Specialty Occupation Challenges – How disparate is too disparate?

By: Hannah Welbourn

During the first Trump administration, one highly scrutinized area of the H-1B was the acceptable degree requirements for a specialty occupation. While we can’t predict what this year’s RFEs will look like, specialty occupation remains the main challenge we see on H-1B RFEs, and degree requirements remain the crux of the issue for many, if not most, of those cases.

Specialty occupations such as computer programmers were significantly challenged during the first Trump administration. In most cases, these roles would require a degree in computer science. While some degree fields, such as information technology, software engineering, or computer engineering, often overlap significantly with computer science in coursework and skills, others may pose challenges.

As an example, a candidate with a mechanical engineering degree applying for a computer programming role might face scrutiny, as USCIS could view the fields as too disparate. The core curriculum for mechanical engineering degrees typically would not align closely enough with the theoretical and practical requirements of a computer science-based occupation, potentially leading to an RFE or denial. This is often the case with other engineering fields such as electronics engineering, which is often considered too disparate for roles focused on software development as it typically involves hardware design, circuitry, and signal processing rather than the theoretical and applied principles of computer science.

For a candidate with a degree in a directly related field, using academics alone to qualify for the role is usually the simplest solution, both for the applicant and the adjudicator. However, if the field is not directly related to the job duty requirements, it is often the case that a much stronger argument can be made using a combination of academics and work experience directly related to the position. That is where our Experience Expert Letter or Beneficiary Qualification Letter can be utilized to arrive at a new equivalency rather than relying on academics alone that might not fit with the job duties.

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