What Could the H-1B Electronic Registration Process Mean for Business Immigration?

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What Could the H-1B Electronic Registration Process Mean for Business Immigration?

By: Anjelica Daskarolis Following USCIS’ announcement of the new H-1B Electronic Registration process, speculation has erupted across the business immigration world as industry experts and attorneys try to forecast how this new technology will impact the H-1B petition process. After the official H-1B cap registration launch, this past Monday, March 2nd, attorneys grit their teeth as the technical problems began to unfold.  System entrance complications, faulty attorney categorizations, passcode dilemmas, payment difficulties, and data delays all played a role in tampering with the much-anticipated lottery kickoff.  With the upcoming registration closing date falling on March 20th, there is fortunately still time for the USCIS to fine-tune these pesky glitches. The electronic system was intended to save employers time, money, and unnecessary paperwork.  By ...

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The Key to an Effective O-1A Visa Expert Opinion Letter

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The Key to an Effective O-1A Visa Expert Opinion Letter

By: Rebecca Anderson What is an O-1 Visa? According to the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, “an O-1 nonimmigrant visa is available for the individual who possesses an extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or who has a demonstrated record of astonishing achievement in the motion picture or television industry and has been recognized nationally or internationally for those achievements.” The O-1A visa, in particular, is for individuals with extraordinary ability in the sciences, education, business, or athletics. These visas are a beautiful thing. First of all, they are the only non-specific work visa, and while candidates must show a letter of intent for future work, they are by no means bound to any single ...

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Top 4 Reasons Why USCIS Might Challenge a Work Experience Evaluation and How to Prevent an RFE

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Top 4 Reasons Why USCIS Might Challenge a Work Experience Evaluation and How to Prevent an RFE

By: Angela Cook One of the more common evaluations H-1B beneficiaries obtain is an experience expert letter that assesses a beneficiary’s academic history and prior work experience. For nearly three decades, this type of expert opinion letter had largely gone unchallenged, as long as the conclusion (that a beneficiary has earned the equivalent of a Bachelor’s degree) was defensible, and the documentation on which the letter was based is accurate and detailed. However, over the last few years, USCIS has taken a tougher stance and has been challenging work experience evaluations more and more. Here are four things to consider when procuring a work experience evaluation that just might help avoid an RFE. 1. The 3:1 Rule – the crux of the ...

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How do I prevent or answer a USCIS “First-Hand Knowledge” RFE?

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How do I prevent or answer a USCIS “First-Hand Knowledge” RFE?

The changing tides of immigration laws have brought with them a host of new requirements for the H-1B Visa application process. What’s more, as is almost always the case with new requirements, they have provided immigration authorities with new opportunities for objections and denials. First-Hand Knowledge Issue The objection is this: USCIS has been challenging how the expert writing the opinion letter gained his or her knowledge about a given position, knowledge leading to the conclusion that the position does qualify as a Specialty Occupation. USCIS believes “the [expert] reached this conclusion by relying on [the organization’s] description of the position rather than any specific study of the position at [the] organization” and wants to see evidence that “the [expert] visited ...

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What Makes an Expert?

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What Makes an Expert?

When it comes to responding to RFEs having an Expert Opinion Letter to augment the case has become an essential component of any filing. An Expert Opinion Letter can take many forms, such as an evaluation of the candidate’s credentials, an evaluation of the position as a specialty occupation, a combination of the two, or something else entirely. The purpose of these letters is to demonstrate how the subject of the letter meets the criteria set forth by USCIS. At Park Evaluations, we work with professors from various universities in a multitude of fields of study. We collaborate most frequently with Experts in the fields of Computer Science, Information Technology, Business, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Marketing, Finance, Economics, Data Science, and Mathematics. When recruiting ...

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What is Progressively Responsible Work Experience?

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What is Progressively Responsible Work Experience?

It’s a term that gets thrown around often in the realm of H-1B Visa filings. Maybe you’ve come across it in an RFE or have seen it used glowingly in a former employer’s work letter. Whatever your familiarity with the term, there’s no doubt that one’s chances for H-1B Visa success increase significantly if they can demonstrate that the course of their professional work history has been on a “progressively responsible” trajectory. Below is a dive into what exactly comprises progressive responsibility and why that distinction is so valuable when it comes to making a strong case for your work visa. Work History Vs. Academic Studies Many believe that life’s knowledge is best amassed through a combination of education ...

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The 3:1 Rule

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The 3:1 Rule

The H1-B visa is a visa that allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. When applying for the H-1B visa, one of the requirements is that the applicant has an equivalent of a United States Bachelor’s degree. Many times the applicant meets this requirement without too much of a problem. However, issues arise when an applicant has a foreign Bachelor’s degree that is only three years in duration. Most, but not all, foreign three-year Bachelor degrees are only equivalent to three years of undergraduate study in the United States. So what is one to do when their foreign degrees lacks the right level of equivalence needed for a H-1B visa? Fortunately, USCIS has ...

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US Equivalency Cheat Sheet for Indian IT Personnel

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US Equivalency Cheat Sheet for Indian IT Personnel

From Satya Nadella (Microsoft) to Sundar Pichai (Google) to Shantanu Narayen (Adobe), the demand for IT experts from India has definitely boomed in recent years. With the increase in demand for IT talent coming from India in recent years, the need to evaluate candidate credentials has become a bit tedious. Luckily, our associate director of evaluations - Howard Borenstein has created this nifty cheat sheet when it comes to evaluating the credentials of your clients' potential hires from India. You can download the cheat sheet using this link.

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