Category: Immigration

Extraordinary Ability in the Arts: How Park Can Help Get Your EB-1A and O-1B Petitions Approved  

Posted by: Park Evaluations | in ,

By Amy Fredrickson O-1B and EB-1A petitions for candidates in the arts often face increased scrutiny due to the subjective nature of assessing what constitutes “extraordinary ability” in this area. Sufficiently demonstrating extraordinary ability in the arts requires nuanced arguments that speak to niche concepts. Proving the artistic merit and cultural relevance of a contribution, as well as the caliber of an award, helps establish a position within the arts as leading or critical.  Park helps deliver these nuanced arguments for O-1B and arts-related EB-1A petitions through specialty expert letters. We provide support on behalf of applicants in fields ranging from film, television, music, culinary arts, dance, and even graphic design.  We recently supported a cinematographer applying for an O-1B visa. Through a detailed letter, our film expert demonstrated the importance of cinematography for a film’s success. They outlined the candidate’s artistic merits and contributions within the larger industry, picking apart the dynamics of visual storytelling that elevated the beneficiary’s work to “extraordinary ability” level. 

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Translating Hijri and Non-Gregorian Dates at Park

Posted by: Park Evaluations

By Becca Matson  Date accuracy matters in immigration filings. Birth certificates, educational diplomas, and employment records all form the foundation of a petition. When dates on these documents are altered or reformatted during translation, risks emerge. USCIS regulations require that translations be "accurate and complete." Therefore, translations must reflect what is written in the original document, including how dates are formatted and presented.  When translating documents from countries that use the Islamic Hijri calendar, including Saudi Arabia, much of the Gulf region, and various Muslim-majority nations, translation vendors face a critical challenge: how to handle dates that don't conform to the Gregorian calendar system used as the US standard.  While some translation services may take shortcuts (i.e. converting Hijri dates to approximate Gregorian equivalents or reformatting dates to match U.S. conventions), the Park team takes a more detailed approach to accurately reflect source ...

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Park’s Four Essential Steps for Handling Imperfect Immigration Documents

Posted by: Park Evaluations

By Becca Matson  Identify issues early  Immigration filings frequently include documents that are partially illegible, handwritten, stamped, or damaged. Birth certificates may be decades old and faded. Other documents might bear handwritten annotations. How a translation vendor handles these imperfections can have a significant impact on the record’s integrity and the case’s success.  Park’s process begins with identifying every portion of text that is faint, blurred, obscured, or otherwise questionable. Instead of pushing forward with assumptions, we surface these issues upfront, so attorneys can see exactly where the document may pose challenges.  Translate without guessing Park never reconstructs, interprets, or “fills in” unclear content. If a portion of the source document is illegible or unreadable, we note it in the translation. ...

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The NIW Flight Path for the Aviation Industry

Posted by: Park Evaluations

By Shela Ward  The aviation industry is facing a growing demand for skilled pilots, safety experts, and maintenance managers. The National Interest Waiver (NIW) has increasingly become an appealing immigration pathway for professionals in this field.   Unlike many of the employment-based options for a green card, the NIW lets individuals self-petition without an employer sponsor or labor certification, offering a powerful route to residency. This is a strong option for aviation professionals, as it offers flexibility and independence in an industry where job opportunities can shift quickly due to fluctuating hiring cycles, mergers, or operational changes. By demonstrating that their skills and contributions benefit the country, aviation professionals can position themselves as valuable assets to the country’s national interest.  At ...

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New York State Launches a New Platform for SWA Job Orders

Posted by: Park Evaluations

As Park closely monitors State Workforce Agency (SWA) updates, we aim to keep our clients and partners informed about changes impacting recruitment and compliance processes. One important requirement that companies face when hiring foreign employees is posting job openings in the appropriate state-specific SWA portal. These postings ensure that local job seekers have fair access to available opportunities and help employers meet Department of Labor (DOL) recruitment guidelines. While the DOL requires job orders to remain live for 30 consecutive days, each state has its own set of rules and requirements that must be followed. Some require salary ranges, others request benefit details, and some may include occupation-specific instructions. Due to these differences, staying aware of state updates is essential, ...

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Atlanta Journal-Constitution Going Digital

Posted by: Park Evaluations

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the latest major daily newspaper to transition to digital only, with its final print edition scheduled for December 31, 2025. This raises concerns for PERM recruitment in the Atlanta metro area, since current regulations do not allow digital editions to satisfy the requirement for two separate Sunday ads in a newspaper of general circulation. So, what happens now? When a paper announces it is going digital, the Park team immediately begins researching alternative options for every affected area. We contact all available newspapers in each market and confirm their circulation and print schedules to ensure we have accurate options for clients. For example, in Cobb County, Georgia, where the AJC was previously used, we will begin ...

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How an Expert Opinion Letter can help avoid an RFE on Extraordinary Ability cases

Posted by: Park Evaluations

Even the most impressive, highly qualified applicants can receive RFEs on their Extraordinary Ability visa cases. This doesn’t mean they lack achievement, but the evidence package may not explain or verify candidates' accomplishments in ways immigration officers expect. The good news? Many RFEs stem from predictable issues that a well-crafted expert opinion letter can address. Some of these common RFE triggers include: Achievements that don’t appear extraordinary Applicants list impressive accomplishments, but without proper context, USCIS may view evidence as commonplace for someone in their field. Adjudicators need to see how the work stands out and why it’s rare, influential, or groundbreaking. Indication of international acclaim and reputation, as a result of the candidate’s accomplishments in their field, aids in reaching a successful determination ...

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Schedule A Group II Explained: A Shortcut to Permanent Residency

Posted by: Park Evaluations

By: Shela Ward When it comes to U.S. immigration, most employment-based green card applicants face a big hurdle in proving there aren’t qualified American workers available for the job. The standard PERM labor certification process can be long, complicated, and stressful, involving a time-consuming labor market test. Schedule A Group II is a special category of green cards that provides a shortcut for certain individuals with exceptional ability in the sciences or arts. What is Schedule A Group II? Instead of going through the lengthy recruitment process, Schedule A Group II allows employers to sponsor individuals directly for a green card. To qualify, the individual must receive a job offer for a position requiring their exceptional ability and demonstrate proof of their exceptional ...

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A Historical Look at PERM: How Labor Certification Evolved in the U.S. 

Posted by: Park Evaluations

By: Anna Martins Longo Pereira The PERM labor certification process may feel like a box-checking exercise today, but its history reflects decades of effort by the U.S. government to strike a balance between meeting economic needs and protecting opportunities for U.S. workers. To understand where PERM stands now—and why it matters so much for employment-based immigration—it helps to trace how we got here.  The Early Roots of Labor Certification Labor certification was born out of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) of 1952. Section 212(a)(b) required that foreign workers could only be hired when no qualified, willing, and available U.S. worker existed, and that wages would not be undercut. Employers needed to test the U.S. labor market to prove ...

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Major Updates from USCIS on TN Visas: Here’s What You Need to Know

Posted by: Park Evaluations

By: Shela Ward USCIS has just released a major update to its Policy Manual for the temporary nonimmigrant (TN) visa. What does this mean for your clients? These changes impact how employers can determine who’s eligible and what the application process looks like moving forward. At Park Evaluations, we stay on top of immigration policy updates like this, so we can help draft TN letters tailored to the new guidelines to make sure you and your clients stay ahead of the curve. What’s Changed for TN Visas? USCIS’ updates to the Policy Manual are significant – and they touch on everything from employment requirements to the application process. Regarding employment requirements and eligibility, candidates still need to be Canadian or Mexican citizens with a ...

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