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Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

It’s RFE season! That means you or your employee or client has a one in four chance of receiving an RFE on their H1B petition. Some of the most common RFEs for this visa have to do with the candidate’s education.

If you or your employee or client has a degree that does not match their field, a degree from outside of the US, incomplete college, or a degree that doesn’t have the word “degree” in the title, you will need to find the right credential evaluator for the job. Many education RFEs occur because the petition was submitted without a credential evaluation, or a credential evaluation that did not take the nuances of the visa requirements, the job, the degree, or CIS approval trends into consideration. Do not make this same mistake when responding to an RFE.

When looking for the right credential evaluation agency for the job, keep these five questions in mind:

  1. Are they affordable?

The right credential evaluation agency is inexpensive. This is not one of those situations where you get what you pay for. The agency that wants to work with you keeps their rates reasonable.

  1. Is it easy to work with them?

You will know the answer to this in pretty short order. Do they answer or promptly return your calls, texts, or emails? Do they answer your questions to your satisfaction? Do they make you feel comfortable in your communication with them? Do they offer rush delivery options? Agencies that regularly work with visa cases and their RFEs understands the time crunch you are under and makes it easy for you to get what you need when you need it.

  1. Did they ask about the candidate’s job and visa?

If the answer to either of these is no, look elsewhere. In order to write the right credential evaluation for your client’s case, the evaluator must know which visa they are working with, and what job the credential evaluation is for. Educational requirements vary from visa to visa, and what combinations of education and work experience CIS will accept as equivalencies vary as well. You don’t want to end up with the right evaluation for the wrong visa.

  1. Does the agency regularly work with RFEs, Denials and NOIDs?

If an agency works regularly with these cases, they understand what causes RFEs for H1B visas, and how to properly address them.

  1. Do they offer a free review of the case before you order your evaluation?

If an agency doesn’t review the case first, there’s no way they can know what the evaluation will entail. Never put down money without a consultation of all of your options. If an agency demands money up front before they will even look at the candidate’s documents, look elsewhere.

If you, or your employee or client has an H1B RFE for an education situation, let us provide a pre-evaluation with all of your options free of charge. Simply go to ccifree.com and attach the educational documents, a current resume, and the H1B job title, and we will get back to you within 24 hours with your pre-evaluation, a full analysis, and all of your options to overturn the RFE.

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.

H1B RFE? 5 Questions to Find the Right Credential Evaluator Read More »

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals
Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

RFEs are on the rise across the board for visa candidates. Education RFEs are particularly common for visas like H1B and EB2, which are contingent on the candidate’s advanced degree and skill specialization. Candidates who earned their degrees from outside of the United States run into trouble because educational systems vary across borders, and academic value does not always translate along with the language.

Before you file, make sure you know what education you’re working with. All you have to do is go to ccifree.com, let us know the visa and job, and attach the candidate’s educational documents and resume. Within 24 hours, we will send you a pre-evaluation and full analysis of all of your options. You will know what you’re working with, and be able to move forward accordingly.

It’s not uncommon for candidates to insist that their high school diploma is a college degree, or for a translated document to report a false academic equivalency.

This happens for two main reasons. First, many degrees don’t actually have the word “degree” in the title. When this is translated, it is unclear whether or not the candidate actually has earned the postsecondary education necessary to meet the academic qualifications for their visa. On the same note, some credentials that do have the word degree in the title are not the academic equivalent of US postsecondary education, and some credentials don’t have the word “degree” in the title and are not degrees, period. Some countries have the same titles for different education. For example, the Indian Chartered Accountancy certification is the equivalent of a US bachelor’s degree in accounting while the Canadian Chartered Accountancy certification is not.

The second reason this happens is because when documents are translated from their original language into English, some degree titles don’t actually have a direct linguistic translation into English. Others do, but the academic value is different. It’s easy for translators to accidentally insert misinformed judgment into the academic value of a degree through translation. It is always best for translators to simply perform a direct translation and then have the documents passed onto a credential evaluator for the next step.

Understanding the value of a foreign degree requires a complex, specialized understanding of international education. Understanding the structures of education and the educational steps required to earn each credential, as well as international trade agreements, graduate program admissions trends, CIS trends and precedents, and federal case law is required to write an accurate evaluation that CIS will understand and accept.

Before you file, make sure you, or your employee or client has the right education for the visa. If you’ve already received an RFE, it’s not too late! Simply go to ccifree.com and submit the educational documents and a current resume, and indicate the visa and job. We will get back to you within 24 hours with a pre-evaluation of your case and all of your options for 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.

What is a Degree? – Find out Before You File! Read More »

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals
Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

If your client is petitioning for an H1B visa with a foreign degree – especially if it is a three-year bachelor’s degree – you already know you need to submit a credential evaluation for the petition to be successful. More and more education RFE’s are issued every year to clarify foreign degree equivalencies. However, RFE’s also occur when CIS suspects evaluator is unreliable. At the same time, many evaluators will write a valid evaluation that does not fit the educational requirements of the H1B visa because the agency does not specialize in writing evaluations for visa petitions. Not every evaluation agency can write the evaluation your client needs to get his or her visa approved. Not every evaluation agency is reliable.

How do you find the right evaluation agency for your client’s education?

  • Inexpensive. When it comes to credential evaluation agencies, you DON’T get what you pay for. In fact, some of the very best evaluation agencies are the cheapest. This is because reliable agencies don’t have to make the most financial mileage out of each customer to stay in business.
  • Easy to communicate with. This means they answer your calls, texts, and emails promptly, and when you communicate with them you feel comfortable and satisfied that all of your questions have been answered. When a company answers when you call, and responds promptly when you call or text, that means they value customer service and respect your time. When you feel comfortable talking with them and they answer any questions you may have, that indicates they are confident and knowledgeable about the work they do. This is the evaluation agency you want on your team.
  • Experience in H1B Visa evaluations, RFE’s and difficult degrees. If you call a credential evaluator about an evaluation for an H1B visa and they don’t ask about your client’s job offer, look elsewhere. An evaluation agency experienced in writing evaluations for visas know that your client’s degree specialization must match their field of employ. If they don’t ask this question, they don’t know enough about visa requirements or CIS trends to write the evaluation your client needs for his or her H1B visa. Also, evaluation agencies that write evaluations responding to RFE’s are very familiar with common education RFE’s, why they are triggered, and how to respond effectively.

Not all credential evaluators are the same. Many agencies will write an evaluation based on the most conservative equivalencies pulled from a standard database. The problem is, there are no set standard equivalencies when it comes to evaluating a foreign degree because every situation is different. Federal case law, international trade agreements, and international education expert opinions and case studies show that the value of each candidate’s education is unique. To really understand the value of your candidate’s education, an evaluator must understand the academic context of the country the degree came from, stages of education required to earn that degree, the academic value of that degree in his or her home country and the jobs and professions that degree qualifies them for, as well as your client’s self-study, work experience, and miscellaneous educational background. International trade and labor organizations understand that the nature international education is too nuanced for standard, conservative equivalency evaluations, and this sentiment is reflected in federal case law, UNESCO conventions, and international labor and trade agreements. An evaluation agency that simply pulls equivalencies out of a database is not writing an accurate evaluation of your client’s academic value.

Responding to an RFE – or even better, writing an evaluation that does not trigger one – requires an evaluator with an understanding of the nature of international education across borders and cultures. This evaluator understands CIS trends and requirements, federal case law, and international trade and labor agreements and conventions that take the full reality of a candidate’s education into account when evaluating its academic worth. Sometimes responding to an RFE takes a creative solution that an evaluator who understands not only what CIS is asking for, but WHY they are asking for the specific evidence they need knows how to answer the right question even if the exact documentation asked for is not available. Choose an affordable evaluation agency that feels good to talk to, and has experience with H1B visas, RFEs, and difficult cases.

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.

Aren’t All Foreign Credential Evaluators the Same? Read More »

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals
Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

Hundreds of thousands of highly skilled workers in STEM industries are sought out every year to come work in the United States. The reason being these industries are expanding so quickly and the jobs are becoming more and more complex, requiring technical expertise the United States educational system is notoriously weak at preparing students for. More highly skilled engineers are needed every year than the US workforce alone can provide. For this reason, if companies can afford it, they opt to sponsor employee Visas.

While sponsoring an employee’s work Visa can cost a company anywhere from $2,500-10,000 in legal fees and USCIS fees, it’s not the money that gets in the way of your genius client or employee obtaining his or her Visa. The fact of the matter is, many of the most brilliant minds followed eclectic or non-traditional educational paths to get to where they are. Common Visas for highly skilled workers – the H-1B Visa and the EB2 Visa – requires a candidates’ degree specializations to be an exact match for their job offers. However, it is common for talented engineers to have earned their degrees in related fields or vastly different fields. Some are largely or completely self-taught and have all of the skills and know-how through solo learning, work experience, and other non-traditional training opportunities.

For these reasons, while companies may jump at the opportunity to take these brilliant minds on to become assets to their companies and to US STEM industries, CIS educational requirements for Visas stand in the way.

Does this mean your client or employee with the specialized skills and knowledge to excel at their job cannot get their Visa because their degree doesn’t match?

Of course not!

A credential evaluator with extensive knowledge and experience with international education complexities, as well as CIS trends and federal case law can take a close look at your client or employee’s educational content and work experience. This way, an equivalency can be written to show that your client or employee has the equivalent of the degree necessary in the specialization necessary to qualify for his or her specialty occupation.

However, different work Visas have different requirements for where these educational equivalencies must come from. For example, if your client or employee is petitioning for an H-1B Visa and has a bachelor’s degree that is not an exact match for their field of employ, but has three years of work experience in the field, their education can be combined with the years of progressive work experience to write an equivalency that their degree is in their field of employ. Work experience and education can be combined to bridge that gap. However, if your client or employee is petitioning for an EB2 Visa and runs into that same problem, the evaluator must handle this differently because the particular Visa requires a single source degree.

Not all evaluation agencies know how to write the evaluation your client or employee needs for his or her particular Visa. When you call in to see if you want to work with any given agency, make sure that they are aware of CIS trends as well as the different educational requirements for different Visas. For example, if you let an agency know that your employee needs an evaluation for an H-1B Visa, they should quickly ask what the job offer is. If they don’t, look elsewhere. You want an evaluation agency that will tailor the evaluation to fit the needs of your client or employee’s unique situation and Visa. In essence, the evaluation must be as complex and unique as the genius it’s written for.

About the Author 

Sheila Danzig

Sheila Danzig is the Executive Director of CCI 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.

What’s Standing Between Your Genius Client or Employee and Their Visa? Read More »

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals
Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals


If your job offer is for accountancy but your degree is in economics, CIS will raise a red flag. If you have a generalized degree and are hired for any job that meets the specialization standards of an H1B Visa job, CIS will raise a red flag.

CIS requirements clearly state, “USCIS precedent decisions have confirmed that a generalized degree in business administration, absent specialized experience, is insufficient to qualify an alien beneficiary in a specialty occupation […] a petitioner with a business administration degree must establish a particular area and occupation in the field of business administration in which he is engaged.”

CIS states, “A generalized degree, absent specialized experience, is insufficient.”

Does this mean H1B candidates with degrees in fields that don’t exactly match but are related to their field of employ are out of luck? Absolutely not.

Even though your education alone cannot prove that you have the specialized skills and knowledge necessary to qualify for your H1B job, your education combined with work experience can. Employers hire candidates with related degrees because they have gained the specialized skills and knowledge they need for the job by directly working in the field. To prove specialization with a related or generalized degree, you need an evaluation of your education and work experience from a professor authorized to grant college credit for your work experience. ONLY a professor authorized to do this can write the evaluation you need to get your H1B Visa approved.

Authorized professors can convert years of progressive work experience into college credit to bridge the gaps between your job and your degree. Your work experience must be in the exact field of you H1B job. To qualify as progressive work experience, the nature of the work must have required you to take on progressively more work and responsibilities representing your progressively growing specialized knowledge base and skill set.

Don’t wait for an RFE or Denial to get your degree and work experience evaluated. While an RFE or Denial is not the end of the world, it is a big red flag to CIS that will trigger a close scrutiny of your petition. Minor errors and glitches that would have otherwise gone unnoticed will be unearthed because attention has been drawn to your petition. With hundreds of thousands of H1B Visa petitions to mire through, CIS uses red flags to make the hard decision of who gets their Visa approved and who does not for the set amount of annual Visa slots. Make the decision to approve your Visa easy by making your specialized knowledge and skill set clear with a credential evaluation from a professor authorized to convert work experience into college credit.

About the Author

Sheila Danzig

Sheila Danzig is the Executive Director of CCI 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. Mention that you saw this in the ILW article and get 72 hour rush service at no charge.

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How to Bridge the Fatal Gaps Between Your Degree and Your H1B Job Read More »

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals
Credential Evaluation, Visa Approvals


For a job to qualify as an H1B job, it must be a specialty occupation.  That means the position must required a US bachelor’s degree or higher in a specialized field to properly carry out the duties of this job.  The job also much include applied theoretical and practical use of specialized skills and knowledge.  You and your employer must be able to show that similar jobs in similar companies require these same minimum requirements to show that the job is actually a specialty occupation.  If similar jobs in similar companies don’t also require a bachelor’s degree or higher, you need to be able to show why this specific job in this specific company is uniquely complex as to fit the H1B requirements.

On the same note, you must also make sure that YOU fit the requirements of your specialty occupation.  That means you are either licensed in your field of specialty in the state your job is located in, you have a US bachelor’s degree or higher, or you have enough progressively responsible work experience to be considered equivalent to the needed degree.  If your licensing or degree come from US institutions, great!  If your degree is from abroad, or you have the necessary work experience but not the degree to prove it, that’s also great, it just requires one more step: having your credentials evaluated for US degree equivalence.

We have international education experts at CCI on call every hour of the day, every day of the year with authorization to convert classroom contact hours and work experience into the US college credit hours you need to clearly show your qualifications and the value of your specialized skills.  If you have a degree but it is not in a specialized field, a credential evaluation can give a detailed analysis of your coursework and academic content to clearly show the USCIS that you do have the specialized knowledge necessary to properly carry out the duties of your H1B job.

For a free consultation on your H1B credential evaluation, visit us at http://www.ccifree.com/?CodeBLG/ or call anytime at 1.800.771.4723.]]>

Is Your Job H1B Qualified? Read More »

Credential Evaluation, Visa Approvals
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