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How to Answer the Triple H1B RFE
The short answer is, you will need expert help.
The triple RFE combines the Nightmare RFE – which is virtually impossible to answer in time by its own instructions – the level 1 wages RFE, and the specialty occupation RFE all into one big giant headache.
To answer this, you will need to first justify that the wage level is correct for the job, meaning that the H1B employee will be paid the prevailing wages and benefits for that position, in that industry, in similar sized companies in that geographical area. Second, you will need to show that the job meets H1B specialization requirements, and third, you will need to show that the beneficiary meets the educational requirements for the specialty occupation.
To answer the first two, you will need to include an expert opinion letter that explains how wage levels work for that position, and that explains why this particular position meets specialty occupation requirements. You don’t need to order two separate letters for this, at Evaluation Credentials we have experts available 24/7 with the highest rate of success in answering these RFEs, and they can do it in just one letter.
For the third component, you, or your client or employee will need a credential evaluation that clearly shows that they meet educational requirements for the H1B job. For a job to be a specialty occupation, entry into that position must require a minimum of a US bachelor’s degree in the field. That means you need to show that you have, or your employee or client has a US bachelor’s degree in that exact field, or its equivalent. At Evaluation Credentials, we keep one eye on the education and the other on CIS approval trends, which change every year. Writing the correct evaluation means knowing the education, the job, and what CIS will and will not accept as proof of equivalency.
In answering any difficult RFE, the answer is to not get bogged down in the wording, but rather go back to the original eligibility requirements and see where your case, or your client or employee’s case is lacking in meeting them, and to seek expert help.
For a no-charge and no-obligation review of your case, or your employee or client’s case, visit EvaluationCredentials.com. We will get back to you in 48 hours or less with a full analysis and our recommendations.
Approved! The Feared Level 1 Wage RFE!
This year, CIS has come up with a creative new way to come down on computer programmers petitioning for H1B visa status: Level 1 Wages.
Here’s how they’re justifying this new RFE:
The US Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) is what CIS uses as a references to determine whether or not a job is specialized to meet H1B criteria. For a job to meet these criteria, the candidate must hold a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its equivalentas a minimum requirement to perform the duties of the job. When it comes to the job of computer programmer, the OOH states that some employers will hire computer programmers for entry level positions with only a US Associate’s degree. CIS is using this as evidence that computer programmers making Level 1 Wages are entry level and therefore do not meet specialization requirements, as some employers only require an Associates, rather than a Bachelor’s degree to perform the duties of this job.
There are two main problems with this RFE:
1. Level 1 Wage does not mean entry level job.
Many jobs that require more education than an entry level job would – including computer programming – require a lot of supervision and training on the part of the employer. Recent college graduates coming into the workforce with a Bachelor’s degree but little to no work experience need to be supervised and trained to apply the specialized skills and knowledge they learned in school to the work environment. That’s why jobs that meet H1B education requirements can be met at Level 1 Wages: employers need to do extra work to help new hires make the transition from college into the work force.
2. The OOH also states most employers require a US Bachelor’s degree for entry level computer programmers.
That’s right, the same source that CIS uses to justify this RFE also states that the norm is for employers to meet H1B requirements for entry level computer programming positions anyway. Although it does state that some employers will hire to this position with only a US Associate’s degree, it also states that in most cases a US Bachelor’s degree is required, even for jobs at entry level.
We can use these problems with this RFE to help you or your employee or client gain ground in the RFE response to strengthen their case. When it comes to this employment issue RFE, CIS is simply wrong. However, CIS is still the gatekeeper to H1B visa status, and it’s up to us to overturn these RFEs and set the record straight. This is not an easy task, but at TheDegreePeople.com we have a 90% success rate when answering these RFEs.
To have us review your case, or your employee or client’s case at no charge or obligation, please send the following documents to predocs@cci123.com/
• LCA
• Beneficiary’s resume and educational documents
• Employer support letter
• A detailed job description outlining the duties of the position
• The RFE
We will get back to you in 48 hours or less with a full analysis and, if we can help you, details on pricing and directions on how to order.
Overturn an H1B Nightmare RFE in Three Steps
It’s RFE season and the prevalence of the dreaded Nightmare RFE is on the rise right along with the rate of RFE responses. We’re not sure what triggers this RFE, and we’re not even sure CIS has the right to make these requests, but they keep on coming.
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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Your Most Common H1B RFE for 2017
Looking back on the past few years, we see one occupation that stands out for getting the most H1B RFEs year after year. In 2017, we predict that this trend will remain intact. The answer is – Computer Systems Analysis.
This occupation receives the very most H1B RFEs every year because CIS education trends have required candidates to hold a degree in the exact field of their specialty occupation. Computer Systems Analysis is an EXTREMELY rare degree. In fact, the only schools in the United States in which a student can earn a bachelor’s degree in Computer Systems Analysis allow for self-designed majors. In India, there is a BCA in Computer Systems Analysis, but this degree will not work for H1B eligibility on its own because it is a three-year bachelor’s degree. CIS requires the fourth year included in a US bachelor’s degree to be accounted for. The only degree we have not seen trigger an RFE in this case is a US Master’s degree for Computer Analysis.
If you hold, or if your employee or client holds one of the few US bachelor’s degrees in Computer Systems Analysis, or a US Master’s in Computer Analysis, you probably don’t have to worry about an education RFE. However, if this isn’t the case, it’s always easier to prevent an RFE in the first place than to have to answer one.
If you have, or if your employee or client has an Indian BCA in Computer Systems Analysis, you need to account for the missing fourth year of education to meet the US equivalency requirements. To do this, talk to a credential evaluator with the authority to convert years of progressive work experience into college credit. Three years working in the field of Computer Systems Analysis in which it can be shown that you or your employee or client took on more responsibility and complexity in their work can be converted into the missing year of college credit towards the degree specialization of Computer Systems Analysis. If you or your employee or client does not have this degree, the same progressive work experience conversion along with a detailed evaluation that includes college coursework in the field of Computer Systems Analysis can be employed to write an equivalency to a US Bachelor’s or Master’s of Computer Systems Analysis.
Before you file, talk to a credential evaluator who can review your case, or your employee or client’s case and see that the college credit and work experience necessary to write the evaluation you or your employee or client needs is there. When there is high risk of RFE, it is necessary to consult with someone experienced in working with H1B RFEs.
From all of us at TheDegreePeople.com, Happy New Year!
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.
How to Find the Right Credential Evaluator for an H-1B RFE
It’s RFE season! Amongst the most common H-1B RFEs applicants receive this time of year have to do with education.
H-1B visa eligibility is dependent on be beneficiary having an advanced degree with specialized skills and knowledge necessary to perform the specialty occupation they were hired for. This means the beneficiary must have a US bachelor’s degree or higher or its foreign equivalent in a specialization that exactly matches their job offer. Due to the specificity of these requirements, even if you, or your employee or client did submit a credential evaluation along with the initial petition, the evaluation may not meet CIS requirements for this particular visa.
Finding the right credential evaluator to answer an H-1B RFE is the difference between success and rejection. The evaluator you want to work with can be found with these five questions:
- Do they offer a free review of the case?
An evaluator cannot know what services must be provided – or whether or not your education, or your employee or client’s education and work experience will even work for the H-1B visa at all – without reviewing your employment history, or your employee or client’s employment history and educational documents. You received an education RFE. Before you answer it, make sure you CAN answer it successfully with what you, or your employee or client has to work with, and what needs to be done to write the equivalency that will accurately meet H-1B education standards. If an agency or evaluator asks for payment before looking into what needs to be done, look elsewhere.
- Are they easy to work with?
The evaluator who you want to work with is one who wants to work with you. Answering an RFE means you have to collect a lot of documentation – some not so easy to secure – in a short amount of time. Don’t waste your time working with an evaluator who doesn’t answer your calls, your text, your emails, or your questions to your satisfaction. Being easy to work with also means they are affordable and offer rush delivery options. When it comes to credential evaluation agencies, you don’t “get what you pay for.” The best ones tend to be inexpensive.
- Did they ask about the visa?
A common cause of an education RFE is that the evaluator wrote the right evaluation for the wrong visa. Many evaluation agencies will write a standard evaluation of your credentials, or your employee or client’s credentials without regard for the particular, unique educational requirements for the H-1B visa. Educational requirements, as well as approval trends and standards surrounding what education and work experience can be combined to write an equivalency vary from visa to visa. For example, an H-1B beneficiary may combine work experience and college credit to write an acceptable equivalency to a US bachelor’s degree. Meanwhile, an EB2 beneficiary who tries to do the same thing will fail because for that particular visa the bachelor’s degree must be a single source. The evaluation must lend itself to the visa in question to be successful.
- Did they ask about the job offer?
Just like the particular visa requirements, the evaluation must also lend itself to the client’s job offer. In the past, CIS has accepted petitions in which the beneficiary holds a degree in a field related to the job offer. This is not the case anymore. Now CIS requires beneficiaries to have a degree in their exact field of employ. This is because H-1B visas are for beneficiaries working specialized occupations, with knowledge and skills specialized to their field. While an employer will look at a candidate’s education and work experience and see that they have the skills and knowledge necessary to work their job, if the degree is not in the field, CIS will require more evidence. If your credential evaluator doesn’t ask about your job, or your employee or client’s job, he or she does not understand this and you need to look elsewhere. If your degree, or your employee or client’s degree is in a mismatched field, a credential evaluator with the authority to convert progressive work experience in the field into college credit in that specialization is exactly who you need to be working with.
- Do the often work with RFEs, Denials, and NOIDs?
The credential evaluator you want is one who does not shy away from difficult cases. You, or your employee or client received an RFE, so you want to work with an evaluation agency with extensive experience answering them. It’s important to keep in mind that the roadmap to answering the RFE is NOT IN THE RFE ITSELF. Especially with RFEs like the Nightmare – which is virtually impossible to answer if you follow its instructions – guidance from those who know the terrain and can navigate it successfully is essential to success. Evaluators that work with these kinds of cases know what CIS is looking for in the documentation they request, know what triggers and RFE, and what works and what does not in answering it. These evaluators follow CIS approval trends, which change from year to year.
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.