Category: Evaluations

A Close Look at the Looming USCIS Furloughs and What’s Being Done to Prevent It

Posted by: Park Evaluations | in , , ,

By: Rachel Horner A new emergency bill was created and passed over the weekend in an attempt to halt the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) furloughs set to happen August 30 (originally August 3). Of the nearly 20,000 employees, 13,400 are to be possibly furloughed at the end of the month. What brought all of this on? Like the U.S. Post Office, USCIS is not funded by taxes. Its funding is generated through the fees it charges to applicants seeking U.S. citizenship or Visas to visit the country. A decrease in number of petitions points to one of the main reasons behind the proposed furloughs. As the Trump Administration enacted more restrictive policies, such as ending Temporary Protected Status for ...

Continue Reading   

Outside the H: Park takes on the L, O, and other specialized visas.

Posted by: Park Evaluations | in , , ,

Outside the H: Park takes on the L, O, and other specialized visas.

By: Ryan Mernin Park is well-known throughout business immigration for specialty occupation expert opinion letters for H-1B visa petitions. However, Park also services L-1, O-1, EB, and a host of other visas offered by the United States government. In this series, “Thinking Outside the H,” we take a look at the unique challenges posed by these other visas, starting here, in this article, with the L-1B “specialized knowledge” petition. The L-1B: How to Make Specialized Knowledge Stand Out in Your Petition When it comes to filing an L-1 petition, perhaps the most difficult thing to do is gauge what USCIS is prone to challenge in your case. If you’re a client is a company executive transferring to the United ...

Continue Reading   

CASE STUDY: Is “Business Administration” Too General for Specialty Occupation?

Posted by: Park Evaluations | in , , , , ,

CASE STUDY: Is “Business Administration” Too General for Specialty Occupation?

By: Mark Anthony Rogers If you’re an immigration attorney or a petitioner seeking an H-1B visa, the degree requirement of a Bachelor’s in Business Administration can be a real headache. You know that even though the position is a specialty occupation, the term “Business Administration” is an obstacle, that it’s sometimes seen as “too general” by USCIS. You might be tempted to avoid the term “Business Administration” altogether when filing for fear of USCIS challenging the specialty nature of the position. The Challenge Park has handled this problem before. In this case, the RFE challenged read as follows: “The OOH does not indicate that Finance Manager positions normally require a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in a specific specialty. ...

Continue Reading   

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

Posted by: Park Evaluations | in , , , ,

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 ...

Continue Reading   

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

Posted by: Park Evaluations | in , , , , ,

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 ...

Continue Reading   

What Makes an Expert?

Posted by: Park Evaluations

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 ...

Continue Reading   

What is Progressively Responsible Work Experience?

Posted by: Park Evaluations

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 ...

Continue Reading   

The 3:1 Rule

Posted by: Park Evaluations

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 ...

Continue Reading   

US Equivalency Cheat Sheet for Indian IT Personnel

Posted by: Park Evaluations | in

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.

Continue Reading   

Why Every Immigration Case Needs A Good Credential Evaluation

Posted by: Park Evaluations

Why Every Immigration Case Needs A Good Credential Evaluation

In the context of immigration, foreign academic credential evaluators are critical in evaluating higher education degrees obtained abroad. Some of the most popular work-based visas require educational degrees. A bachelor’s degree obtained in one country may not always equate to a bachelor’s degree obtained in the U.S. Today, we demystify the evaluation process by looking at the tools evaluators use to assess academic equivalency to a U.S. bachelor’s degree. United States Benchmark In the U.S., primary and secondary school education starts with Kindergarten and lasts through 12 levels (or grades). The final four years (9 th -12 th  grades) are called “high school.” Beyond that, students pursue secondary education at a two-year college, or four-year college or university.  The standard undergraduate bachelor’s degree ...

Continue Reading   

Search Blog

Categories

.