‘Market Research Analyst’ Officially Recognized as Specialty Occupation

Posted by: Park Evaluations

By Dillan Wright Attorneys and H-1B petitioning companies recently managed to gain more ground in the ongoing battle over specialty occupation definitions. Following a series of lawsuits, a settlement was reached in a case against USCIS, and as a result, the role of ‘Market Research Analyst’ must now be recognized as a specialized occupation when considering candidates for an H-1B visa, courts say. Before this ruling, USCIS had been blanketly denying candidates on the basis that the role was not in fact a specialty occupation. The success of this lawsuit is not without precedent. Just last December, USCIS was forced to recognize ‘Computer Programmer’ as a specialized occupation (Ambiguous Language: USCIS Loses Appeal against Tech Company | Park Evaluations) as a ...

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Time is Ticking: Risk of Green Cards Going to Waste

Posted by: Park Evaluations

By: Hannah Rae Welbourn Around 100,000 green cards, or Permanent Resident Cards, are at risk of going to waste as a result of slower, pandemic-related processing times. This is on top of a preexisting backlog. A closer look at the numbers reveals that roughly 90% of those eligible for these at-risk green cards are currently on employment-based temporary visas, and although they are already living and working in the United States, they continue to face wait times that can last up to decades—a result of the high demand for visas for technology workers from India, combined with the cap placed on the country. But why are ...

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USCIS’s Response to the Afghanistan Conflict

Posted by: Park Evaluations | in ,

By Dillan Wright Intro With the withdrawal of US forces and subsequently rapid Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, there is a present and obvious need for clarity on the part of USCIS regarding the steps Afghani residents must take in order to take refuge in the United States. We will examine USCIS’s initial response to the crisis and offer a glance at how some organizations have responded in kind. USCIS’s Response USCIS last updated their policies for Afghani refugees on August 26, 2021, shortly after the closure of the US embassy in Kabul. Their site offers a comprehensive breakdown of how to achieve “parole”, including steps on how to apply, directions on waiving application fees, and a list of necessary documentation that must be ...

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F-1 Visa Updates Favor Foreign Students and Eliminate The Need For Extensions

Posted by: Park Evaluations

By: Rachel Horner    The DHS  officially rescinded a proposed rule from the Trump Administration which aimed to eliminate the duration of status for those on F-1 and J-1 visas (namely international students and journalists).     The duration of status allowed foreign nationals under said visas to enter the country for a set period of time, ranging from a few weeks to years ...

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Second Lottery for 2022 H-1B Applicants Conducted by USCIS

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By: Hannah Welbourn A second round of H-1B seekers has been selected to submit their petitions for the highly sought-after visa. This is the second year in a row that USCIS has conducted a second lottery, releasing a statement Thursday reading: “We recently determined that we needed to select additional registrations to reach the FY 2022 numerical allocations.” Last year’s decision to make another round of selections was largely affected by the initial COVID-19 outbreak, as many who were offered employment early in the year were not able to be hired as a result of the pandemic. The Trump Administration’s travel ban also impacted the decision, as many who had been initially selected were then unable to get into the US. Following ...

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Breaking Down Barriers to Naturalization: The Biden Administration’s Progress

Posted by: Park Evaluations

By: Hannah Welbourn   With his first year in office officially halfway through, President Joe Biden has made it clear that one of the administration’s biggest goals regarding immigration is to promote naturalization.   Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security announced a campaign aimed at recruiting new citizens and making the naturalization process more accessible. The campaign is headed by the Biden-appointed Interagency Working Group on Promoting Naturalization (also referred to as the Naturalization Working Group or NWG) and is in accordance with the executive order Biden enacted in February, which included calls to shorten naturalization processing times, reduce the naturalization fee, and reinstate a fee waiver. The executive order also called upon the NGW to develop welcoming and inclusive strategies ...

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Park Advertising’s New Proprietary Case Management System and How to Learn More About It

Posted by: Park Evaluations

By: Rachel Horner    Over the past year and a half, Park worked to build a proprietary software to facilitate the process of tracking PERM recruitment. We can now officially announce the PERM Portal is ready for not only our internal team to use, but our clients as well! We are excited to add the PERM Portal to our roster of PERM-related services (which you can read more about here).   

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The L-1A Visa: Park Evaluation’s 101 Guide

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By Ryan Mernin In a previous post, the team at Park Evaluations offered some insight into the L-1A visa and its basic criteria, as well as how an expert letter from Park could help meet USCIS’ various challenges. Here, we will take a deeper dive into the various definitions of managerial capacity and the hidden nuances therein. Managerial Capacities: Personnel, Functional, Executive Much ...

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