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Level 1 Wages: Who is to Blame for this RFE?

Credential Evaluation, Immigration

Sometimes, the attorney filed the petition wrong. Sometimes, the candidate simply doesn’t have the credentials to meet H1B requirements. Sometimes, the candidate does have the qualifications but the credential evaluation to prove it was either not included or written without consideration of the job or H1B visa. Sometimes, the job doesn’t meet CIS requirements for specialization.

However, when it comes to the Level 1 Wages RFE, CIS is to blame.

This RFE hit the H1B world this season from out of nowhere with unprecedented scope, targeting computer programmers working at Level 1 Wages. No one saw it coming, and everyone is scrambling to answer it.

In this RFE, CIS claims that computer programmers working at Level 1 Wages are entry level computer programmers, and that entry level computer programmers can be hired with only a US Associates degree as a credential. Since H1B requirements state a qualified candidate must hold a US Bachelors degree or higher or its equivalent, CIS claims that the job doesn’t meet specialization requirements for H1B status. CIS cites a passage in the Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook that states sometimes employers will hire entry level computer programmers with Associates degrees.

There are several problems with this. This first and most obvious is that just because a job is set at Level 1 Wages doesn’t mean it’s an entry level position. That’s not how wage levels work. One of the main goals of the H1B program is to attract bright minds from around the world to US colleges and universities so they can stay on with H1B jobs working in STEM industries – industries in which the US desperately needs more highly skilled workers. After graduating with a Bachelors degree, candidates have little to no experience on the job even though they possess the specialized skills and understanding, as well as the degree. These workers still need a high level of supervision and guidance, which factors into their low starting wage. There are other nuances that effect how wage levels are set that CIS doesn’t take into consideration with its reasoning.

Second, that same passage in the Occupational Outlook Handbook also states that in most cases, employers will require a minimum of a US Bachelors degree for entry level computer programmers.

CIS is wrong on both fronts, and this RFE is their fault. This doesn’t change the fact that it’s on us to answer it.

At TheDegreePeople.com, we work with difficult RFEs every year, and we are always able to find creative solutions that work. For a free review of you or your client or employee’s case, please send the following documents to [email protected]:

• LCA

• Beneficiary Resume

• Employer Support Letter

• Detailed Job Description

• RFE

We will get back to you in 48 hours or less with a full analysis of your case, or your client or employee’s case, and our recommendations of how to address this RFE and preempt a second round of RFEs in the process.

Level 1 Wages: Who is to Blame for this RFE? Read More »

3 Pro Tips to Successfully Answer the Level 1 Wages H1B RFE

Credential Evaluation, Immigration

At TheDegreePeople, we see difficult RFEs come across our desks every year. This year, CIS rolled out a new RFE, the Level 1 Wages RFE, that has everyone panicking. No one saw it coming, and it’s arrived in unprecedented numbers.

First, it’s important to understand how the Level 1 Wages RFE is justified. CIS cites a passage in the Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook that it uses to determine what jobs meet H1B specialization requirements. This passage states that some employers will hire entry level computer programmers with only a US Associates degree. To meet H1B qualifications, a job must require a minimum of a US Bachelors degree or higher. This is the justification CIS uses to rationalize that computer programmers working at Level 1 Wages are working entry level jobs that don’t require a specialized skill set and knowledge base that meet CIS specialization requirements.

There are two main problems here. 1) That same passage states that employers usually require a US Bachelors degree for entry level computer programmers, and 2) just because a job is set at Level 1 Wages doesn’t mean it’s an entry level position.

Here’s what you do:

  1. Show CIS that the job is not an entry level position. This requires documentation including the ad for the job, a detailed job description, comparisions to similar positions for similar companies in that geographic region, and more.
  2. Include an expert opinion letter in the RFE response. This also requires an expert opinion letter debunking the reasoning CIS gives for assuming the job is entry level.
  3. Before you submit an RFE response, make sure that the entire case is reviewed to address the Level 1 Wages RFE, and preempt a second round of RFEs.

The Level 1 Wages RFE is the hot RFE of the year, but this does not mean that other common RFEs are on hold for this season. In fact, we’ve seen that candidates who fail to preempt other RFEs in their response have been getting hit with more common RFEs.

There are certain jobs, certain degrees, and certain situations that are RFE magnets. That’s why it’s important to resist getting distracted by this new RFE and remember that there is an entire petition to strengthen and defend.

For a no charge and no obligation review of your case, or your employee or client’s entire case, please send the following documents to [email protected]:

• LCA

• Beneficiary resume and educational documents

• Detailed description of the job and its duties

• Employer support letter

• RFE

We will get back to you within 48 hours with a full review of the case and our recommendations for how to respond.

3 Pro Tips to Successfully Answer the Level 1 Wages H1B RFE Read More »

Don't Get Distracted by the Level 1 Wages RFE!

Credential Evaluation, Immigration

Candidates who received an RFE for Level 1 Wages and answered it perfectly are now getting hit with another round of RFEs.  In fact, this year we’ve seen round two of RFEs bring up some old favorites like the three-year bachelor’s degree RFE, and the occupational specialization RFE, and the mismatched education RFE.

While RFEs are common, they are not desirable because they give CIS an opportunity to closely scrutinize the candidate’s petition and pick up on minute inconsistencies, mistakes, or details that would otherwise fly under the radar.  The silver lining to an RFE is it gives candidates a chance to strengthen their case, but only if it’s done correctly.

At TheDegreePeople.com, when we answer one RFE, we take that opportunity to prevent more by reviewing the candidate’s entire case.  If you or your employee or client has a three-year bachelor’s degree, or a degree with a major that is not an exact match for the H1B job, we can include a credential evaluation that uses progressive work experience to fill in the gaps between the candidate’s education and job.  If you or your employee or client holds a degree or a job that tends to be an RFE magnet, we address the specific issues involved in the initial RFE response along with the expert opinion letter for Level 1 Wages.

Don’t wait for a second RFE to address it.  Have us review the entire case before you file a response to make sure you pre-empt any future hindrances to H1B visa approval.

To have us review your case, or your employee or client’s case at no charge and no obligation, please send the following documents to [email protected]:

• LCA

• Beneficiary Resume and Educational Documents

• Employer Support Letter

• Detailed Description of the Job

• RFE

We will get back to you in 48 hours or less with a full review of the case, our recommendations, and information on how to move forward.

Don't Get Distracted by the Level 1 Wages RFE! Read More »

RFE Alert: Did you submit the right evaluation for the wrong visa?

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

College and graduate admissions evaluations, for example, are an entirely different from what is needed in a credential evaluation for a work visa. Education requirements vary from visa to visa, and what CIS accepts for combinations and equivalencies also varies between visas. Many credential evaluation agencies will write a standard evaluation for every case and call it good, but this will not work for H1B.

Think back to when you ordered your client’s credential evaluation:

  • Did they ask about the candidate’s job?
  • Did they ask about the candidate’s visa?
  • Do they regularly work with RFE cases?

The right credential evaluation agency will ask the right questions, work regularly with RFE, and follow CIS approval trends.

If the answer is no to any or all of these questions, it is likely that you had the right evaluation for the wrong visa. While the evaluation may be accurate, it still did not met CIS requirements for H1B eligibility.

For an H1B visa, the candidate must hold the equivalent of a US bachelor’s degree or higher in the exact field of their H1B job. For three-year bachelor’s degrees or for degree that don’t exactly match the field of employ, you need a credential evaluation to fill in the eligibility gaps. CIS will not accept classroom clock hour conversions to hours of college credit. The fourth year must be accounted for with a progressive work experience conversion of three years of work experience to one year of college credit in the field.

The right credential evaluation agency will keep one eye on the education and the other on CIS. That’s what we do at TheDegreePeople.com.

If you or your employee or client received an RFE for an education situation, let us help you for free. Simply hit go to ccifree.com and submit the educational documents and a current, accurate resume. We will get back to you within 24 hours with a pre-evaluation, full analysis, and all of your options moving forward.

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.

RFE Alert: Did you submit the right evaluation for the wrong visa? Read More »

Overturn an H1B Nightmare RFE in Three Steps

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals


The Nightmare RFE is virtually impossible to answer by following its own guidelines. However, at TheDegreePeople, we work with these RFEs regularly and with a creative approach have a very high rate of success in getting them overturned and our clients’ visas approved.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Read it.

Sit down with your team and read through the entire RFE carefully. Look at the documentation and evidence that you are being asked to provide. Don’t panic, you won’t have to provide the virtually impossible amount of evidence in the virtually impossible amount of time the RFE states.

  1. Put it down and go back to the original H1B requirements.

This RFE will not tell you how to answer it. The second step is to put the RFE down and return to the initial H1B requirements. In looking at the original H1B requirements in light of the evidence and documentation being requested, you can get a sense of what underlying questions CIS is really trying to answer in requesting the evidence indicated. Answer those underlying questions and you won’t need to jump through the impossible amount of hoops the Nightmare seems to require. Remember, the candidate’s job must be a specialty occupation requiring a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its foreign equivalent to perform. The candidate must hold that degree in the exact field of employ or its foreign equivalent. Your client’s employer must be economically viable and pay the H1B worker the prevailing wages for that job for a company of that size in that geographical location. The candidate and the employer must also have an employer-employee relationship in which the employer can hire, fire, promote, pay, supervise, and otherwise control the candidate’s work. Find out which of these requirements were not clearly met, and provide the evidence to fill in the gaps left open in the initial petition.

  1. Go to CCIFREE.COM for a free consultation on how to best proceed.

Visit us for a free consultation on your education situation, or the situation of your employee or client. Oftentimes, what was missing in the original petition was a credential evaluation – or the RIGHT credential evaluation. If you or your employee or client has a degree from outside of the United States, incomplete college, or a degree in a generalized field or field that does not exactly match the H1B job, a credential evaluation is needed so CIS can clearly see the value of the education. Oftentimes, a credential evaluation agency will write an accurate evaluation, but not take the nuances of the H1B visa into account. If you’re wondering why you, or your employee or client got an RFE even though you submitted a credential evaluation, this may be your situation. Did the agency ask about the job or visa? These are two essential components of writing the RIGHT credential evaluation for the H1B visa.

Are you staring down a Nightmare RFE? We can help. Simply go to ccifree.com and submit the candidate’s educational documents and a current, accurate resume and we will get back to you within 24 hours with a full pre-evaluation and analysis, and all of your options moving forward.

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.

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Overturn an H1B Nightmare RFE in Three Steps Read More »

Five Tips to Successfully Answer Your H1B RFE

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals


An RFE is an opportunity to strengthen you case, or your employee or client’s case. At TheDegreePeople, we work with H1B RFEs regularly and have found that these five tips in particular help clients find success in answering even the most difficult RFEs.

  1. Find out who is at fault for the RFE.

This is not to cast blame, but rather to find out where evidence is lacking and who dropped the ball. Sometimes CIS is at fault. It’s no surprise that CIS makes mistakes. A candidate can file a spotless H1B petition on time, in order, and still receive an RFE. Sometimes the attorney will file the petition wrong. Sometimes the candidate is mistaken or misleading about the actual academic value of their education, sometimes the credential evaluator made a mistake, and sometimes the evaluator wrote an accurate evaluation without taking CIS approval trends and H1B requirements into consideration. Find out who is at fault, and from there discern what must be done to rectify the situation.

  1. Read the RFE, but don’t read into it TOO much.

Sit down with your team, read the RFE, figure out what is being asked of you, and then put it down. Getting caught up in the wording of an RFE can distract you from what CIS is actually asking. Instead of focusing on the verbatim of the RFE, discern what they are trying to learn about the candidate based on the evidence they request. RFEs like the Nightmare RFE are virtually impossible to answer by following its own guidelines. The RFE will not tell you how to answer it. Look instead to tip number three.

  1. Go back to the initial H1B requirements.

Instead of getting caught up in what the RFE is asking, go back to the original H1B requirements and find out what was lacking in the initial petition. CIS issues an RFE when they don’t feel they have enough information to make a decision of whether or not you or your employee or client meets visa requirements with the evidence and documentation originally given. H1B visas are for highly skilled foreign workers employed in specialty occupations that require a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its foreign equivalent as a minimum requirement for the job. The job must meet this requirement, and the candidate must hold that degree or its foreign equivalent in the exact field of their H1B job. Furthermore, you must prove that the candidate and the employer have an employer-employee relationship, the employer is economically viable, and the candidate will be receiving the prevailing wages and benefits for that job in that geographical location for companies of that size. Find out which of these requirements is lacking in evidence and work with your team to fill in the evidentiary gaps left open in the initial petition.

  1. For candidates with foreign degrees, incomplete college or no college degrees, or degrees that do not exactly match the job need a credential evaluation.

If you or your employee or client is in one of the above situations, you need to include a credential evaluation in your response to the RFE. CIS will not approve the visa unless there is a clear explanation of why the candidate meets the educational requirements. If you or your employee or client has a foreign visa, it needs to be evaluated for US academic value. For foreign bachelor’s degrees that take three years to complete instead of the US four, the candidate will need a work experience conversion that converts three years of progressive work experience in the field into college credit towards that specialization to account for the missing fourth year. If you or your employee or client has a degree in a field that doesn’t exactly match their job, they will need a work experience conversion as well, and a close examination of their course content to write an equivalency to the correct specialization.

There are many other situations in which a credential evaluation is required. Don’t take chances, simply go to ccifree.com and attach your or your employee or client’s client’s educational documents, a current resume, and the job title or desired equivalency and we will get back to you within 24 hours with a free pre-evaluation and analysis with all of your options.

  1. If a credential evaluation is needed, make sure you work with an agency that understands H1B visas.

A common education RFE occurs when a candidate submits the right credential evaluation for the wrong visa. Different visas have different requirements for what is acceptable for equivalencies and conversions. The evaluation agency you need understands the nuances of the H1B visa and also keeps an eye on CIS approval trends, which change.

When you’re talking with a potential credential evaluation agency, keep this in mind: if they don’t ask about the visa or job, they don’t understand what they need to write an evaluation for the visa. Without this information, it is impossible.

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 Tips to Successfully Answer Your H1B RFE Read More »

Expert Tips for You To Successfully Answer an H1B RFE

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals


At TheDegreePeople, we specialize in helping our clients overturn their RFEs and get their H1B visas approved. RFEs are tricky business, so here are five tips that we have seen bring our clients success year after year.

  1. Don’t expect your RFE to tell you how to answer it.

A big mistake candidates and their lawyers make every year is expecting the RFE to be helpful. When you read the RFE, remember that it is a tool CIS uses to weed out petitions. It’s a red flag. There are far too many petitions for the annual H1B visa cap every year and your RFE or your employee or client’s RFE is most likely a documented excuse for denial rather than a tool to help you. Read the RFE, make note of what it’s asking, but don’t get caught up in its wording and specific demands. Remember, some RFEs are virtually impossible to answer based on the directions they provide. This does not mean they’re impossible to answer. You just need to look for the answers in the right places.

  1. Reference and Understand H1B Requirements.

The initial H1B eligibility requirements are the right place to look for the answers you need to get that RFE overturned. Your RFE, or your employee or client’s RFE was triggered because the evidence provided in the initial petition fell short of clearly proving the initial H1B requirements were met. Find out which requirements CIS is unclear about. When you go over the RFE, first revisit the detailed requirements INCLUDING current CIS educational trends, and then have these requirements on hand while you read through the RFE to discern where evidence was lacking. Then, figure out what documentation you need to fill in the gaps.

  1. Don’t expect to always be able to provide the specific materials the RFE requests.

You will NOT always be able to get the specific documents CIS requests in the time allotted to answer the RFE. RFEs like The Nightmare are not designed to be answered, they are designed to confuse and justify denying the visa. If you follow the directions in an RFE like this one, you will find yourself out of time, out of money, and nowhere closer to getting your visa, or your employee or client’s visa approved. So don’t expect to in the first place and you will save yourself a whole heap of stress.

  1. Discern what it is CIS really wants to know.

So you’ve reviewed the initial H1B requirements, you understand that the answer to your RFE does not lie within the RFE itself, and you know that you won’t necessarily be able to provide the exact documentation CIS requests in the RFE. Now it’s time to discern what CIS really wants to know. Sit down together, read the RFE with the initial H1B requirements, and figure out what CIS really wants to know. Where was clarity lacking in the initial petition? In many cases, the shortcomings have to do with CIS approval trends regarding educational equivalencies, or with proving specialization. When you meet with your team, be sure that your team includes a credential evaluator with experience working with H1B RFEs, understands CIS education regulations and approval trends, and has an in-depth understanding of international education. Education requirements and what is and what is not accepted as valid educational equivalencies for H1B visas have changed in recent years, and meeting these requirements can take a creative approach.

  1. MEET THE DEADLINE.

Don’t miss the deadline. Make sure your RFE answer is filed by the deadline, and includes all of the documentation and evidence you need to strengthen your case, or your employee or client’s case, in order, and easy to read. It is highly unlikely you will get an extension, and missing the deadline will most likely lead to the case getting rejected.

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.]]>

Expert Tips for You To Successfully Answer an H1B RFE Read More »

Answering an H1B RFE: Beware of Education Traps!

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals


If you or your employee or client fell into an H1B education trap, you need to understand what happened and how you can fix it when answering the RFE. Below we will look at some common H1B traps and how to climb your way out of them.

Badly Translated Transcripts

When you submit an H1B petition, CIS requires all educational documents be translated into English and evaluated for US academic equivalence. Some degrees simply don’t translate directly into English. At the same time, many degrees do translate directly into English when it comes to the wording, but the degree has an entirely different academic content. This is why degrees must be translated AND evaluated, and these are both highly specialized fields. Sometimes translation agencies overstep their scope of practice and make educational value judgments along with language translation. This is a major H1B education trap that has become more and more treacherous as some translation agencies have begun to market their services as a “one-shop stop” for translation and evaluation. Credential evaluation must be carried out on a case-by-case basis because every pathway through learning is unique, every institution is unique, and every country has a unique structure. An evaluator must be knowledgeable about these differences, as well as federal case law, CIS precedents, degree program admissions requirements, and international trade agreements to write an accurate evaluation of your degree, or your employee or client’s degree. Translation agencies simply do not have this expertise and instead turn to conservative equivalency databases like EDGE, which is not actually a standardized equivalency database as no such database actually exists.

If you or your employee or client received an RFE as the result of a bad translation, talk to a credential evaluation agency that works regularly with H1B RFE cases. A skilled evaluator can spot a bad translation and evaluate accordingly.

The degree is not from a government-accredited institution.

The fact is, there are plenty of institutions around the world that offer rigorous education programs that fully prepare workers for highly specialized occupations that are not actually government accredited. That means that even though you or your employee or client may have a legitimate education from an institution held in high regard by your industry, or your employee or client’s industry, the institution itself may not be government accredited and CIS will not approve the visa.

This is an RFE trap that you may or may not be able to wriggle free of. If you have, or if your employee or client has years of progressive work experience in the field of their specialty occupation, a credential evaluator with the authority to convert years of work experience into college credit to write a US bachelor’s degree equivalency CIS will accept. It’s always best to find whether or not this will work BEFORE you file the petition, but even if you fell into this H1B trap for FY2017 you may still be able to answer the RFE and get the visa approved.

The Bachelor’s Degree is ACTUALLY just a high school diploma.

This happens more often than you may think. Mistaking a high school diploma for a Bachelor’s degree can happen as the result of cross-cultural misunderstandings, bad translations, and acting upon false information. H1B educational criteria require candidates to hold a US bachelor’s degree or higher, or its equivalent. A high school diploma – or the foreign equivalent of a US high school diploma – will not cut it.

If you or your employee or client fell into this H1B education trap, talk to a credential evaluator with experience working with H1B RFEs. If you have, or if your employee or client has any post-secondary education from an accredited institution, this can be counted towards a bachelor’s degree equivalency, along with any years of progressive work experience you have, or your employee or client has in the field of employ. This is a tough mistake to recover from, and you may even find out that you or your employee or client has been pursuing the wrong visa all along. However, there is still a chance that you can claw your way out of this H1B education trap.

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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Answering an H1B RFE: Beware of Education Traps! Read More »

How to Avoid that H1B RFE

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

  • Make sure the information is consistent across all of the documents and forms.
    • Don’t ever submit an H1B petition without double-checking every form and document for consistency and accuracy. This means spelling of names, dates of jobs and education, names of employers and schools, and locations of these jobs and schools. Everything must be consistent. CIS is on the lookout for visa fraud. Inaccurate or inconsistent answers are big red flags that can arouse suspicion even though your client and his or her employer is legitimate.
    1. Your client’s job must be a specialty occupation.
    This means your client’s job must require a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its equivalent. To show this, you need to prove that not only does your client’s particular job require a degree to perform, but that similar jobs in similar companies in the same industry also require an advanced degree. This shows that the skills and knowledge needed to successfully carry out the duties of your client’s job requires an advanced degree.
    1. Your client must possess a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its equivalent.
    Unless your client has a very straightforward bachelor’s degree or higher from a US college or university, you will need to get your client’s credentials evaluated by an authorized foreign credentials evaluator. Some degrees are more complex than others because many countries have certifications and licenses that are actually degrees, even though the word degree is not in the title. Professional licenses like the Indian Chartered Accountancy license require the equivalence of the same post-secondary education required for a bachelor’s degree. However, Canadian Chartered Accountancy does not require education that equates to post-secondary education. Another example of a difficult education situation is the Indian three-year bachelor’s degree. While it has the same – if not greater – amount of classroom contact hours as the US four-year bachelor’s degree, you need to account for the extra year of education for CIS to consider the Indian three-year bachelor’s degree as equivalent to the US four-year degree. To do this, a credential evaluator with the authority to convert years of progressive work experience in your client’s field of employ into years of college credit must write an evaluation with the equivalency of three years of work experience to one year of college credit documented and accounted for to account for the missing fourth year.
    1. Your client’s degree must be an exact match for the job offer.
    Until less than a decade ago, an H1B candidate with a degree in a field related to their job title would get their visa approved without an RFE. Now we are seeing RFE’s for degrees that are not an exact match for the job offer. While employers will hire employees with degrees in related fields, CIS will not approve their visas. CIS requires your candidate have the specialized skills and knowledge required for their H1B job. While candidates with related degrees may possess these skills – particularly if they are hired for the job – your client needs to prove this to CIS with a degree match. If your client’s degree is not an exact match for his or her job offer, have a credential evaluator review your client’s education and employment history. An evaluation can be written converting years of progressive work experience into college credit in the major that matches your client’s job. Classroom contact hours in coursework in the matching field can also be evaluated and counted towards a major in that field.
    1. Your client’s degree must be specialized.
    Since the H1B visa is for specialized occupations, your candidate must have a degree that reflects having learned and mastered specialized skills and knowledge. A generalized degree – such as a liberal arts degree with no specific field of specialization – is not adequate to show a candidate possesses such knowledge. If your client has a generalized degree but was still hired for an H1B occupation, clearly his or her employer can see that your client has the specialized skills and knowledge necessary to excel at the job. Now you have to provide CIS with evidence that this is the case. Have a credential evaluator review your client’s transcripts and resume to see what conversions can be made to write an equivalency to a specialized degree that matches the H1B job offer. The H1B visa requirements are very detailed and specific, especially when it comes to your client’s education. H1B trends change as this visa becomes more and more sought after with higher demand for highly skilled workers in STEM industries that the US workforce can supply.   Before you submit, have a credential evaluator look over your client’s transcripts, educational documents, and work experience to see if an evaluation is needed, and if so, what must be done. 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.]]>

    How to Avoid that H1B RFE Read More »

    FY2017 H-1B Predictions and Requirements

    Credential Evaluation, Visa Approvals


    But what does a spotless petition look like?

    Your client’s petition must meet H-1b requirements as well as current CIS trends to be approved. CIS has been issuing more and more RFE’s every year, up from around 4% less than a decade ago to 25% in recent years as responses to H-1b petitions. That means your client has a one in four chance of receiving an RFE that the two of you will have to address. Your client doesn’t have to be a statistic so long as you clearly show that your client and his or her job and employer meet H-1b requirements in adherence to current CIS trends.

    What are the H-1b requirements and how do trends affect how to properly evidence these requirements?

    1. Your client’s job must be a specialty occupation. This means that to perform the duties of the job, your client must hold a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its equivalent in a related field. In recent years however, CIS has issued RFE’s for degrees that do not exactly match candidates’ job titles. If your client’s major is not an exact match for his or her job title, you need to find a credential evaluation agency that can take a close look at your client’s education to count classroom contact hours in classes matching your client’s job towards a degree equivalency. The evaluator can also convert years of progressive work experience in the field to years of college credit in the major of your client’s job offer. To show that your client’s job is a specialty occupation, you need to provide evidence that your client’s employer requires this degree for this job, and that similar positions in similar companies also require an advanced degree. If this is not the case, you need to provide evidence as to why your client’s particular job is so specifically complex as to require an advanced degree to carry out its duties.
    1. Your client must hold a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its equivalent. H-1b visas are for specialty occupations that require a bachelor’s degree or higher to perform. If your client has a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its equivalent, and the degree matches the job, all you have to do is submit the educational documents with the petition. However, if your client’s degree is from a different country – particularly a country with a three-year bachelor’s degree – you need to have your client’s education evaluated for US equivalence. This is because educational systems vary from country to country, and CIS must clearly see the value of your client’s education in terms of US educational value. Some post-secondary degrees from other countries are the equivalent of US bachelor’s degrees even though the word “degree” is not in the title. Others are not. A detailed evaluation from a credential evaluator with expert understanding of international education is needed to meet this requirement. For three-year degrees, a progressive work experience conversion is needed to fill in the missing fourth year. Although three-year degrees, like the Indian three-year degree, have the same if not more number of classroom contact hours as a US four-year degree, CIS does not accept this equivalency on face without a detailed credential evaluation.
    1. There must be an employer-employee relationship. This means that your client’s employer can hire, fire, promote, pay, and otherwise control the work your client does. You can show this by submitting a copy of the employee contract or providing other documentation regarding your client’s job.
    1. Your client must be paid the prevailing wage for his or her job. Prevailing wage is determined based on the job, the company, the geographic location, and other factors. To prove that your client will be paid the prevailing wage for his or her job, you need to provide evidence that states common salaries for your client’s occupation in similar companies in similar locations, as well as proof that your client’s employer will be paying that wage. At the same time, you also have to show that your client’s employer is economically viable to pay your client the prevailing wage without affecting the salaries of other employees, operating costs, or other aspects of the business.

    Before you file your client’s H-1b petition, have a credential evaluator review his or her education to make sure all your ducks are in a row. If you submit a petition without an evaluation where one is needed, you can expect an RFE. While an RFE is not the end of the world, it is a big red flag on your client’s petition, and will trigger CIS to comb over the petition and find misplaced details that would otherwise have gone by unnoticed. CIS has a big job to do when it comes to cap-subject H-1b visa selection. Make their job easier by making sure your client’s visa is easy to approve, not by giving them a big red flag to look at.

    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.]]>

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