How to Avoid Common Pitfalls for L-1, O-1, and NIW Petitions: Tips from Our Head Evaluator

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By: Rachel Horner  While 2020 was a tough year for immigration, petitions continued to be filed, and attorneys are ramping up again to avoid the latest USCIS challenges—including for non-H1B options like the L-1A/B, O-1, and National Interest Waivers (NIW). Our expert evaluator, Howard Borenstein, gave a presentation detailing some of the more common mistakes made during these petitions that are likely to attract USCIS’s attention. Below we’ve highlighted some of the most important takeaways to remember for each of these petition types.    L-1A Petition: Discerning the difference between a Functional or Personnel Manager.  While the criteria for Managerial ...

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What a Premium Position Letter From Park Evaluation Can Do For Your H1B Petition

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By Patrick Boody   While the positional analyses Park Evaluations and our team of professors, together, provide are well-equipped to make the argument that a job offered by a client organization is a specialty occupation as defined by USCIS, the premium position evaluation, alternatively, can further this argument to a degree of thoroughness and detail otherwise unattainable in our standard service. Before talking about what our premium letters entail, let us define again USCIS’s concept of specialty occupation. Accordingly, USCIS considers a position to be a specialty occupation if it requires a) a bachelor’s degree, its foreign equivalent or a degree higher than a bachelor’s; b) the degree the position requires is comparable to ...

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Former President Trump’s Ban on H-1B Visa Reaches Expiration

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By: Rachel Horner  When COVID-19 emerged last year, there was no telling the extents of its effects. However, early on, it was obvious that immigration would be one of the first industries to take a dire hit. A few months into the pandemic, the Trump Administration issued a proclamation which banned foreign nationals on “non-immigrant” visas, including the H-1B visa, from entering the country. The ban was extended by Trump to run until March 31, 2021. However, following that date’s passing, business immigration received welcome news—the Biden-Harris Administration has allowed its expiration to occur.     Now that Proclamation 10052 is over with, what’s next for those who were affected? 

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Choosing the Right Work Experience Evaluation for your H-1B Petition

Posted by: Park Evaluations

By: Patrick Boody  When it comes to evaluating a foreign national’s work experience, it is essential to capture the breadth of what they have accomplished over the extent of their career, no matter its length, to equate such work experience and academic credentials to the possession of a U.S. degree in an applicable field. Here at Park Evaluations, we grant such equivalences through our in-house expert letters as well as those written by the professors with whom we partner. In sum, what differentiates the two is additional content contributing more significantly to the argument that over a candidate’s career, they have amassed what United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) calls—and 

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USCIS Announces Selections for H-1B Cap Subject Petitions 

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By: Rachel Horner  USCIS officially began its selection process for this year’s CAP Season. The announcement sent to those who participated in the registration process on March 29, 2021 stated those selected to file for H-1B CAP-subject petitions will be notified no later than March 31st, 2021 via their official USCIS online account.   The petitions that do not receive a selection notification are still outstanding, however. USCIS is not at its cap for selected petitions yet. Registrants will not be notified of a denial until USCIS's selection process is fully complete. 

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USCIS to Reconsider Denied Petitions after Rescinding Three Policy Memos

Posted by: Park Evaluations

By: Rachel Horner  Additional Writing By: Kelsi Swenson  On March 12, 2021, USCIS announced some welcome news for recipients of denied H-1B visa petitions: if any of the three recently rescinded  policy memos served as the basis for USCIS's denial, the petition is eligible for reconsideration. This latest announcement suggests that USCIS is clearing its system of outdated, unforgiving policies, and to make way for new, more progressive policies. Recap of the Policies Rescinded by USCIS The first two policy memos both targeted petitions that involved third-party worksites, which are especially popular in the IT sector. These policies came from a general wariness around the notion that IT companies could contract their employees to a third-party company, ...

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A New Era for Immigration? Future Priorities and Business Immigration in the Post-Trump World

Posted by: Park Evaluations

Written By: Lynn O’Brien, Senior Associate Attorney in the Northern Virginia office of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP.  With Terry Mastronikolas Recently, we had a few chances to assess the situation with Lynn O’Brien at BAL to get a grip on the crisis confronting our industry as USCIS prepared to implement a new rule that would have modified the H-1B cap selection process, amended current lottery procedures, and prioritized wages. That crisis has been averted for now.  Also rocking the world of business immigration were the H-1B strengthening rule and the Department of Labor (DOL) interim final rule to incorporate changes ...

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The Key to Meeting a Work Experience RFE

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By: Joseph Catrone   From making appearances in RFEs to work verification letters to RFE responses, "progressively responsible work experience" is one of the most popular terms in the realm of H-1B Visa filings. Whatever your level of familiarity with the term is, there’s no doubt that demonstrating a “progressively responsible” trajectory in a candidate's professional work history can significantly increase the odds for meeting RFE challenges. Below is a dive into what exactly comprises "progressive responsibility" and why that distinction is so valuable when positioning a candidate and responding to an RFE.   Work History Vs. Academic Studies Many believe that life’s knowledge is best amassed through ...

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