Complex RFEs can cause employment start date delays which throw a wrench in overall company workflow. In recent years, we have seen as many as three rounds of RFEs before visa approval. If your registration was selected for the second round of the H-1B lottery, it is essential to get that visa approved the FIRST time to ensure an on-time employee start date.
General Housekeeping
Before you file, make sure your completed petition has been double-checked for consistent answers across all forms and supporting evidence and documentation, including employment dates on resumes and correct spelling. Make sure that the petition organized and readable with everything included in the correct order.
Employer-Employee Relationship
If the H-1B employee will be working at a third-party worksite for any portion of the H-1B visa period, include added evidence to prove that the employer-employee relationship will be maintained throughout. If the business is a consulting firm or other structure with workflow dependent on client or customer contracts, include an itinerary of the work the H-1B employee will be performing for the duration of the H-1B visa period including client and customer contact information.
Education
H-1B eligibility requirements state that the beneficiary must hold a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its academic equivalent in a related field, and USCIS has been approving visas based on the degree specialization being an exact match for the field of the H-1B job. If the degree is in a different specialization, incomplete, or earned outside of the United States, include a detailed credential evaluation that shows the beneficiary has the academic equivalent of a US bachelor’s degree or higher in the field of the H-1B job. This may entail a work experience conversion wherein three years of progressive work experience in the field of the H-1B job can be converted into one year of college credit in that field by a professor with the authority to grant college credit for work experience. At CCI TheDegreePeople.com, we write every evaluation uniquely to take the education, work experience, job, visa, and USCIS approval trends into account. We work with professors with the authority to write work experience conversions as needed.
Specialty Occupation
H-1B eligibility requirements state that the proffered position must normally require a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its equivalent as a minimum educational requirement for being hired to the position. However, USCIS has been adjudicating “normally” as “always,” so jobs that do not ALWAYS have this minimum degree requirement according to the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook have been running into trouble. If this is the case for your situation, you will need to prove one or more of the following:
- The position in question is uniquely specialized to require minimum attainment of a bachelor’s degree or higher in the field of the H-1B job. Again, a related field will not work for USCIS approval trends.
- The employer can show past hiring practices of this minimum educational qualification for the position in question.
- It is an industry standard that this position requires a bachelor’s degree or higher minimum educational qualification.
This will require additional documentation including the ad for the job and ads for the same position for different companies within the industry to prove industry standard. Additionally, include evidence of past hiring practices and a detailed breakdown of the specialized duties and responsibilities of the job which are attained through completion of a US bachelor’s degree program in the field. Finally, include an expert opinion letter written by an expert in the field of the H-1B job with extensive experience working in the field, including leadership positions and experience making hiring decisions regarding the proffered position. At CCI TheDegreePeople.com we work with experts in every field ready to lend their professional opinion to your case.
Before you file, make sure all red flags and areas of weakness in your case are identified and addressed to ensure approval and avoid time-consuming, stressful, and costly RFEs.
Let us review your case for free. Visit www.ccifree.com. We will respond in 4 hours or less.
Sheila Danzig
Sheila Danzig is the director of CCI TheDegreePeople.com. Sheila specializes in overturning RFEs and Denials for work visas.