Need Help?
Message Sheila D, Executive Director with any questions
9544450107

nightmare RFE

What New USCIS Adjudication Memorandum Means for the Nightmare RFE

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

The good news is that we likely won’t be seeing many – if any – Nightmare RFEs this coming H1B season.  The bad news is that the reason is because the recent USCIS memorandum issued in September of 2018 now gives visa adjudicators the authority to reject petitions outright without giving the petitioner a chance to defend their case.

This coming H-1B season, it is crucial to anticipate any approval issues you, or your employee or client may run into before you file.  The good news is that the memorandum also made all H-1B filing electronic when filing for cap-subject petitions opens.  You only have to file H-1B paperwork if you, or if your employee or client is selected in the H-1B lottery.  This buys beneficiaries a little time to get all of the additional documentation and evidence together, but the first time you file will likely be the last chance you get.

At TheDegreePeople, we recommend filing as though you are answering a Nightmare RFE.

If the beneficiary’s degree is not an exact match for the H-1B job and from an accredited US institution, you MUST include a credential evaluation written specifically for your situation, or for your employee or client’s situation.

Include an expert opinion letter that explains why the H-1B job meets specialty occupation requirements, and thoroughly explaining why the wage level was set as it was.

Let us review your case before you file to make sure you have all of your bases covered.  We also offer assistance with obtaining and filing the immigration forms you need to complete the petition.  Visit ccifree.com for a free review of your case.  We will get back to you in 48 hours or less.

What New USCIS Adjudication Memorandum Means for the Nightmare RFE Read More »

What to do When You Get an H1B RFE About Everything

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

This year, we’re seeing the Nightmare RFE with specialty occupation, wage level, and education issues included. When CIS finds one problem with a petition, they usually find more, which can cause a cascading effect that leads to a virtually unanswerable RFE like the ones we’re seeing this year.

If you, or your employee or client receives this kind of RFE, the first step is to go back to the basics. Since every H1B requirement is in question, all you have to do is go back to the fundamental guidelines of this visa. First, the H1B job must be a specialty occupation, meaning it requires a minimum of a US bachelor’s degree or higher for entrance into the position. Second, the H1B beneficiary must hold that degree in the field of the H1B job, or have the equivalent of the necessary degree. Third, the employee must be paid the prevailing wages and benefits for that position, in the industry for companies of that size in that geographic location. The employer must be economically viable, and there must be an employer-employee relationship in which the employer controls the work the employee does.

To prove the job meets H1B standards, you will need to show that it meets H1B educational requirements for specialty occupations. Provide the ad for the job and ads for the same position in similar companies in the industry. Provide documentation of past hiring practices that shows employees holding this position historically require this minimum advanced degree requirement. Detail the duties and responsibilities of the job and highlight how they necessitate the employee having earned the advanced degree to learn the specialized skills and knowledge the job requires.

When it comes to education issues, you or your client or employee must have a US bachelor’s degree in the exact field of the H1B job, or its equivalent. That’s where things can get tricky. If the beneficiary has ANYTHING BESIDES a US bachelor’s degree in the exact field of the H1B job you will need to include a credential evaluation that takes both the job and the visa into consideration that fills in the gaps between the credentials the beneficiary has, and the credentials the beneficiary needs to get the RFE overturned.

For proving that working conditions and compensation meet H1B requirements, include a copy of the employee contract, including salary or wage documentation. You will need to explain the factors that went into deciding the wage level for the job, and evidence that shows this wage level is an industry standard for that position in that geographic location for companies of that size. If the wage level varies, you need to explain exactly why.

These complex RFEs also require an expert opinion letter that can cover occupational issues – both regarding specialization and working conditions. Both issues can be covered in the same letter to explain and verify the evidence you provide in your RFE response.

At TheDegreePeople.com we understand that when CIS finds one problem with a case, that’s rarely the end of it. We work with difficult cases every year regarding education and occupation. For a free consultation visit ccifree.com. We will get back to you in 48 hours or less.

What to do When You Get an H1B RFE About Everything Read More »

How to Use the Level 1 Wages RFE as a Tool

Credential Evaluation, Immigration

It seems like every year CIS is coming out with a new difficult RFE to throw H1B beneficiaries and their employers and attorneys a curve ball.

This year, we were all caught off guard by the Level 1 Wages RFE that targets computer programmers. As with all other years, this RFE is an opportunity to strengthen your case, or your client or employee’s case when you respond to it. In fact, your response to this RFE should be viewed as a tool to do this, and to preempt a second round of RFEs.

When you respond to the Level 1 Wages RFE, it’s important to be aware of other risks involved in your case, or your client or employee’s case. Some jobs, like Computer Systems Analyst, are RFE magnets. Some degrees, like generalized degrees or the Indian three-year Bachelors degree, also attract a disproportionate number of RFEs. If a candidate’s degree is not an exact match for their H1B job, CIS is likely to issue another RFE about that issue when you answer the first. That’s why when we answer the Level 1 Wages RFE, we review our clients’ entire case and write a credential evaluation that preempts these situations.

Don’t let the Level 1 Wages RFE catch you off guard or distract you from the classic RFEs we’ve seen year after year, because they haven’t gone away.

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]:

• Candidate’s education documents and resume

• Employer support letter

• LCA

• Detailed job description

• RFE

We will get back to you in 48 hours or less with a full analysis of your client’s case and our suggestions on how to move forward answering the initial RFE and preventing the next.

How to Use the Level 1 Wages RFE as a Tool 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 »

Level 1 Wages RFE: The New Nightmare

Credential Evaluation, Immigration

Until this year, the scariest RFE out there was The Nightmare RFE, also known as the Kitchen Sink because there’s literally everything in it.  This year, CIS rolled out an even more difficult RFE: the Level 1 Wages RFE, targeting computer programmers.  What’s scary about this RFE is the sheer volume of it, how nobody saw it coming, and very few know how to effectively answer it.

As with the Nightmare, we took a creative approach at TheDegreePeople.com.  We have a 90% success rate answering the Level 1 Wages RFE, and have experts on hand 24 hours a day, seven days a week to write the expert opinion letter you need to address this RFE.

Before we get into how to answer this RFE, let’s take a look at how CIS is justifying it and where they’ve gone wrong.

To qualify for H1B visa status, the candidate must hold a US Bachelors degree or higher or its equivalent in their field of employ, and the job must have a minimum requirement of a US Bachelors degree or higher or its equivalent to be able to perform the duties of the job.

CIS has been issuing this RFE to candidates working computer programmer jobs at Level 1 Wages, as indicated by the employer on the LCA.  CIS uses the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook as a resource to determine whether or not a job meets specialization requirements for the H1B visa.  In this RFE, CIS cites the passage in the handbook that states some employers will hire entry level computer programmers with only a US Associates degree, which does not meet H1B specialization requirements.

The first problem here is that CIS assumes that just because an employee is being paid Level 1 Wages the position is entry level.  This is not the case.  A major function of the H1B visa program is to provide work opportunities for recent college graduates who came to the United States for college.  Even with a Bachelors in Computer Sciences or a related field, employees with no work experience in the field need a high level of guidance and supervision, necessitating a low wage level.

Second, in that same section in the Occupational Outlook Handbook CIS uses to justify this RFE, it also states that employers usually require a US Bachelors degree as a minimum requirement for entry level computer programmer positions.

There has been talk of how to prevent this RFE in the future, but in many cases it is impossible.  Employers can select a different job than computer programmer, but this will often result in a different RFE because the job description they indicate on the LCA will not match the duties of the actual job the candidate is hired for.  The employer could also pay the candidate Level 2 Wages, but this is often not possible either.  There has been talk of preemptively submitting an expert opinion letter along with the initial H1B petition, but this is far more complex than submitting a credential evaluation along with the initial petition, which has been an effective strategy to avoid the Nightmare RFE.

The reality is, to answer this RFE, you’re going to need help.

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]:

• The LCA

• Beneficiary’s resume and educational documents

• Employer support letter

• Detailed description of the job and its duties

• The RFE

We will get back to you in 48 hours or less with a full analysis of the case.  If we can help you, we will also send information about costs and how to order.

Level 1 Wages RFE: The New Nightmare Read More »

CASE STUDY: The Biggest Nightmare RFE Out There

Credential Evaluation, Immigration

You’ve heard of the Nightmare RFE and the Double Employment Issue RFE. Get ready, because this is about to be terrifying:

This RFE season is the harshest we’ve seen yet. Now, CIS is combining these RFEs. Candidates are now having to defend against requests for evidence regarding every facet of their education AND employment issues. The Nightmare on its own is virtually impossible to answer given the time and evidence demanded. Now, it’s even worse. We could call it the Triple RFE, but the best way to approach it is as one, single, consolidated RFE.

Here’s how:

Go back to the basics. The Nightmare RFE cannot be answered by its own guidelines. Instead, at TheDegreePeople.com, we go back to the original H1B requirements and meet them impeccably. This requires a detailed credential evaluation that may include expert opinion letters, work experience conversions, citing federal case law, international education and labor agreements, and CIS precedent decisions to show that your client meets the educational requirements of both the H1B visa, and their job.

At the same time, we need to address the employment issues. These issues have had to do with whether or not the job in question is adequately specialized to meet H1B requirements. The issue arises when the job indicated on the employer’s Labor Conditions Application doesn’t meet the duties of the job indicated on the H1B petition exactly, and when the employer indicates Wage Level 1 for the H1B job. CIS contests that the job doesn’t match, and also that just because a job is at Wage Level 1 it is not specialized to the point of requiring a US Bachelor’s Degree or higher or its foreign equivalent. An expert opinion letter is needed in these cases that explains the situation, alongside documentation clearly spelling out the specialized responsibilities involved in the job. In many cases, employees start at Wage Level 1 because they are fresh out of college without much work experience, and while their job is adequately specialized, it still requires a lot of guidance and supervision.

You don’t have to address all three issues presented in the biggest Nightmare RFE out there with three separate responses. At TheDegreePeople.com, we have been able to successfully answer every one of these horrid RFEs in one fell swoop with a creative approach and an expert opinion letter that addresses both employment issues. If you’re staring down this terrifying RFE, simply go to ccifree.com and let us review your case for free.

CASE STUDY: The Biggest Nightmare RFE Out There 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.

 ]]>

Overturn an H1B Nightmare RFE in Three Steps Read More »

H1B Case Study: Nightmare RFE OVERTURNED!

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals


This RFE is also called the Kitchen Sink because absolutely everything is in it, even the kitchen sink. This RFE is virtually impossible to answer, we don’t know exactly what triggers it or if CIS even has the right to issue it, and we know that it is virtually impossible to answer by following its own directions. If you were to try to follow the directions set out in the RFE to answer it, you would have to involve the services of so many individuals and authorities to collect all of the evidence and information requested that it would cost an enormous amount of money and take way more time to complete than you have to respond.

If you or your employee or client received a Nightmare RFE, try not to panic. These RFEs are common, and they are NOT actually impossible to answer so long as you don’t get caught up in the wording. The roadmap to successfully answering the Nightmare RFE is not in the RFE itself, it takes a creative approach and guidance from a credential evaluator with experience working with difficult cases and RFEs. These evaluators understand H1B requirements, international education and commerce agreements, and CIS approval trends.

At TheDegreePeople, we have a very high success rate for getting Nightmare RFEs overturned. It just takes a very detailed, and somewhat creative approach. Instead of following the directions stated in the RFE, we go back to the initial H1B requirements and see where our client’s initial petition was lacking in evidence and clarity. We work from there.

Oftentimes, what is lacking is the right credential evaluation. We have found time and again that candidates will submit a petition without an evaluation, or with an evaluation that doesn’t address the requirements of the H1B petition. An H1B candidate needs to hold a US bachelor’s degree or higher or it’s foreign equivalent in the EXACT field of their job offer. If these educational requirements are not clearly met, CIS issues an RFE, and what starts off as a simple RFE can quickly escalate into a Nightmare. Again, these kinds of RFEs have become increasingly common in the past few years and this trend is unlikely to change.

It’s always better to avoid a Nightmare RFE in the first place than to find yourself faced with one, but even if you are staring at one right now, you can still get it overturned.

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 Case Study: Nightmare RFE OVERTURNED! Read More »

What’s the Scariest H1-B RFE Out There? The Kitchen Sink!

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

  • Evaluation of Training and/or Experience by a College Official: Submit an evaluation form from an official who has authority to grant college-level credit for training and/or experience in the specialty of a Graphic Designer.  The evaluation must be from an accredited college or university that has a program for granting such credit in the field of study based on an individual’s training and/or work experience.
    •  
    • Note: College or university professors writing evaluations as consultants on behalf of private educational credentials evaluation firms with not satisfy this requirement as regulations limit the scope of their evaluation only to foreign education.
     
    • The evaluation by an official, preferably the Registrar of a college or university must be on behalf (on the letterhead) of the college or university where they are employed and have authority to grant college credit for training and/or experience.  A private educational credentials evaluation service may not evaluate an alien’s work experience or training; because these regulations limit the scope of educational credential evaluators to evaluating only foreign education.
     
    • Professors writing evaluations as consultants may, in the alternative, be considered as recognized authorities if they can clearly establish their qualifications as experts; provide specific instances where past opinions have been accepted as authoritative and by whom; clearly show how conclusions were reached; and show the basis for the conclusions with copies or citations of any research material used.
     
    • This evaluation should describe the material evaluated and establish that the areas of experience are related to the specialty.  Resumes or Curriculum Vitae alone are usually insufficient to satisfy this requirement.  Also, provide a letter from the Registrar of the institution (on the institution’s letterhead) to establish that the particular evaluating official is authorized to grant college-level credit on behalf of their institution, and that the evaluator holds a bachelor’s degree in the field of study he or she is evaluating.  Further, provide written verification or other documents or records to clearly substantiate that the evaluator is actually employed by the claimed college or university. 
     
    • Provide copies of pertinent pages from the college or university catalog to show that it has a program for granting college-level credit based on training and/or experience.  Merely stating in a letter that the school has such a program is insufficient.  The program must be clearly substantiated.  Further, CLEP and PONSI equivalency exams or special credit programs do not satisfy this requirement because the regulation requires that the beneficiary produce the results of such exams or programs in order for them to qualify.  Also, training or experience derived from internship programs may not satisfy this requirement unless you can establish that the experience or training claimed was gained through enrollment in the particular college or university’s internship program.
     
    • Moreover, provide evidence to show the total amount of college credit the Registrar or evaluator may grant for training or experience as part of the program.  The evaluator may provide copies of the evaluation made by a school official, preferably the Registrar, which clearly shows how the alien met the college or university’s program requirements and how much possible college credit the alien may be granted for his or her training and experience.
      Trembling yet? This RFE is virtually impossible. We’re not sure what triggers it, and we’re not sure that CIS even has the right to ask this of anyone. Even if it were possible to gather every last bit of evidence and documentation this RFE asks of candidates, with the number of agencies and individuals you would have to go through, there is literally no way this could be done in time to answer the RFE. Not to mention the cost would be enormous. At TheDegreePeople, we see a handful of these RFEs every year and we know of NO ONE who can actually meet all of the demands in this RFE. We DO, however, know how to respond to it. Instead of looking at this RFE in terms of the documentation it asks for, we look at what CIS is really trying to determine with the demands they make. We answer the underlying questions backed up with evidence and documentation. With a slightly different approach and a new credential evaluation, roughly 95% of all of the Kitchen Sinks that come across our desks are approved. It’s a seeing the forest through the trees approach – take a step back and look at the big picture. Since we work with difficult cases and RFEs on a regular basis, and follow CIS approval trends very closely, we know what the forest looks like. If you, or your client or employee receives the Kitchen Sink, take a deep breath and a big step back. Don’t get thrown off course by getting caught up in the wording. Keep in mind what needs to be done to meet the original H-1B requirements and make the changes to the case necessary to meet these requirements. The answer to this RFE is not in the Kitchen Sink. Consult with people who have encountered the Kitchen Sink before and know how to navigate it. About the Author Sheila Danzig Sheila Danzig is the Executive Director of TheDegreePeople.com a Foreign Credentials Evaluation Agency. For a no charge analysis of any difficult case, RFEs, Denials, or NOIDs, please go to http://www.ccifree.com/ or call 800.771.4723.]]>

     

    What’s the Scariest H1-B RFE Out There? The Kitchen Sink! Read More »

    The Top 3 Reasons for Education H1-B RFEs

    Credential Evaluation, Visa Approvals


    Why are there so many education RFEs?

    Reason #1 – The candidate’s education equivalence does not match the job offer.

    Reason #2 – See Reason #1.

    Reason #3 – See Reasons #1 and #2.

    Aren’t there any other reasons CIS would call a candidate’s education into question? Not really. There are small issues where CIS requests additional or more complete education documentation, but 90% of the RFEs are about the education equivalence not matching the title of the job offer. Education RFEs are very common because while employers will hire employees with degrees in related fields, CIS requires an H1-B employee’s degree to be an exact match for their job.

    Many evaluation agencies write standard evaluations of foreign credentials without taking particular Visa requirements, federal case law, and CIS trends into account. In these situations, you will likely have an accurate evaluation, but your degree still will not match your job offer. This is an example of a good evaluator writing the wrong evaluation.

    Well, you might get lucky and slide through, right? So why not just wait for an RFE to submit the education evaluation that CIS wants? Luck HAS worked reasonably well up until just recently. Some petitions did manage to slide by, but in the past two years we started seeing the “Nightmare” RFE begin to increase. If your degree or your degree evaluation does not match your job offer, you will likely run into problems with CIS, and the “Nightmare” RFE is a problem you never want to have to face. This is an extremely complicated RFE that is literally impossible to answer. While no one knows what triggers these particular RFEs, we DO know that they almost always occur when the candidate’s education does not match the job offer.

    Send in a credential evaluation that takes your work experience and course content into account to fill in the gaps between your degree and your job offer before you have to do it the hard way. A simple work experience evaluation can prevent this “Nightmare” experience.

    If it’s too late and you have already received a “Nightmare” RFE – also known as the “Kitchen Sink” RFE because absolutely everything is in it but the kitchen sink – we can help you. While this RFE cannot actually be met as written, we have developed a systematic approach to addressing this RFE that has worked 95% of the time.

    To learn more about the Nightmare RFE, check out my article http://discuss.ilw.com/content.php?4449-Article-You-Can-Beat-The-Nightmare-RFE-for-H1B-By-Sheila-Danzig. You CAN beat the “Nightmare” RFE, but why do it if you don’t have to? Don’t risk this “Nightmare” scenario. Get your credentials evaluated by an evaluation agency with the authority to convert work experience in your field of employ into college credit. Some agencies simply do not write these kinds of evaluations. When you talk to them on the phone, tell them that you need an education evaluation for an H1-B Visa petition. If they don’t ask about your job offer, look elsewhere. You need an evaluator knowledgeable about international education as well as CIS trends.

    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.]]>

    The Top 3 Reasons for Education H1-B RFEs Read More »

    Scroll to Top