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EB2 RFE

EB2 RFE OVERTURNED for Mismatched Education

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

Do you or does your employee or client have the right education to qualify for EB2? Find out before you file! If it’s too late, consider the RFE a second chance to strengthen your case.

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.

EB2 RFE OVERTURNED for Mismatched Education 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 »

2017 EB2 Education Trends You Need to Know About

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

If you or your employee or client is planning to file for EB2 visa status, make sure that the education meets requirements for this particular classification. EB2 visa processing time is very long, and filing a petition that is doomed is a waste of time, money, and peace of mind for everyone.

When looking at whether or not EB2 educational requirements are met, carefully read what CIS accepts as equivalencies. Different visas have different parameters around what education and experience combinations are permitted to meet visa requirements. This, alongside CIS approval trends, paves the way to an RFE or worse in a hurry if you rush forward unaware.

The Degree must EXACTLY fit the job title on the PERM

One common mistake in EB2 filing occurs when a candidate’s education does not exactly match the job title on the PERM. 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 have, or if your employee or client has a degree in a field that doesn’t exactly fit the field of employ, you cannot simply file as is. EB2 occupations are highly specialized, and you need to clearly show CIS that you have, or your employee or client has the precise skills and knowledge necessary to excel at the job. This means having education specialized to the profession. If this is you situation, or your employee or client’s situation, have a credential evaluator with experience working with EB2 petitions review the education and work experience. With the proper conversions, documentation, and citations, you may be able to get the evaluation needed to account for the proper degree specialization.

The Bachelor’s Degree must be a SINGLE SOURCE

If the bachelor’s or master’s degree is not an exact match for the job title on the PERM, or if you or your employee or client has a three-year bachelor’s degree, or anything other than a straightforward US education that fits the field of employ, DO NOT file without a credential evaluation. The purpose of this is to explain that the candidate holds the educational value equivalency of the education required by CIS to meet EB2 eligibility requirements. However, this leads into another common problem EB2 candidates face: the bachelor’s degree must be a SINGLE SOURCE. Unlike other visas, you cannot combine work experience and college credit to make the bachelor’s degree or master’s degree equivalency in the correct specialization. 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. Talk to a credential evaluator with the authority to convert years of work experience into college credit to see if you have, or your employee or client has the background necessary for this solution.

EB2 processing time is years shorter than the time it takes to process EB3 petitions. For this reason, candidates are tempted to try to meet EB2 requirements even if they do not. DO NOT BE TEMPTED BY THIS. It is a waste of time. However, if the EB2 educational requirements can be met, definitely take advantage of this. Before you file, have a credential evaluator with extensive experience working with EB2 cases and EB2 RFEs review your case, or your employee or client’s case and see if you can clearly meet the requirements for this visa. If the education and work experiences fit, congratulations! Go for it.

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.

2017 EB2 Education Trends You Need to Know About Read More »

EB2 Case Study: RFE for Indian Chartered Accountancy Certificate OVERTURNED!

Case Studies, Credential Evaluation, Visa Approvals

One of the most common EB2 education RFEs arrives when a candidate holds a degree that doesn’t call itself a degree. In fact Chartered Accountancy is the degree that receives the most RFEs for the EB2 classification. Time and again, EB2 candidates who have earned an Indian Chartered Accountancy certificate receive an RFE even though it is the functional equivalent of a US Bachelor’s degree in accounting.

The EB2 visa requires a candidate to hold a US Master’s degree or its foreign equivalent or higher, OR a US bachelor’s degree or its foreign equivalent FOLLOWED BY at least five years of work experience in their current field of employ. The RFE in this case arises when a candidate has an Indian Chartered Accountancy certificate and submits the petition without an accompanying credential evaluation that clearly spells out the steps of education required to earn this degree, and backs this up with international commerce and education decisions.

The AAO states in their 2007 decision:

“Passage of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) final examination and obtaining an associate membership in the ICAI is the foreign equivalent to a US bachelor’s degree in Accounting.”

In order to be eligible to even take this examination, a candidate must first pass the PE-II Intermediate examination. The prerequisite to this examination is to have either completed an Indian bachelor’s degree or passed the PE-I. Therefore, by following the steps of education required to be eligible to take, and to pass the ICAI final examination and earn the Indian Chartered Accountancy certificate, the candidate must have completed the functional equivalent of an Indian bachelor’s degree, and THEN taken and passed the ICAI final examination.

Yours or your employee or client client’s credential evaluation must clearly show these steps of education.

Another reason this particular degree is so complicated is because both the Canadian Chartered Accountancy certification and the US CPA are NOT the functional equivalents of a US bachelor’s degree in accounting. The Indian Chartered Accountancy certification carries the same name, but very different in terms of academic content.

If you or your employee or client has an Indian Chartered Accountancy certificate, do NOT submit the EB2 petition without a credential evaluation clearly explaining and justifying this degree’s functional equivalency to a US bachelor’s degree in Accounting. If you or your employee or client received an RFE for his or her Indian Chartered Accountancy certificate, talk to a credential evaluation agency with experience working with EB2 RFEs and difficult degrees.

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 Case Study: RFE for Indian Chartered Accountancy Certificate OVERTURNED! Read More »

The Answer to Your EB2 RFE is NOT in the RFE!

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

Visa petitions across the board are receiving more RFEs with every year. This is particularly the case for education-based RFEs that require the form I-140. Form I-140 visas include EB1, EB2, and EB3, all of which are for foreign nationals seeking a Green Card to stay in the United States to work on a permanent basis. Form I-140 visa petitions are being met with more RFEs because there are more petitions flooding in every year than there are available to approve annually, and also because there is much confusion over education when it comes to these particular visas. Often, beneficiaries will be tempted to try for EB2 classification because it takes years off petition processing time, when their education really only meets EB3 standards.

RFEs can be complex and murky in their wording. The reality is, the pathway to successfully answer an RFE is NOT in the wording of the RFE itself. USCIS uses the RFE as a tool to gather more evidence about your client’s case to make a decision, but also as a shortcut to justify weeding out petitions amidst the vast number of petitions they have to process every year.

Instead of looking to the RFE to discern how to answer it correctly, look to the initial I-140 requirements for the visa.

Do you, or does your employee or client meet the educational criteria of the visa?

First and foremost, make sure that the beneficiary’s education meets the educational criteria for the particular visa preference classification. For example, and EB2 visa requires beneficiaries to hold a US Master’s degree or higher or its foreign equivalent, or a US bachelor’s degree or its equivalent FOLLOWED BY five years of progressive work experience in the field. If you or your employee or client does not meet these requirements, or cannot meet them with a detailed credential evaluation, you are petitioning for the wrong visa. However, many candidates who do not immediately meet these criteria actually do with the proper credential evaluation. This brings us to the second educational requirement for I-140 visas:

The Bachelor’s Degree must be a single source.

This means, unlike other visas such as the H1B, your client cannot combine work experience with years of college credit to write a bachelor’s degree equivalency. It must be a single source. This can become troublesome if you or your employee or client holds a three-year bachelor’s degree from a country outside of the United States because that missing fourth year is going to be a problem. However, years of progressive work experience in the field can in many cases be evaluated to be the equivalency of a US Master’s degree in the field, accompanied by the proper evidentiary support, documentations, and citations.

The Education and Job Must Meet Visa Criteria

It is tempting for candidates with EB3 qualified education to try for EB2 preference. This is because the wait time for visas being processed is years shorter for EB2 candidates than for those of EB3 education. Do NOT be tempted into petitioning for a visa that is not right for your client. EB2 candidates must hold a US Master’s degree or higher or its foreign equivalent, OR a US bachelor’s degree or its foreign equivalent FOLLOWED BY five years of progressive work experience in the field. These requirements are extremely specific, but also very clearly spelled out. If you are unsure about your client’s education, talk to a credential evaluator who often works with I-140 cases and their RFEs. In the same way, some jobs simply don’t meet the specialization requirements of EB2 or EB1. These visas require highly specialized jobs with advanced degrees and work experience necessary to perform. If you or your client or employee does not hold a job that fits these requirements, you may be chasing the wrong visa.

USCIS defines progressive work experience in the field as “demonstrated by advancing levels of responsibility and knowledge in the specialty.” This means that the candidate must have clearly learned skills and knowledge essential to the industry through this work experience, and instead of passing a test or getting a grade, this progress is evidenced through promotions and increased responsibility. Progressive work experience comes in handy candidates don’t have the number of years necessary in their foreign bachelor’s degree to make a single source US equivalence, and also when they run into the next RFE-triggering problem.

The Degree MUST Match the Job Offer

If your education, or your employee or client’s education doesn’t match the job offer on the PERM, you will receive an RFE. This is because candidates need to have the specialized skills and knowledge necessary to perform their job, and a degree in a different field does not assure CIS that they meet minimum requirements to perform their job. Employers will often hire employees with degrees in related fields that are not an exact match because they know there is enough information overlap, but CIS will question their qualifications with an RFE. If your degree, or your employee or client’s degree does not match the job offer, progressive work experience in the field can be converted into the necessary degree specialization. For example, say you or your employee or client has a job in computer sciences but a Master’s degree in engineering. The beneficiary also has five years of progressive work experience in the field of computer sciences. A credential evaluator with the authority to make this conversion can write the equivalent of five years of POST-BACHELOR’S DEGREE work experience in the field of computer sciences to a US Master’s degree in computer sciences.

If you or your employee or client received an RFE, read it over carefully, but don’t get lost in it. Instead, sit down with your team and understand which of the ORIGINAL VISA CRITERIA are in question. Find out what evidence you need to provide to meet the ORIGINAL VISA CRITERIA that are in question and submit that documentation in your answer. The roadmap to answering the RFE is NOT in the RFE, so look to the original visa criteria and make sure that you’re not leaving any open gaps or failing to meet any requirements.

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.

The Answer to Your EB2 RFE is NOT in the RFE! Read More »

Avoid an EB2 RFE Before You Have to Respond to One

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

The approval process for EB2 visas is long, arduous, and can get quite costly. That means when you submit your petition, or your client or employee’s petition for adjudication, you want to get it right the first time. If there are errors, inconsistencies, or requirements not met in the initial petition – or if CIS does not feel they have adequate evidence to make the right decision about your case, or your client or employee’s case for any other reason – a Request for Evidence (RFE) will be issued that you will have to respond to.

Why you do NOT want that RFE

Aside from taking more time and money to address an RFE, an RFE is also a big red flag on the petition. When you get an RFE for a glaring error, it draws attention to the small mistakes that would have flown under the radar, and the more holes in your petition CIS finds, the more complicated your RFE will be to respond to.

If you receive an RFE, don’t panic! Receiving an RFE can be transformed into an opportunity to strengthen your case, or the case of your client or employee. However, the best way to address an RFE is to avoid it in the first place.

An RFE is by no means a rare occurrence. In fact, we see more and more RFEs every single year. At TheDegreePeople, we help clients with education RFEs, which are extremely common for the EB2 classification because CIS trends change with regards to educational requirements, especially from the prevalence of work visas in STEM industry companies, and also because equivalency requirements differ from other work visas.

The first mistake petitioner commonly make is that the degree must be an EXACT match for the job offer on the PERM. In most cases, employers will hire employees with degrees in related fields because there is enough educational overlap that they can be sure the employee has the specialized skills and knowledge necessary to carry out the duties of their job. This is especially the case when the employee has years of work experience in the field alongside a degree in a related field. However, CIS disagrees. If the degree is not an exact match for the job offer on the PERM, you, or your employee or client will receive an RFE. To address this issue, you or your employee or client needs to have their education and work experience reviewed to write the equivalency of the necessary degree in the appropriate field, and submit that to CIS.

The second mistake – which can also be made with regards to the equivalency in the first mistake – is that the petitioner’s bachelor’s degree must be a SINGLE source. This is particularly a problem when a petitioner needs a credential evaluation to write the equivalency for a degree in the exact field of employ, or if the petitioner holds a degree from a country with a three-year bachelor’s degree track. Other visas allow for work experience and different education sources to be combined to write the equivalency to the appropriate bachelor’s degree. This is not the case with EB2. The way we handle this situation is to convert years of progressive work experience into a bachelor’s degree equivalency or a master’s degree equivalency, and then cite federal case law, graduate school admissions requirements for programs in the client’s field, and provide other necessary documentation to fortify this equivalency.

If you, or your employee or client receives an EB2 RFE, talk to a credential evaluation agency with extensive experience working with specific visas, and international education experts on hand. If you call and the agency does not ask about the particular job or visa, look elsewhere. While they may be able to write an accurate equivalency, they will not be able to write the accurate equivalency that you or your employee or client needs to fulfill the unique requirements of the EB2 visa.

If you have yet to file, make sure your petition, or your employee or client’s petition does not fall into one of these common EB2 education traps. Don’t give CIS an excuse to issue an RFE. Get it right the first time.

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.

Avoid an EB2 RFE Before You Have to Respond to One Read More »

Case Study: EB2 RFE for Mismatched Education – APPROVED

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

A recent client came to us with a bachelor’s degree in engineering for a job in computer sciences and a big RFE to show for it. Candidates for both H-1B and EB2 visas have been running into this problem because while employers will hire them with degrees in related fields – because of related work experience and because they understand the great degree of academic overlap between the fields – USCIS requires the degree be an exact match for the job offer. What is needed to meet this requirement is a credential evaluation that shows the candidate’s academic and professional background is the equivalent of the right degree specialization.

For an H-1B candidate, we could have written a credential evaluation that combined work experience in the field with their education and written the equivalency of a US bachelor’s degree in computer sciences that would meet CIS requirements for the visa. For EB2 candidates like our client, it’s not so straightforward.

EB2 educational requirements demand the bachelor’s degree be a single source. That means no combining work experience with college credit, and no combining education from two different colleges. However, the EB2 visa classification requires the candidate to hold a US Master’s degree or its equivalent or higher, so instead of going after the bachelor’s degree equivalency, we focused on our client’s Master’s degree equivalency to answer this RFE.

According to federal precedent and case law, five years of progressive work experience in the field is the equivalent of a Master’s degree in that field. Our client certainly had those five years. We wrote a credential evaluation that converted his five years of work experience in the field of computer sciences into the Master’s degree in computer sciences he needed to fit CIS requirements for his job and his visa. We backed up this equivalency by extensively citing and documenting the precedent decisions and federal case law regarding this work experience conversion for this particular visa.

CIS accepted this equivalency and his EB2 visa was approved.

If you, or your employee or client has a tricky education situation and his or her straightforward credentials do not match PERM requirements, don’t take chances. Talk to a credential evaluator that specializes in difficult cases, RFEs, and Denials, because they know what works and what doesn’t work when it comes to what CIS will and will not accept. Make sure your evaluator is well versed in CIS trends, CIS precedents, federal case law, international trade agreements, and international education.

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: EB2 RFE for Mismatched Education – APPROVED 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 »

Five Questions to Ask to Find the Right Credential Evaluator

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

There are plenty of good credential evaluators out there who are not a good fit for your EB2 credential evaluation, or your employee or client’s EB2 credential evaluation. They can write accurate evaluations, but not the right one for what you need.

Finding the right credential evaluator for your unique case, or your employee or client’s unique case is often the difference between approval and problems. Many EB2 candidates who are qualified for this advanced degree visa are met with RFEs at best because the credential evaluation did not interpret their credentials in terms of PERM educational requirements. These requirements are very specific when it comes to the EB2 classification, and the right credential evaluator understands this.

How can you find the right credential evaluator? Ask yourself these five questions to find your way to the perfect match for your case, or your client or employee’s case:

  1. Are they easy to work with?

What does this look like? When you call, she answers. When you text or email, she responds promptly. When you have a question, it gets answered to your satisfaction the first time. You feel comfortable talking to him and asking any question you may have without fear of judgment. Being easy to work with also means the evaluator is affordable and offers rush delivery options to meet your needs and the needs of your employee or client. An evaluator who makes it easy for you to work with them wants to work with you and prioritizes customer service.

  1. Did they offer a free review of your case, or your employee or client’s case?

Only work with evaluators who will review your client’s education and consult with you on how to best proceed before asking for payment. An evaluator cannot know what services to provide without first reviewing your case, or your employee or client’s cases. Particularly when it comes to EB2 visa eligibility, an evaluator needs to take a close look at your education and work experience, or your employee or client’s education and work experience to determine if the strict PERM educational requirements for this visa can actually be met.

  1. Do they work with RFEs, Denials, and NOIDs often?

Evaluators who work with difficult cases on a regular basis understand what works and what does not work in getting these difficult cases approved. They have insight into what triggers an RFE, Denial, or NOID, and they understand what tends to work when addressing them, even when the pathway to approval is not clear. Evaluators who work with these kinds of cases on a regular basis can understand what questions CIS is looking to have answered in the documentation they ask you or your employee or client to provide. They also have deeper insight into CIS approval trends, which change with every year.

  1. Did they ask about your visa, or your employee or client’s visa?

Educational requirements vary from visa to visa, and what kinds of educational equivalencies and combinations of education and work experience CIS will accept vary from visa to visa. For example, with an H1B visa, candidates can combine work experience with college credit to form a US four-year bachelor’s degree equivalency. This is not the case for EB2, where the bachelor’s degree equivalency must be a single source. If the evaluator did not ask about your client’s visa, he does not know this vital element in writing the evaluation you and your client need.

  1. Did they ask about your job offer or your employee or client’s job offer?

The evaluation that will get your client’s visa approved lends itself to your job, or your employee or client’s job. PERM educational requirements insist that your degree, or your employee or client’s degree be an exact match for the job offer. This means that if the degree is in a related or completely different field from the job, the evaluation must compensate for this and show that you, or your employee or client has the academic equivalency of a degree in the field of employ. This is a common problem because employers commonly hire people with degrees in related fields with work experience in the field because employers know these workers have the specialized skills and knowledge needed to perform job duties. CIS needs an exact match. A credential evaluator cannot write the evaluation that you, or your employee or client needs without knowing the job offer.

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, RFEs, Denials, or NOIDs, please go to http://www.ccifree.com/ or call 800.771.4723.

Five Questions to Ask to Find the Right Credential Evaluator Read More »

Two Common Reasons and Solutions for Educational RFEs for EB2 Petitions

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

While RFEs are common and can be addressed, the best course of action is always to avoid them altogether. While an RFE can be utilized as an opportunity to strengthen your case, or your employee or client’s case on your end, it is also an opportunity to CIS to take a shortcut. An RFE is a red flag, which triggers a close scrutiny of your client’s case, in which inconsistencies and missing details that would have otherwise gone unnoticed can come to light and hurt your case, or your employee or client’s case. Little inconsistencies and missing details are not what trigger RFEs in the first place, although you always want to double-check all documents for accuracy and consistency before filing. If your education or your employee or client’s education is from a country outside of the United States, their foreign credentials must be evaluated to show the US academic value equivalency. This is where many candidates run into trouble because PERM requirements for EB2 visa education are different than requirements for other visas when it comes to equivalencies. At the same time, CIS trends when it comes to academic qualifications for work visas in general have tightened in the past few years, compounding problems candidates face.

There are two main educational requirements that many petitions miss, and are common triggers for an RFE:

  1. The education equivalency must match the education requirements on the PERM.
  2. The bachelor’s degree equivalency must be a single-source degree.

The first problem EB2 candidates run into regularly that triggers and education RFE is that their education does not match the education requirements on the PERM. The PERM requires your education, or your employee or client’s education to be an exact match for their job title. This leads right into the second problem.

CIS requires an EB2 candidate’s education to have a single-source bachelor’s degree. This means that you, your employee, or your client’s education sources, or education and work experience cannot be combined to write an equivalency.

The 2006 Annual Conference of the American Immigration Lawyers Association concluded, “For employment-based immigration visa purposes, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will not equate a three-year diploma plus a post-baccalaureate diploma as being the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor’s degree for either EB2 classification.”

This means if you, your employee, or your client has a two or three-year degree, the credential evaluator you work with needs to be able to write an evaluation to show equivalence to a US four-year degree without combining work experience to fill in the missing fourth year. While this method of evaluation works for the H1B visa, it will not for EB2.

What is the solution? Find a credential evaluation agency that often works with difficult cases, RFEs, and Denials because they understand what triggers them, and they understand how to address them. A knowledgeable evaluator knows the concerns and questions CIS has underlying this kind of RFE and can answer them by citing CIS decisions, memos, precedents, and other evidence that show functional equivalence, and how international trade organizations view the equivalence of your client’s degree. At TheDegreePeople, we are able to write evaluations that get our clients’ three and two-year degrees accepted regularly, but it takes a VERY detailed evaluation in which we hold CIS’s hand, guiding them through the complex terrain of the equivalency.

One way credential evaluators address this kind of RFE is by utilizing the progressive work experience conversion formula of three years of work experience in the field to one year of college credit in that field to write a Master’s degree equivalence. A credential evaluator can cite federal case law and CIS precedent decisions to write an evaluation that converts five years of progressive work experience in the field to a US Master’s degree in that field to meet PERM education requirements.

We see difficult RFEs and Denials every day at TheDegreePeople. While there are never any guarantees with CIS, we follow their educational trends closely and know what tends to work and what does not. If you, your client, or your employ has received an RFE for an education situation, visit us online at cciFree.com. We will review your case at no cost and advise you on how to best proceed.

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, RFEs, Denials, or NOIDs, please go to http://www.ccifree.com/ or call 800.771.4723.

Two Common Reasons and Solutions for Educational RFEs for EB2 Petitions Read More »

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