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How Can You Avoid that H1B RFE?

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals


st is right around the corner and you want to make sure you have the time you need to file a petition that’s going to be approved.

In the haste of preparation, it’s important to keep in mind that the rate of RFEs is high and climbing, and submitting a petition that doesn’t meet H1B requirements is a costly waste of time. Meeting H1B educational requirements clearly and initially is the key to visa approval. Successful H1B candidates must hold a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its foreign equivalent in their field of employ. This sounds simple enough, but matters get tricky when a candidate holds a degree or vocational certificate from outside of the United States.

Many candidates are misinformed about their US educational equivalent. This leads to submitting petitions that are doomed to failure. For example, some candidates have earned diplomas and certificates that are not the equivalent of degrees in the United States. Sometimes, the value of the degree gets lost in translation into English. Some vocational certifications from other countries ARE the equivalent of a US bachelor’s degree even though the US vocational certification is not. Foreign credential evaluation is a highly nuanced process that encompasses international education, college and graduate program admissions policies, international trade and commerce agreements, federal case law, and CIS precedent decisions. All of these factors come into play when discerning whether or not you education, or your employee or client’s education meets H1B requirements, and does so with respect to CIS approval trends.

Before you get too far on the H1B petition, take the candidate’s education and work experience to a credential evaluation agency. The right agency for you works regularly with H1B cases and their RFEs. When you call or email, they will respond promptly and ask about your or your employee or client’s job and visa. If the agency does not ask about the job and visa, look elsewhere.

Don’t file an H1B petition with the wrong education. If a candidate does not meet CIS educational requirements with their foreign degree, they may be able to meet equivalency requirements by including a work experience conversion with a detailed credential evaluation.

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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How You Prepare for a Successful H1B Season with a Three-Year Degree

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals


International education experts agree that duration is not always an accurate reflection of content. Many three-year bachelor’s degree programs have the same – if not greater – number of classroom contact hours as a US four-year bachelor’s degree program. However, CIS requires that missing fourth year to be accounted for, and that’s what matters when it comes to getting an H1B visa approved. If you or your employee or client has a three-year bachelor’s degree and files without accounting for the missing fourth year of education, the best you can expect is to receive an RFE.

Preventing an RFE is always easier than answering one. With so many petitions flowing in, CIS is looking for shortcuts to weed out petitions, and an RFE is a big red flag on the petition. If you or your employee or client receives an RFE for a three-year bachelor’s degree, you can expect that’s not the only thing CIS will inquire about in the RFE. The glaring omission of the missing fourth year triggers a close scrutiny of the petition that can reveal minor errors that would have flown under the radar that you will now have to address alongside the three-year degree.

This can be prevented easily, and here’s how:

While CIS does not accept that a three-year bachelor’s degree is the equivalent of a US four-year bachelors degree, this can be fixed by adding work experience.

CIS accepts a work experience conversion of three years of progressive work experience in the field of employ to one year of college credit in that specialization. Progressive work experience means that you or your employee or client took on more responsibility and complexity in the work as time went on, which serves as evidence that the candidate learned skills and knowledge specialized to the field through this work experience. This conversion can only be done by professors who are authorized to issue college credit for work experience.

Before you file, take your case, or your employee or client’s case to a credential evaluation agency with experience working with H1B visas, H1B RFEs, and three-year degrees that works with professors with the authority to make the work experience conversion you need. The evaluator can review the case to make sure the candidate has the education and work experience necessary to make this conversion. Do NOT make the mistake of filing an H1B petition without making absolutely sure that it meets CIS approval criteria and trends.

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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