USCIS announced that on March 29, 2022 the H-1B lottery for cap-subject annual visas was complete and those selected had been notified. Petitioners selected have 90 days from notification to file complete H-1B petitions. If your registration, or if your employee or client’s registration was selected, there is no time to waste. While denial rates have dropped, H-1B petitioners are not off the hook. Even last year, we saw high levels of RFEs that petitioners had to answer before visa approval, in some cases pushing back employee start dates and interrupting employer workflow.
If your registration, or if your employee or client’s registration was not selected, there is a significant chance you will get another shot. Last fiscal year, there were three rounds of H-1B lotteries to fill all 65,000 regular cap and 20,000 advanced degree cap visa slots. Under this new system, those selected in the lottery have 90 days to file complete petitions, and it turns out they are not always doing so.
Don’t let the clock tick down before you start organizing the petition. Always file a COMPLETE petition, in order, with all documents double-checked for accuracy and consistency. If the beneficiary has ANYTHING EXCEPT a bachelor’s degree or higher from a US academic institution in the exact field of the H-1B job, you must include a credential evaluation written uniquely to fit the situation or risk non-approval. At CCI TheDegreePeople.com, we work with difficult education situations every year. Each evaluation is written uniquely to take the job, the education, work experience, visa eligibility and USCIS approval trends into account to fill in any gaps between the education the beneficiary has and the education the beneficiary needs.
If the H-1B job normally but NOT ALWAYS requires a US bachelor’s degree or higher to perform, you will need to include an expert opinion letter to strengthen the case that this specific position ALWAYS requires this minimum education to perform. In addition, include the ad for the job showing the minimum degree requirement, proof of past hiring practices showing the minimum degree requirement, and a breakdown of the specialized skills and knowledge required to perform this job learned through completion of an advanced degree program. At CCI TheDegreePeople.com we work with experts in all H-1B fields who have the credentials USCIS will accept as valid. That means they have extensive experience working in the field of the H-1B job including in positions of leadership where they made hiring decisions regarding the position in question.
We anticipate wage level and employer-employee relationship issues will reemerge this year as petitions are adjudicated. Changes to these two eligibility requirements were proposed during the Trump Administration and continue to be under consideration during the Biden Administration that threaten to destabilize the H-1B program. It is through filing petitions and fighting for visa approval that the health of the H-1B program, and in consequence, the economic health of the United States – can persevere and thrive.
Let us review your case for free before you file. Visit www.ccifree.com and we will respond in four hours or less.
Sheila Danzig
Sheila Danzig is the director of CCI TheDegreePeople.com. Sheila specializes in overturning RFEs and Denials for work visas.