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H-1B Education RFEs: Right Degree, Wrong Country – Right Degree, Wrong Field

Credential Evaluation, Visa Approvals

Among the most common H-1B RFEs this year – as in years past – are education RFEs inquiring into the education of the beneficiary. The reason is because this visa is heavily invested in the education of the beneficiary. This H-1B program aims to bring the brightest minds from around the world to work for US companies. Qualifying for an H-1B visa requires the beneficiary to hold a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its foreign equivalent. It also requires the beneficiary to hold a specialty occupation requiring specialized skills and knowledge. Thus, the beneficiary must have the right degree to be fully prepared to work their highly specialized job.

Many H-1B petitioners hold the right degree, but from the wrong country. Or the right degree, but in the wrong specialization. This does NOT mean these candidates do not meet the qualifications for the H-1B visa. It just means they need to go a step further to prove it. Oftentimes, those extra steps are not taken and instead of an Approval, they get an RFE.

Let’s take a look at the reasons why:

Right Degree, Wrong Country

A common RFE is triggered when a beneficiary has the right degree from a country that is not the United States. For example, if you, or your employee or client has a bachelor’s degree in biology from India, and a job in the field of biology that requires a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its equivalent, what CIS needs to know is whether or not your education, or your employee or client’s education covers the skills and knowledge necessary to perform the job. Since curriculums, education structures, academic content, and duration of programs differ between countries, CIS does not have all of the information to make this decision. Before you file, talk to a credential evaluator who can write a detailed evaluation of the academic content of your degree, or your employee or client’s degree, as well as experience working in the field of biology. This evaluation will show that even though this degree is not from the United States, you, or your employee or client is prepared with the specialized skill set and knowledge base necessary for the US job. These kinds of petitions filed without a credential evaluation are almost guaranteed to be met with an RFE instead of an approval. If this is what happened to you or your employee or client, it’s not too late to get the evaluation you need. Be sure when you talk to a credential evaluation agency that they understand the nuances of the H-1B visa requirements when it comes to education, as well as current CIS approval trends.

Right Degree, Wrong Specialization

Let’s say your bachelor’s degree, or your employee or client’s bachelor’s degree is in biology, but the job is in chemistry. With only that information, CIS has no way to know whether or not you or your employee or client has the skills and knowledge needed to perform the duties of chemist with a biology degree. The missing information is an evaluation of your education or your employee or client’s education and work experience. If you or your employee or client took classes in chemistry during college, those can be evaluated to count towards the right specialization. If you have, or your employee client has years of work experience in the field of chemistry in which he or she took on progressively more responsibility and learned new skills in the process, that can count towards the right specialization as well. Talk to an evaluator with the authority to closely examine the course content of your degree, or your employee or client’s degree, as well as the authority to convert years of progressive work experience in the field into college credit hours towards the right degree in the right specialization.

Both of these common education RFEs have to do with CIS needing more information about whether or not you or your employee or client has the skills and knowledge necessary to perform their job. With literally hundreds of thousands of petitions to sort through, CIS needs information spelled out very clearly and in an easily digestible fashion. At the same time, the person evaluating your petition or your employee or client’s petition is most likely not an international education expert with the extensive knowledge of different academic structures and equivalencies ready at their disposal. What they don’t know needs to be including in the initial petition, and if not then certainly in your response to 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, RFE, Denial, or NOID, please go to http://www.ccifree.com or call 800.771.4723.

H-1B Education RFEs: Right Degree, Wrong Country – Right Degree, Wrong Field Read More »

Who is at Fault for Your RFE?

Credential Evaluation, Visa Approvals

About one in every four H-1B petitions receive an RFE. The first step to answering an RFE is to understand what CIS is asking, who dropped the ball, and who can provide that information. Just because someone is at fault for your RFE, or your employee or client’s RFE does not mean you should fire them or find someone else. At this stage, it is often unwise to find a new attorney, evaluator, or employer for that matter. Sometimes it’s the candidate’s fault. Sometimes, CIS is at fault. Sometimes it’s no one’s fault. CIS trends change every year and it’s impossible to keep up with all of them. Sometimes, you do need to find someone else for the job.

Regardless, the first step to successfully answering your RFE, or your employee or client’s RFE is to discover why it was issued in the first place and who is to blame. Remain calm, refrain from pointing fingers, and ALWAYS remain solution-oriented through this process.

Sometimes No One is to Blame

In many cases, this is exactly the situation. CIS visa approval trends change every year and it is practically impossible for everyone to keep up on them – even CIS. The best you can do is to work with a team that follows CIS trends as closely as possible and do your best. Working with a credential evaluation agency that specializes in RFEs and difficult cases is advised because they understand what works and what does not. This will not always prevent an RFE, but you’ll know you are in good hands in any case.

Sometimes it’s The Candidate’s Fault

This is a hard but true fact. Oftentimes, a candidate will make a mistake, and if this is your situation, it’s time to eat some humble pie and move forward towards a solution. Candidates, did you make a mistake about the value of your degree, certificate, license or diploma? Did you provide poorly or even fraudulently translated documents? Did you provide poorly evaluated documents? Did you receive your degree from an unaccredited institution? Educational document errors and inconsistencies, as well as mistranslations can be picked up by a skilled credential evaluator, but sometimes that’s not the first agency you work with. Be honest with yourself and your team about your credentials, and find honest, well-trained translation and evaluation agencies to work with from the beginning. At the end of the day, candidates, your petition is your responsibility.

Sometimes it’s The Attorney’s Fault

Attorneys, did you file the petition incorrectly? Sometimes this happens. Find out what went wrong and what you need to do to fix it. At this point, it’s probably not worth it to fire the attorney unless a horrible mistake was made. Oftentimes, when the attorney is at fault it’s for the same reason that candidates may have been at fault: they worked with the wrong translation or evaluation agency and ended up submitting inaccurate documents. These problems can be addressed by working with credible translation and evaluation agencies. Just make sure you work with TWO SEPARATE agencies – one for translation and one for credential evaluation – as these are two highly specialized services that require very different and very specific sets of skills.

Sometimes it’s CIS’s Fault

It’s no secret that CIS makes mistakes. Sometimes an RFE may be factually incorrect. Your petition, or your employee or client’s petition could be absolutely spotless, filed perfectly, and filed on time, and CIS will still issue an RFE. While these RFEs are frustrating, they are also easy fixes because you already have all of the documentation and information you need at your fingertips.

Sometimes Your Evaluator – or the Evaluation itself – is at fault

Maybe it was your evaluator’s error that triggered the RFE. Maybe it was the evaluation that your evaluator wrote but not your evaluator. This may sound confusing, but it’s actually a fairly simple differentiation. The candidate’s visa requires a very specific evaluation to write the equivalency to the US degree that you, your employee, or your client needs to meet H-1B visa requirements, and in the field that matches the H-1B job. If your degree, or your client or employee’s degree was earned outside of the United States, or with a major that is not an exact match to the job, you need an evaluation written that converts years of progressive work experience into college credit to fill in the gaps between the degree and the job, or the degree and the degree CIS requires you, or your client or employee to have.

Not every evaluation agency can provide this. Some do not specialize in immigration and visa evaluations, and some don’t have the authority or cannot provide the evidence needed to back up a work experience conversion. Talk to potential credential evaluation agencies. They may be able to write an accurate evaluation, but it may be the wrong evaluation for the H-1B petition. If an agency does not ask about the job or the visa, look elsewhere. The agency you want is one that specializes in immigration and visa evaluations, and specializes in RFEs and difficult cases.

An RFE is a chance to strengthen your case, or the case of your client or employee. Sit down with your team to find out who – if anyone – dropped the ball, who can solve the problem, and how to best proceed.

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.

Who is at Fault for Your RFE? Read More »

H1B RFE Season: How to Get Through Approved!

Immigration, Visa Approvals

It’s RFE Season!

If you receive an RFE, respond to it as soon as possible. Once you respond and CIS receives the answer, you may have to wait to find out whether or not your H1B petition was approved. You don’t have to be one of those people left in limbo. Respond ASAP and get the clock ticking.

RFEs have been on the rise for many years now, with around 25% of all H1B petitions receiving one. CIS education trends have grown much more strict, and if your bachelor’s degree is from the United States, or is in a field that is not an exact match for your H1B job, you must submit your transcripts with a credential evaluation. For degrees outside of the United States, this evaluation clearly spells out the value of your education in terms of US academic standards to write an equivalency to the degree you need for your H1B visa. This particular visa requires those who qualify to hold a US bachelor’s degree or its equivalent or higher. If your degree is in the wrong field – even if it is in a field related to your job – CIS is now issuing RFEs. In the past, you could skate on through with an approval with a degree in a related field, but since there are so many visas to sort through CIS has tightened its requirements. Now you must have a degree specialization that is an exact match for your job. If this is not the case, you need to have your degree evaluated for the academic value equivalency of the specialization you need. In both of these cases, progressive work experience – that shows you learned new specialized skills and knowledge through your work experience – can be combined to account for the missing academic content in the field required.

If you fall into one of these two academic categories and you did not submit a credential evaluation with your petition, you are likely staring down an education RFE. Don’t panic, it’s not too late. You made it into the lottery and your petition is still under consideration. Don’t waste time. Talk to a credential evaluation agency that specializes in RFEs and difficult cases. Get the credential evaluation and supporting documentation you need to answer your RFE and get your H1B visa approved.

What to look for in the right credential evaluation agency for your case:

  1. Easy to communicate with. They should answer when you call, respond to your texts and emails, and answer your questions with confidence.
  1. Follows CIS approval trends. The person you want writing your evaluation knows what CIS is looking for. CIS trends change, and an evaluation that worked last year may not work again this year. As in any job, the best professionals are the ones who keep on learning and changing with the industry.
  1. Works with RFEs and Difficult Cases regularly. You got an RFE. You want to work with someone who works with people in your situation and consistently achieves the outcome for others that you want for yourself.

Don’t let RFE season get you down. You are not alone in this, and there are plenty of helpful professionals who are happy to consult with you on your case. Good luck!!

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.

H1B RFE Season: How to Get Through Approved! Read More »

Case Study: Difficult H-1B RFE for Three-Year Bachelor’s Degree – Approved

Case Studies, Visa Approvals

One of the most common education RFEs for H-1B candidates arrives when a candidate has a three-year bachelor’s degree from India. We get dozens of clients every season coming to us with this RFE because CIS sees the missing fourth year and assumes it to be missing academic content when compared to the US four-year bachelor’s degree. While international education experts argue that duration does not accurately reflect academic content, CIS is hung up on that missing year, and without the right credential evaluation submitted alongside this transcript, an RFE or worse can be expected.

What is the right credential evaluation for this case?

This credential evaluation must take into account the candidate’s job, the particular H-1B education requirements, and the candidate’s work history. The evaluator must be knowledgeable about CIS trends and precedents, and be able to cite the proper decisions, documentation, and evidence to back up each facet of this detailed evaluation.

What we do in this situation is to convert progressive work experience in our client’s field of employ into college credit. The two functional terms here are “progressive” and “in the field of employ.” Progressive work experience means that our client took on progressively more responsibilities and duties as time went on under this employment, implying that education took place through this job. In the field means that this work experience must be in the exact field of our client’s current H-1B job indicated in the petition. This conversion equates three years of progressive work experience in the field to one year of college credit. This is a fairly simple and straightforward way to account for the missing fourth year and yields a high approval rate when it comes to submitting the original petition, and for answering RFEs. We include documentation, expert opinion letters, international recognition for this conversion, and CIS precedent decisions in this evaluation.

If you, or your employee or client receives an RFE for a three-year bachelor’s degree, we can help you overturn it and get your client’s H-1B visa approved.

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: Difficult H-1B RFE for Three-Year Bachelor’s Degree – Approved Read More »

What USCIS Needs to Know about Your Client’s Indian Three-Year Degree

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

Current US educational trends clearly show that the amount of time it takes to complete a degree is not an accurate reflection of its actual academic content. More and more US college students are taking over four years to complete their four-year bachelor’s degrees, opting to take time off or take fewer classes at a time. However, when it comes to H1-b educational trends, USCIS is obsessed with the “four-year” aspect of the US four-year bachelor’s degree required equivalency. For this reason, H1-b candidates with three-year bachelor’s degrees from India have trouble getting their visas approved.

As an immigration attorney, it is important to first understand the truth behind misconceptions about the Indian three-year degree, and then understand how to address these misconceptions to USCIS in a way that takes their trends into account. Regardless of the actual value of your client’s education, it must be communicated in such a way that is in harmony with CIS requirements and educational trends.

There are two prominent misconceptions about the education of candidates who hold Indian three-year bachelor’s degrees:

  1. Candidates do not possess the core knowledge that comes from a US four-year degree.

The Indian three-year bachelor’s degree tends to have a more specialized curriculum while US four-year bachelor’s degree programs require general credits and classes from outside of a student’s major. However, this is changing in universities across India. Many institutions have changed to a choice-based credit system, which allows flexibility for students to take classes outside of their major. At the same time, the core education curriculum required for Indian students to earn a High School Diploma before they even enter college is extensive, rigorous, and well rounded. In most cases, Indian students are coming into college with the core knowledge US bachelor’s degree students must learn in college.

  1. The missing fourth year means a missing year of academic content.

Debunking this myth is a matter of math. The US four-year bachelor’s degree requires 120 credit hours to graduate. One college credit hour is comprised of fifteen classroom contact hours, meaning fifteen hours spent directly in the classroom. This is 1800 classroom contact hours for a US four-year bachelor’s degree. According to Dr. R. Venkatachalam, former psychology professor at Bharathiar University in India (http://www.emailwire.com/doc/three-year-indian-degree.pdf), a typical Indian three-year degree program has roughly 3,240 classroom contact hours.

Now that you understand the value of your client’s three-year Indian bachelor’s degree, how can you express this to USCIS in a way that they will understand? Regardless of how many classroom contact hours your client’s degree consists of, CIS still requires a progressive work experience evaluation to account for the missing fourth year. This means your client must have three years of work experience in their field of employ that can be converted into one year of college credit in that field. Progressive work experience means your client took on more work and responsibility in this experience, indicating that specialized skills and knowledge were learned and mastered. A credential evaluation agency with the authority to convert progressive work experience into college credit can write the detailed credential evaluation your and your client need to meet H1-b visa requirements in accordance with CIS educational trends. Do not file your client’s H1-b petition without one such credential evaluation or the missing fourth year will come back to haunt you in the form of an RFE or Denial.

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.

What USCIS Needs to Know about Your Client’s Indian Three-Year Degree Read More »

Don’t Fall into an H1B Education Trap

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

H1B educational requirements are laden with sneaky traps that can tank your client’s case in a hurry. To avoid these traps, it is essential to be aware of the unique educational requirements of each visa, as well as the educational equivalency requirements, which also vary from visa to visa, and change with USCIS trends. Attorneys should seek the help of credential evaluators who see a lot of RFE’s, Denials, and difficult cases, and have an in-depth understanding of international education as well as CIS trends and visa requirements. This is specialized information you and your client need to know to sidestep the H1B education traps.

Is the university your client’s degree came from government accredited?

For H1B visas, the biggest education trap is the candidate has education from an institution that is not government accredited. Two common examples of this are degrees from NIIT and Aptech. Your client’s education can be legitimate, rigorous, and prepare your client with the education necessary to meet the requirements of the H1B job, but if the institution is not government accredited, CIS won’t accept it.

Is that REALLY a college degree? Or just a high school diploma?

Another common H1B education trap attorneys and their clients fall into is when an attorney listens to a client who insists his high school diploma is a college degree. In most cases, this is an honest mistake that gets taken too far. This particular trap is the result of mistranslations and cross-cultural misunderstanding. Educational systems vary greatly between countries, and different degrees are often called the same name. Meaning gets muddled in both functional and linguistic translation. To qualify for an H1B visa, your client must have at least a US Bachelor’s degree or its foreign equivalent. A high school diploma won’t cut it.

That degree doesn’t mean what you think it does.

Bad translations are a big trap H1B candidates can fall into come filing time. Some degrees do not have direct English translations, and some degrees exist in certain countries but do not actually have a US equivalency. When educational documents get translated, words get mistranslated to skew the meaning of the value of the degree. This leads to a false evaluation following a bad translation. This trap has widened now that some translation agencies are setting up as “one-stop shops” offering both translation and credential evaluation for foreign educational documents. Credential evaluation is a very specialized field requiring highly nuanced knowledge of international education, CIS precedents, international trade agreements, and federal case law. Translation agencies simply reference an equivalency database like EDGE, which only provides the most conservative of equivalencies. Credential evaluation must be done on a case-by-case basis taking all of these aspects into consideration, as well as the specific educational requirements for the particular visa.

To avoid falling into an H1B educational trap – which there are more of every year – have a credential evaluator review your client’s education. An experienced evaluator who sees a lot of difficult cases, RFE’s, and Denials knows how to spot bad translations, unaccredited institutions, and degrees that are actually diplomas. An experienced credential evaluator can also consult you and your client on how to best move forward if their education lands square in one such trap. You and your client may have more options available than you think.

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.

Don’t Fall into an H1B Education Trap Read More »

Computer Systems Analyst: The H1b Job that gets the Most RFEs

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

The problem does not lie within the job, but in the degree. For a candidate to meet H1b visa requirements, their degree must be an exact match for their job title. What degree matches Computer Systems Analyst? While this is a common H1b job, this is NOT a common degree. In fact, a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Systems Analysis is extremely rare in the United States and available ONLY at universities with self-designed degrees. While in India, there is a BCA in Computer Systems Analysis, this degree will not work on its own because it is a three-year degree rather than a US four-year degree. The only degree we have seen NOT trigger an RFE for Computer Systems Analyst is a US Master of Computer Analysis.

It is highly unlikely your client holds one of the extremely rare US Bachelor’s degree in Computer Systems Analysis, or a US Master of Computer Analysis. So what is the right solution for you and your client?

If your client has an Indian BCA in Computer Systems Analysis, a credential evaluator with the authority to convert years of progressive work experience in the field of Computer Systems Analysis into years of college credit in the field that matches your client’s job title. Progressive work experience means that your client took on more and more duties and responsibilities through this work as time went on, indicating that knowledge and skills in the field of employ were developed and put to the test. Your client learned through this work experience and put these new specialized skills and knowledge to practical use in the workplace. An evaluator can convert three years of progressive work experience into one year of college credit in the field of Computer Systems Analysis to account for the missing fourth year.

While an RFE is not the end of the world, it is a big red flag that triggers a close scrutiny of your client’s petition and increases chances of rejection. An evaluator who specializes in RFEs and difficult cases understands CIS trends and knows common triggers for RFEs, as well as how to address these triggers when they arise and how to avoid them in the first place. Before you file your client’s H1b petition, get in touch with a credential evaluation agency that specializes in RFEs and difficult cases. Have them review your client’s case.

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.

Computer Systems Analyst: The H1b Job that gets the Most RFEs Read More »

FY2017 H-1B Predictions and Requirements

Credential Evaluation, Visa Approvals

The past decade has seen a significant annual increase in H-1b petitions, and this year the trend is projected to continue. Experts estimate that more than 200,000 H-1b petitions will be filed this year before CIS closes its doors after the mandatory five days of accepting petitions. For cap-subjected H-1b jobs, there are only 65,000 visas available for candidates with US bachelor’s degrees or it’s equivalent or higher, and an additional 20,000 H-1b visas with candidates with US master’s degrees or its equivalent or higher available. There will most definitely be a lottery, and that means you and your client need to have your petition ready, spotless, and filed on April First of this year.

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.

FY2017 H-1B Predictions and Requirements Read More »

What’s in an H1-B Credential Evaluation and Why Does it Matter?

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

Over the course of the next two months before the H1-b filing date, you will see a lot of articles, blogs, and reports urging you to get your client’s education evaluated for US equivalence. H1-b candidates with degrees from outside of the US are required by CIS to submit a thorough evaluation of their foreign credentials as evidence that their degree is the equivalent of a US bachelor’s degree or higher, AND that their degree specialization matches their job title. But what, exactly, is in a credential evaluation and why does it matter for your client’s H1-b visa approval?

There are three primary components to a credential evaluation:

  1. Institutions of education and attendance dates. An evaluation will indicate which schools and colleges your client attended and for how long, including the profile and accreditations of the schools your client attended. This means elementary school, high school, and post-secondary institutions. The reason for this is because the number of years of education varies from country to country from the time your client entered school as a child. These are all factors in equivalency recommendations.
  1. Diploma, certificate, degree, and transcript equivalents. All of these documents will be included in the evaluation along with their equivalents indicated and explained. The steps of education is important in the evaluation process because many degrees in countries outside of the US are post-secondary degrees BUT the word degree is not in the title. To evaluate these difficult degrees, the stages of education necessary to attain these certifications must be evaluated for post-secondary equivalence.
  1. Recommended US equivalent of your client’s degree. Each credential evaluation will make an equivalence recommendation based on evidence, analysis, expert opinions, CIS precedents, international trade agreements, and even federal case law. Since there are no set standards for foreign degree equivalence evaluation, an evaluator must make a case for their recommendation.

For the H1-B visa, you want an evaluator who can write an accurate recommendation founded in evidence, precedents, expert opinions, and documentation for your client’s degree to be the equivalent of a US bachelor’s degree or higher in the field that matches your client’s job title. Not all evaluation agencies will write the detailed evaluation it takes to truly explain and assess the value of your client’s foreign degree. Many evaluation agencies simply pull conservative equivalencies from standardized equivalency databases. However, there are NO set foreign equivalency standards and every candidate’s education is different.

When you hire a credential evaluator for your client’s H1-B evaluation, make sure he or she is well-versed in the specific educational requirements of the H1-B visa. This means when you call, you will be asked about your client’s specific visa, and your clients specific job. Both of these variables factor heavily into the evaluation the right evaluator will write for your client’s education.

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.

What’s in an H1-B Credential Evaluation and Why Does it Matter? Read More »

Aren’t All Foreign Credential Evaluators the Same?

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.

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