Every year, qualified H-1B beneficiaries with Three-Year Bachelor’s degrees from India are hit with education RFEs. USCIS requires that H-1B beneficiaries hold a US Bachelor’s degree or higher, which typically takes four years to complete. While the Indian Three-Year Bachelor’s degree has the same or greater classroom contact hours as the US Four-Year Bachelor’s degree, USCIS is hung up on the missing fourth year.
A 2022 client of ours exemplified this situation. He came to us with an RFE for education even though he had a Bachelor’s degree in the exact field of his H-1B job. The problem was, the degree was a Three-Year degree earned in India. We got the RFE overturned. Here’s how:
We asked about his past work experience. USCIS accepts that three years of progressive work experience in the field of the H-1B job is the equivalency of one year of college credit in that major, so long as a professor with the authority to grant college credit for work experience writes the work experience conversion as part of a credential evaluation. Progressive work experience is a period of employment in which education occurred on the job as evidenced by increased complexity and responsibility of work over the course of employment. Our client worked for three years in the field for the same employer, and over the course of his employment was promoted twice. This clearly showed that over the course of employment, he gained field-specific skills and knowledge.
One of our staff professors wrote the work experience conversion as part of a detailed credential evaluation that clearly showed USCIS that our client had the equivalency of a US Four-Year Bachelor’s degree. The missing fourth year was accounted for with three years of progressive work experience as detailed in the evaluation. Our client submitted the credential evaluation with his RFE response, the RFE was overturned, and he got right to work on October 1st.
If you, or if your employee or client has received an education RFE for a Three-Year Bachelor’s degree, or any other reason, we can help. Visit www.ccifree.com for a free review of your case. 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.