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Source & Sequence: Get Your EB2 Education Right

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

Every visa that leans heavily on education has different requirements, especially when it comes to equivalencies for education completed outside of the United States. The EB2 visa in particular is fraught with notorious education traps.

Before you file, make sure you, or your employee or client’s education checks out or you’ll end up with an RFE at best, instead of that approval.

The two big components of EB2 education to keep in mind and source and sequence. Candidates eligible for EB2 status have earned a US Masters degree or higher or its foreign equivalent, or have completed a US Bachelor’s degree or its equivalent followed by at least five years of progressive work experience in the field. Sounds simple enough, right? Not when it comes to equivalencies.

If you, or your employee or client has a degree from outside of the United States, or has a degree in a specialization that does not match the field of occupation, you will need to include a credential evaluation that fills in the gaps. Often, this includes converting progressive years of work experience in the field to years of college credit.

Remember, source and sequence are crucial. Consider, for example, you have, or your employee or client has an Indian three-year degree. You will need to account for the missing fourth year of education for CIS approval. Three years of progressive work experience in the field can be converted into the equivalent for one year of college credit towards that major. This also comes in handy when the degree specialization and job are mismatched. While other visas like H-1B will let you combine the three years of education, or education completed in the wrong major, with years of progressive work experience to meet equivalency and specialization requirements, that’s not how it works for EB2.

With EB2, the Bachelors degree must be a SINGLE SOURCE. This means your client will either need a US Bachelors or Masters degree in the exact field of the EB2 job, or a whole lot of progressive work experience.

The second component to remember is sequence. If you, or your employee or client holds a Bachelors degree or its single source equivalent, they will need an additional five years of progressive work experience, and this work experience must have occurred AFTER the Bachelors degree or its equivalency was earned. This shows that a Bachelors degree or its equivalent was a MINIMUM requirement for the following five years of work experience.

If you have any questions regarding your EB2 education, or your employee or client’s EB2 education, don’t let them go unanswered. Visit ccifree.com for a no charge and no obligation review of the. We will get back to you in 48 hours or less with a full analysis, pre-evaluation, and our recommendations.

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Dealing with the Level 1 Wages RFE this Year and Next

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

This year, we all met the Level 1 Wages RFE that targeted H1B computer programmers working at Level 1 Wages.  We’re still answering these RFEs, and it’s almost time to file again.

First, let’s look at the Level 1 Wages RFE:

Until this year, CIS has left computer programmers at Level 1 Wages alone when it comes to how their pay grade reflects the specialization of their job.  Now, CIS is claiming that computer programming positions at Level 1 Wages are entry level positions.  This is not the case – wage levels don’t work like that.  There are many other factors to consider when it comes to setting wage levels, particularly for new employees.  Entering a new job always requires a heightened level of supervision on the part of the employer, which impact wage levels.  Starting a new job fresh out of a bachelors degree program with the necessary skills and knowledge but little to no direct work experience in the field also requires a heightened level of supervision and training on the part of the employer.  Here’s the catch: these factors set wage levels low to start working, and to start working H1B visa status is needed.

CIS sees that a computer programming position is set at Level 1 Wages and claims that the job is not specialized to meet H1B requirements that state a job must require a minimum of a US bachelors degree or its equivalent to qualify.  The US Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook states that employers will sometimes hire entry level computer programmers with less than a US bachelors degree as a minimum requirement, stating that only an associates is needed.  CIS uses this passage as justification to reject the petition.

There are two problems with this:  First, as discussed earlier, this reasoning assumes that a job set at Level 1 Wages is inherently entry level.  This is not true.  Proving this to CIS in the RFE response requires a detailed job description and employer support letter, along with an expert opinion letter that explains wage levels and educational requirements for the industry.  Second, that same passage in the Occupational Outlook Handbook states that employers usually require a minimum of a bachelors degree even for entry level computer programming positions.  This reference also must be included in the RFE response.

At TheDegreePeople, we have experts on hand 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to write the response that you, or your employee or client needs to answer the Level 1 Wages RFE.  For a free review of the case, please send the following documents to [email protected]:

• LCA

• Beneficiary’s Resume and Educational Documents

• Employer Support Letter

• Detailed Job Description

• RFE

We will get back to you in 48 hours or less with a full review of the case and our recommendations on what to do next.

As we’re wrapping up RFE season, we’re coming right up on filing season.  While we won’t know whether preventative measures will work for this RFE until next RFE season, there are some steps you can take to reduce the risk of dealing with the Level 1 Wages RFE again.  If the job can be set at Level 2 Wages, or the job title can be classified as a different occupation, including these changes in the petition and on the LCA may help prevent the Level 1 Wages RFE.  Remember, the LCA and the petition must be consistent, so whatever you enter in the LCA must be the same in the petition.  The job title must match the job description, so it’s important to be very careful when taking this preemptive measure.  We can consult with you on this.  If can also be helpful to include an expert opinion letter from an RFE response in the initial petition to clear up the misconception about Level 1 Wages and entry level positions from the start.

To preempt RFEs that we have seen coming in after having answered the Level 1 Wages RFE, it’s always a good idea to include a thorough credential evaluation in the initial H1B petition to close any gaps between your or your employee or client’s education and their H1B job.  Foreign degrees, incomplete or nonexistent college education, and generalized degrees or degrees in specializations that are not an exact match for the job title all require credential evaluations to clearly show CIS that the education meets H1B requirements.  If you’re not sure whether you or your employee or client meets H1B educational requirements, let us review the case before you file in April.

Dealing with the Level 1 Wages RFE this Year and Next Read More »

H1B Job Specialization: What's Wrong with the Level 1 Wages RFE

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

This RFE posits that the job of computer programmer at Level 1 Wages is not specialized to meet CIS requirements for the H1B visa.

To qualify for H1B status, the beneficiary’s job must require a minimum of a US bachelors degree or its equivalent, and the beneficiary must hold the necessary credentials in that field.  The purpose of the H1B program is to attract bright minds to US colleges, universities, and graduate programs with the option to remain in the country to work having qualified for H1B status after graduation, and also to attract highly skilled workers to the US who have already earned advanced degrees to jump right into the workforce.  Strengthening and furthering the development of STEM industries in the US is one of the central purposes of the H1B program, and computer programmers are essential to this goal.

That’s why this particular RFE is so damaging – it directly targets computer programmers, particularly recent college graduates who require a high level of supervision as they enter the workforce after having earned their bachelors degrees.

Here is the gist of what CIS says in the RFE:  Computer programmers at Level 1 Wages do not meet H1B job specialization requirements because, according to a passage in the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook, some employers will hire entry level programmers with only a US associates degree.  This wrongly assumes that just because a job is set at Level 1 Wages it is automatically entry level.  This also ignores the other part of that same passage in the Occupational Outlook Handbook that states employers will usually require a US bachelors degree as a minimum requirement for entry level programmers.

The solution is a thorough expert opinion letter that analyzes the holes in the rationale of the RFE, accompanying a detailed job description.  We have experts on hand 24/7 ready to help you.  Let 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 Job Description

– RFE

We will get back to you in 48 hours or less with a full analysis of the case and our recommendations on how to move forward to get the RFE overturned and the visa approved.

H1B Job Specialization: What's Wrong with the Level 1 Wages 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 »

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.

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Right Education, Wrong Evaluation: Get that H1B RFE Overturned

Credential Evaluation, Immigration

Did you or your employee or client file with a credential evaluation only to receive an RFE anyway?

The problem is, many credential evaluators don’t understand how to work with visa cases. Think back to when you ordered. Did they ask about the job? Did they ask about the visa? Do they regularly work with RFEs and difficult cases? If the answer is no, then you probably filed with the right education and the wrong evaluation.

Why does this happen?

There are a variety of rcircumstances in which people need credential evaluations. These circumstances require different evaluations. For example, if you or your employee or client is applying for a graduate program in the United States with a high school diploma and college degree from outside of the United States, the credential evaluation will need to cater to the program’s admissions requirements. In most cases, graduate programs will accept a three-year bachelor’s degree as the equivalent of a US four-year bachelor’s degree as meeting program prerequisite requirements with a simple credential evaluation. This will not work for an H1B visa.

With H1B, candidates must have a work experience conversion in their evaluation to account for the missing fourth year of their bachelor’s degree. This can be done only by a professor with the authority to grant college credit for work experience. Three years of progressive work experience in the candidate’s field of employ in which their work became more complex and specialized can be converted into one year of college credit towards a major in that specialization. This is a complex evaluation.

The same kind of conversion is necessary if you or your employee or client has a degree that is not an exact fit for the H1B job. With graduate program admissions, in most cases a degree in a related field is acceptable. This is not the case for H1B approval. Work experience conversion is required for CIS to approve the H1B visa.

Will this conversion work for other visas. No. For example, say you or your employee or client is applying for EB2 status rather than H1B because the ultimate goal is a Green Card. EB2 requirements don’t allow the bachelor’s degree equivalency to be anything but a single source, so combining work experience will not be acceptable in the eyes of CIS.

In essence, it’s easy to end up with the wrong evaluation for the right education. If the candidate has been hired for the job, it’s because they believe she is qualified based on her education, work experience, and expertise. The RFE is your second chance to prove this to CIS as well.

At TheDegreePeople.com, we work with all kinds of visa cases and their RFEs. We know what works and what doesn’t when it comes to CIS approval and overturning even the most difficult RFEs. Before you file your response, let us review your case for free. Simply go to ccifree.com and submit the candidate’s educational documents along with a current, accurate resume, and indicate the H1B job. We will get back to your within 24 hours with a pre-evaluation and full analysis of your case and how to best move forward in successfully answering the RFE.

Right Education, Wrong Evaluation: Get that H1B RFE Overturned 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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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.]]>

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H1B RFE? 5 Questions to Find the Right Credential Evaluator

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals


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

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

  1. Are they affordable?

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

  1. Is it easy to work with them?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

About the Author

Sheila Danzig

Sheila Danzig is the Executive Director of TheDegreePeople.com a Foreign Credentials Evaluation Agency. For a no charge analysis of any difficult case, RFEs, Denials, or NOIDs, please go to http://www.ccifree.com/ or call 800.771.4723.]]>

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H1B RFE? Whose fault was it?

Credential Evaluation, Immigration, Visa Approvals

When your RFE or your employee or client’s RFE arrives, sit down with your team and read it over and determined who dropped the ball. Finding out who is at fault for the RFE is not about placing or deflecting blame, but rather an investigative tool you can use to find out where you need to make changes and provide more evidence to get the RFE overturned.

Sometimes CIS is to blame for the RFE

As you well know, CIS is not perfect. The H1B petition could have been spotless and CIS will still issue an RFE. These RFEs are factually incorrect. They are frustrating, but they are easy because you already have all of the evidence, documentation, and analysis ready to file.

Sometimes it’s the attorney’s fault

While it is rare, an attorney will sometimes file a petition incorrectly. If this is the case, it’s typically not worth firing your attorney for this late in the process. Misfiling errors can be corrected.

Sometimes the RFE is the fault of the candidate

Sometimes H1B candidates will mistake the value of their degree. It’s not uncommon for a candidate to insist that a high school diploma is a college degree, or to provide mistranslated or poorly evaluated educational documents that trigger an RFE. Sometimes the degree isn’t from an accredited institution, and regardless of how good their education actually is, CIS will not accept a degree from an institution that is not accredited. If this is the case, it’s important to find out where the candidate’s mistake was made and provide accurate evidence in its place when answering the RFE.

Sometimes the evaluator – or the evaluation – caused the RFE

Credential evaluations for visa cases can get tricky in a hurry, and not every credential evaluator or agency is up for the job. International education is very specialized and nuanced, and each visa has different educational requirements, as well as requirements surrounding what constitutes an equivalency CIS will accept. On top of that, CIS approval trends regarding education change from year to year. For example, in the past, CIS would approve H1B petitions in which the candidate had a US bachelor’s degree or higher in a field related to their H1B job, whereas now they require an EXACT match. If your client has a three-year bachelor’s degree, CIS will no longer accept a classroom contact hour evaluation that breaks down the academic content by converting classroom contact hours into college credit hours. Now, a work experience conversion of three years of progressive work experience to one year of college credit in the field is required to account for the missing fourth year. The evaluator you need for the job follows CIS approval trends, understands the nuances of international education, and understands the difference between educational requirements for different visas. A perfectly good credential evaluator can write the wrong evaluation for your or your employee or client’s H1B case.

Here’s a hint: When choosing the right credential evaluator, do they ask about the visa and the job? If the answer is no, then look elsewhere. These factors are vital to the right evaluation for the case.

If you or your employee or client received an H1B RFE, let us provide a free pre-evaluation of the candidate’s education. Simply go to ccifree.com and submit educational documents, a current accurate resume, and indicate the job title and desired equivalency. We will get back to you within 24 hours with the pre-evaluation, a full analysis, and all of your options to successfully overturn your client’s RFE.

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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