To qualify for H1B status, a job must require a minimum of a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its equivalent, and the employer must pay the employee the prevailing wages for the job. The beneficiary must hold the required degree or its equivalent. Three issues arise that result in RFEs when the evidentiary requirements to meet these three standards are not met:
1. Wage Level RFE
If CIS feels that the wage level is set too low or two high for the position based on the wage level and the duties and qualifications set forth by the job, they will issue an RFE. This became a widespread issue in 2017 for computer programmers making level 1 wages, but it effects jobs of all levels in all industries.
If you, or your employee or client must address wage level issues in the RFE, make sure to include a detailed description of the job duties as well as a close analysis of the factors taken into consideration when determining the wage level of the job, including company size, geographic location, industry standard, and the level of supervision and training needed for this particular position. Look up the entry for the position in the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook and be sure to identify any discrepancies between the entry and the H1B job and wage level and provide evidence to fill in the gaps.
2. Specialty Occupation RFE
This RFE and the wage level RFE are often interlinked. The job in question must clearly meet CIS specialization requirements, meaning a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its equivalent must be a MINIMUM qualification for entry into this position. Include the ad for the job and ads for the same job for similar companies in the same industry. Include a detailed job description and documentation of past hiring practices that require a minimum of the necessary advanced degree.
If the entry for the job in the Occupational Outlook Handbook indicates an employee could be hired with a minimum educational qualification less advanced than a US bachelor’s degree, you will need to go an extra step to justify why this position is uniquely complex.
For both the Wage Level RFE and the Specialty Occupation RFE, ALWAYS include an expert opinion letter in your response to tie the evidence and analysis all together and lend validation and strength to the case. CIS won’t just take your word for it, even if you’re right.
3. Education RFE
If the H1B beneficiary has a US bachelor’s degree or higher in the exact field of the H1B job, you shouldn’t have any education problems arise. This is never a guarantee, but it is generally true. However, if your client has incomplete college, a degree in a different field, or a degree from a different country, you may run into trouble if you did not take extra steps to avoid an education RFE when you organized the petition.
If your client received an education RFE, you will need to talk with a credential evaluation agency with experience working with H1B cases. Not all credential evaluators understand CIS approval trends, international education, and the specifics of what works for each unique visa. If your evaluator doesn’t ask about the visa or the job, all they can write is a cookie cutter evaluation that won’t get the RFE overturned.
At TheDegreePeople, we work with difficult RFEs every year, and we get them overturned. We have experts on hand to address wage level and specialty occupation issues in just one letter that can encompass one or both issues. Our evaluators are international education experts with extensive experience working with CIS, college and graduate programs admissions, and a variety of education and work-related visas. When we look at a case, we anticipate all of the possible snags and address them all in one RFE response so you can prevent having to go through the entire process again.
For a free review of your case, visit ccifree.com. We will get back to you in 48 hours or less with a pre-evaluation, full analysis, and our recommendations on how to best proceed.