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eb2 education requirements

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 »

Avoid that EB2 RFE: Sidestep Education Traps

Credential Evaluation, Visa Approvals

EB2 traps can set your Green Card, or your employee or client’s Green Card back years. Know where they are so you don’t fall into one.

Although it is tempting for candidates to try to meet EB2 qualifications when really their education and employment is a fit for EB3, trying to make education that simply does not work for EB2 fit is a waste of time. Sometimes, the candidate’s education simply does not work for EB2.

However, EB2 education requirements are very specific and equivalencies can be complex. If you or your employee or client DOES meet EB2 educational qualifications, you need to know, and you need to know how to justify this to CIS. Filing for EB2 with the RIGHT education will save you or your employee or client years in limbo. Before you file, take the candidate’s education to a credential evaluation agency that works extensively with EB2 cases and their RFEs and Denials. These agencies understand EB2 education requirements and CIS approval trends for this particular visa. Simply having an expert review your credentials, or your employee or client’s credentials before you file will go leaps and bounds to help you sidestep EB2 education traps.

Here are the main ones to be aware of:

  1. Mismatched Education

If the candidate’s degree is in a field that is not an exact fit for the job offer on the PERM, you can expect an RFE at best. This is a major EB2 education trap because employers will hire candidates with degrees in related fields and work experience in the field, but CIS will not approve their visas. If this is your situation, or your employee or client’s situation, you will need a very detailed and specific credential evaluation to write the US academic equivalency of the right degree in the right specialization. CIS has very strict requirements about how you can meet these equivalency requirements when it comes to EB2. Talk to a credential evaluator to see if you can make this equivalency work with your, or your employee or client’s education and work experience. The answer may be no. If this is the case, don’t be tempted to pull one over on CIS. This will not work.

  1. Bachelor’s Degree Equivalency is not a Single Source

EB2 education requirements state that to qualify a candidate must hold a US bachelor’s degree FOLLOWED BY at least five years of progressive work experience in the field, OR a US Master’s degree or higher in the field. If you or your employee or client has a bachelor’s degree from outside of the United States, or a US degree in the wrong field, you will need an equivalency that is a SINGLE SOURCE. CIS accepts three years of progressive work experience in the field as the equivalent of one year of US college credit towards a degree in that specialization. Likewise, following having earned a bachelor’s degree, CIS counts fives years of progressive work experience in your client’s field of employ as the equivalent of a US Master’s degree in the field provided that a bachelor’s degree was a minimum requirement for the job itself.

This gets tricky real fast. We always recommend taking your or your employee or client’s education and a current, accurate resume to a credential evaluation agency that works regularly with EB2 visas and their RFEs, and that also works with college professors with the authority to grant college credit for work experience. Your will need to have the work experience necessary to provide a SINGLE SOURCE bachelor’s degree equivalency. This requirement is complex and requires expertise to determine whether you or your employee or client can qualify, and to provide the evidence, analysis, and documentation necessary to explain this to CIS in the petition.

  1. Poorly Translated Documents

Candidates fall into EB2 education traps when they provide mistranslated or misevaluated documents. Some degrees simply don’t translate into English and retain their academic value. Some translation agencies have begun to provide evaluation services that are attractive to candidates wanting to save time and money. However, evaluation is a completely different, highly specialized service because of the complex nature of foreign academic differentiations and the fact that degrees with the same name hold different academic values between countries. Some degrees with different names hold the same equivalency. For example, Indian Chartered Accountancy is the foreign equivalent of a US bachelor’s degree in Accounting while the Canadian Chartered Accountancy and US CPA are not the equivalent of that advanced degree. This sort of problem comes up when academic value gets lost in translation, or when a translator takes credential evaluation liberties without the knowledge to assure accuracy.

To sidestep this EB2 education trap, if your or your employee or client’s educational documents need to be translated and evaluated, make this a two-step process. Do NOT compromise on this. You would never take credentials to an evaluation agency for translation! Get them translated into English first, then take them to a credential evaluation agency. Agencies that work regularly with EB2 visas can identify common translation errors and make academic value judgments accordingly.

To avoid these EB2 education traps, simply visit ccifree.com and attach all educational documents and a current, accurate resume, along with the job title. We will get back to you within 24 hours with a pre-evaluation of your case, or your employee or client’s case, and a full analysis of all of your options.

About the Author

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.

Avoid that EB2 RFE: Sidestep Education Traps Read More »

Case Study: Three-Year Bachelor’s Degree Denial Successfully Answered

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

At TheDegreePeople, we recently helped a client with a three-year bachelor’s degree overturn the Denial he received from USCIS for his EB2 petition. He had over ten years of work experience in his field of employ, a three-year bachelor’s degree, and a two-year master’s degree. PERM requirements for his visa stated he needed a master’s degree plus two years of work experience in the field, requirements that he clearly met. The problem, of course, was the three-year bachelor’s degree.

CIS is notoriously finicky about accepting a three-year bachelor’s degree as the equivalent of a US four-year bachelor’s degree, particularly Indian three-year bachelor’s degrees. Because CIS did not recognize the three-year bachelor’s degree as the equivalent of a US four-year bachelor’s degree, and because that degree was a prerequisite to the master’s program, CIS deemed that the master’s degree was not, in fact, equivalent to a US master’s degree.

When our client filed, he received a Denial. That’s when he came to us. In this situation, the evaluator has two options to show that the three-year bachelor’s degree – and thus the two-year master’s degree – meets its US equivalent.

First, we could break down the classroom contact hours in a three-year bachelor’s degree and apply the Carnegie Unit conversion in which fifteen classroom contact hours is the equivalent of one college credit hour. The standard US four-year bachelor’s degree has 120 college credit hours. Since the vast majority of Indian three-year degrees are comprised of at least 1800 classroom contact hours, the conversion shows that there are more than enough college credit hours in a three-year degree to be the equivalency of a US four-year degree.

In addition to this detailed breakdown of the academic content of the three-year degree, we would also cite binding UNESCO instruments, as well as numerous three-year bachelor’s degrees that can be earned in the United States. In addition, we would provide a list of US master’s degree programs – including programs at Harvard, Columbia, and Wharton – that accept an Indian three-year bachelor’s degree as an adequate prerequisite to these master’s degree programs to prove the functional equivalency of the client’s bachelor’s degree as a step in obtaining a master’s degree. Along with all of this documentation, we would provide 400 more pages of documentation we have gathered showing how a three-year degree is the equivalent of a US four-year bachelor’s degree, and also discuss the Matter of Shah – a case that CIS depends on to invalidate three-year bachelor’s degrees. The Matter of Shah is not an accurate instrument to determine the value of a three-year degree for many reasons.

Our second option has a higher success rate than the first option, and is in most cases the method of approach we will take. Using the method about to be explained, we have seen a 95% approval rate with three-year degrees for EB2 visas.

In this second method is a two-step process. First, we would write an evaluation to show how three years of undergraduate education with and additional two years of graduate school are equivalent to a US bachelor’s degree. We can do this without it being considered combining education. PERM requirements clearly state that the bachelor’s degree must be a single source, and we can meet these requirements with this method by citing appropriate memos. The next step is to show how five years of progressive work experience in our client’s field of employ is equivalent to a US master’s degree. We can do this by citing federal case law.

If the second option works so much better, why would we ever use the first option? The first option is well accepted for EB3 visas, but tends to only work half of the time for EB2. However, if a client does not have a master’s degree, or the client’s attorney specifically requests we go that route, that is the route we will take. Every case is different, and every client and their education is different.

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.

Case Study: Three-Year Bachelor’s Degree Denial Successfully Answered Read More »

Don’t File Your EB2 Petition with Incorrect Education

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

PERM requirements for EB2 visas are very specific, and because EB2 petitions take years less time to process than EB3 visas, candidates are tempted to try to make their credentials fit into EB2 status even if they do not fit, or they are not sure whether or not they fit. Do not do this. This is a waste of your time. Do not make the mistake of filing your EB2 petition, or your client or employee’s petition without being entirely sure that the education meets PERM requirements for EB2 classification.

Sometimes, your education, or your employee or client’s education simply will not work for EB2. Sometimes it will. In many cases, the education will work when submitted with a detailed credential evaluation citing federal case law, CIS precedent decisions, and international trade agreements.

One common problem EB2 beneficiaries run into is that the education must be an exact match for their job title. In the past, CIS has allowed candidates with degrees in fields related to their job to have their visas approved, but educational standards have tightened. This means if you, or your employee or client has a degree in a related field, you need to take their education and work experience to a credential evaluator to fill in the missing gaps between your client’s education and job.

However, this leads into another common problem EB2 candidates face: the bachelor’s degree must be a SINGLE SOURCE. EB2 candidates must hold a US Master’s degree or its equivalent or higher to meet educational standards on the PERM. If your client has a degree from outside of the United States – particularly if you, or your employee or client holds a three-year bachelor’s degree – the bachelor’s degree equivalency cannot be met for this particular visa by combining education from different institutions, or from combining education plus work experience. However, CIS does accept a work experience conversion of ONLY years of work experience in the field into enough years of college credit to meet CIS requirements for bachelor’s degree equivalency.

Two more common problems EB2 beneficiaries face when it comes to having the wrong education is due to the complex nature of translation and credential evaluation across educational system structure that vary between countries.

PERM requirements for EB2 visas are very specific, and because EB2 petitions take years less time to process than EB3 visas, candidates are tempted to try to make their credentials fit into EB2 status even if they do not fit. It’s not uncommon for a beneficiary to claim that their high school diploma is a college degree, either on purpose or by mistake. False translations are common amongst beneficiaries with degrees and certificates from countries outside of the United States because when words are translated into English, the educational value does not translate over along with it. Translating your client’s educational documents into English is not enough, even if a translation agency offers credential evaluation services. Credential evaluation is a highly specialized service requiring advanced knowledge of international education, federal case law, international trade agreements, and CIS trends.

Many degrees exist in other countries that do not exist in the United States, and many degrees that do not call themselves degrees actually have post-secondary educational value while others do not. For example, the Indian Chartered Accountancy certificate is the functional equivalent of a US bachelor’s degree in accounting, but the Canadian Chartered Accountancy Certificate is not. The way that this is evidenced is by functional equivalency – by documenting what either degree allows the candidate to do. Taking exams or being accepted for admission into Master’s degree or Ph.D. programs that require postsecondary education that is equivalent to a bachelor’s degree is a function of a degree that can get your client’s visa approved if you can clearly show that this is the case.

Don’t make the mistake of filing your client’s EB2 petition before you are both absolutely sure his or her education will work for this visa. Take your client’s educational documents to a credential evaluator with extensive experience working with EB2 cases, RFEs, Denials, NOIDs, and difficult cases because this kind of evaluator understands what will work, what will not work, and what will require a detailed evaluation that cites very specific evidence, sources, and documentation to work.

About the Author

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.

Don’t File Your EB2 Petition with Incorrect Education Read More »

EB2 – Know if the Education Works Before You File

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

Before you, your client, or your employee file for EB2 visa status, make sure that the education meets the requirements for this particular visa. Filing for EB2 instead of EB3 is preferential to beneficiaries because the turnaround waiting time for EB3 can take as long as a decade. However, if your education – or your client’s or employee’s education – does not meet EB2 requirements in the first place, time and effort is wasted anyway. These visas require advanced degrees or their equivalencies, and education requirements on the PERM are very specific when it comes to equivalencies.

There are also situations where you, your employee, or your client may have the right education; it just needs to be evaluated in the proper manner to meet CIS requirements for the EB2 visa. This is where many petitions are met with RFEs. The education must exactly match PERM education requirements. One common cause for an RFE stems from the requirement that a Bachelor’s degree equivalency must be a SINGLE SOURCE. Unlike educational requirements for other work visas, your Bachelor’s degree equivalency cannot combine work experience with your degree. This especially becomes a problem for beneficiaries with three-year Bachelor’s degrees. CIS does, however, accept a Bachelor’s degree equivalency from performing a conversion of years of progressive work experience into college credit hours. When you have a credential evaluator look at your education, or the education or your client or employee, have him or her also take a look at your client’s work experience to see if this conversion can be substituted for their Bachelor’s degree to meet PERM requirements.

There are situations where a beneficiary’s education simply does not – even with a detailed credential evaluation – meet EB2 requirements. For example, it is not uncommon for beneficiaries to claim that their high school diploma is a college degree, either because they are lying or by mistake.

When educational documents are translated, the value of the degree can get lost in translation because there is simply no English equivalent to express the degree your client has earned. Bad translations are the cause of much confusion when it comes to meeting educational requirements. You may not catch these translations, but experienced credential evaluators can because they have detailed knowledge of educational structures across cultures. In the case of a bad translation, you, your employee, or your client may actually be qualified for EB2 status. Or they may not be. Do not proceed to file without making absolutely sure.

Some foreign degrees that do not call themselves degrees – such as the Indian Chartered Accountancy Certificate – are actually postsecondary education that meet PERM requirements for a Bachelor’s degree equivalency. Other similar certificates and titles are not actually degrees, such as the Canadian Chartered Accountancy Certificate, or the US CPA certification. It is not always obvious which degree is actually a degree until you get that RFE. The way to determine whether or not your education actually meets the requirements for a postsecondary degree can be determined in the educational steps required to obtain that license or certificate, and the jobs that license or certificate qualifies you, your employee, or your client to work.

Before you file, take your educational documents and work experience to a credential evaluator with experience working with difficult cases and RFEs for a review of your client’s case. Sometimes, your background simply does not fit the educational criteria for this visa. Sometimes, your education will work if the evaluation is carried out properly, in detail, with references to precedents, federal case law, and international trade agreements. The right evaluator for this situation understands the nuances of EB2 visa requirements, as well as CIS trends. For a free assessment of your education, or your employee or client’s education, visit us at www.ccifree.com/.

EB2 – Know if the Education Works Before You File Read More »

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