? Know which one before you file! Read More »

Preempt an RFE: Beware of False Translations

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals


When a candidate files a petition with USCIS, every document must be translated into English. Educational documents must be translated into English and THEN evaluated for US academic equivalency.

This causes a common problem because some degrees simply don’t have English translations. Sometimes, a translator will make an academic judgment call beyond their scope of practice, interjecting or interchanging a word. A common mistranslation is Baccalaureate, which is often translated into Bachelor’s degree. These are NOT the same. Postgraduate degree is often mistranslated into Master’s degree. This is the result of the interjection of an academic value judgment. The Russian kandidat naouk is generally evaluated to be the equivalent of a US doctorate, but it cannot be TRANSLATED into this equivalency.

Don’t get too far on your petition, or your employee or client’s petition before without an accurate account of their education. Simply go to ccifree.com and attach the academic documents and a current resume, and indicate the visa, and job or desired equivalency. Within 24 hours, we will get back to your with a pre-evaluation and full analysis of your options.

Translation and evaluation are very different, highly specialized services. A good evaluator can spot and correct when academic value gets lost in translation. Foreign credential evaluators typically have significant experience with international credentials from working in university admissions or similar work environments, or have earned graduate level degrees in international education. Because of the complex nature of international education, evaluators must have a firm grasp of education structures across the world, as well as USCIS statutes and precedent decisions, international trade agreements, and more. Evaluations must be performed on a case-by-case basis because every candidate’s path through learning – both in institutions and on-the-job – is unique. Therefore, evaluators must have the experience and insight to pass judgment with integrity.

Do not file an H1B or EB2 petition with falsely translated educational documents. Both of these visas rely heavily on academic eligibility and filing with the wrong education will result in an RFE at best, and a lot of extra work.

Before you get too far on the petition, let us provide a pre-evaluation with all of your options to help prevent or overturn an educational RFE. Simply go to ccifree.com and attach all educational documents and a current, accurate resume, and indicate the visa, and job or desired academic equivalency. We will get back to you within 24 hours with a full analysis and all of your options.

About the Author

Sheila Danzig

Sheila Danzig is the Executive Director at TheDegreePeople.com, a Foreign Credentials Evaluation Agency. For a free analysis of any difficult case, RFE, Denial, or NOID, please go to http://ccifree.com/ or call 800.771.4723.]]>

Preempt an RFE: Beware of False Translations Read More »

EB2 RFE OVERTURNED for Mismatched Education

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals


A common RFE for this visa is that the education does not match the job on the PERM. But what if you or your employee or client DOES have a post-graduate degree in their field? Turns out, oftentimes a candidate will have post-graduate degree from an unaccredited institution. CIS only accepts degrees from accredited institutions. There are many unaccredited STEM industry programs that offer high-quality education and prepare graduates for jobs requiring highly specialized skills. However, unless these institutions are government accredited, CIS cannot approve these applicants’ visas with the education alone.

To make matters more complex for the EB2 classification, candidates may have a US bachelor’s degree or its equivalency in a field that does not match their EB2 job, and a post-graduate degree from an unaccredited institution that matches the job on the PERM. However, since the post-graduate degree is from an unaccredited institution, candidates are left with only a bachelor’s degree in an unrelated field. That’s when CIS issues an RFE.

The first step to overturning this RFE is to avoid it in the first place. Go to ccifree.com and attach your or your employee or client’s education and resume, and tell us the EB2 job and we will let you know if the education will work or not within 24 hours, along with a full analysis of your options. If you or your employee or client has education from an unaccredited institution, you need to know about that before you file because it will NOT go unnoticed by CIS when they review the petition.

If it’s too late and you’ve already received an RFE, simply go to ccifree.com and attach the candidate’s resume and educational documents, along with the job title. We will get back to you within 24 hours with a full pre-evaluation and analysis of your options.

There is federal case law that allows work experience to be used to meet EB2 educational requirements. It is highly complex and requires very detailed credential evaluation including a lot of documentation, analysis, and CIS handholding.

About the Author

Sheila Danzig

Sheila Danzig is the Executive Director at TheDegreePeople.com, a Foreign Credentials Evaluation Agency. For a free analysis of any difficult case, RFE, Denial, or NOID, please go to http://ccifree.com/ or call 800.771.4723.]]>

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