Category: Immigration

PERM Audit Triggers and How Park Can Help

Posted by: Park Evaluations

By: Amy Frederickson The Department of Labor randomly selects approximately 30 percent of PERM filings to be audited each fiscal year. In addition to these randomized audits, the department issues targeted audits to more closely evaluate PERM applications that set off alarm bells. Increasing rates of PERM application denials over the past few years underscore that the Department of Labor is not only more frequently rejecting applications outright but also increasing their issuance of audits and intensifying their scrutiny of responses. While several arguments surface as to why PERM denials and audits are increasing, there is a general consensus that this enhanced scrutiny stems from mounting concerns that foreign workers are being unfairly selected for employment over U.S. citizens: a worry that ...

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Green Card Gridlock: What Employers and Immigrants Need to Know

Posted by: Park Evaluations

By: Hannah Welbourn Concerning the growing delays for green card processing, the Cato Institute stated, “America will lose the global talent competition when other countries grant green cards in a matter of a few weeks or months, not years.” 1,256 days (or 3.44 years) was the average processing time in Q2 of 2025. Since 2016, the U.S. government has added an average of 2.8 years to green card processing, and paying the $2,805 premium fee only drops the average wait time to 2.8 years. These delays affect hundreds of thousands of households in the U.S. This is on top of the extensive backlog of green card cap slots, where if a candidate’s application is approved, they may have to wait for a ...

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Specialty Occupation Challenges – How disparate is too disparate?

Posted by: Park Evaluations

By: Hannah Welbourn During the first Trump administration, one highly scrutinized area of the H-1B was the acceptable degree requirements for a specialty occupation. While we can’t predict what this year's RFEs will look like, specialty occupation remains the main challenge we see on H-1B RFEs, and degree requirements remain the crux of the issue for many, if not most, of those cases. Specialty occupations such as computer programmers were significantly challenged during the first Trump administration. In most cases, these roles would require a degree in computer science. While some degree fields, such as information technology, software engineering, or computer engineering, often overlap significantly with computer science in coursework and skills, others may pose challenges. As an example, a candidate with a ...

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A Closer Look at 3-Year Degrees: Not All Created Equal

Posted by: Park Evaluations

By: Hannah Welbourn and Mai Bui While navigating employment-based petitions, especially the H-1B, the duration of a program can be a frequent point of confusion. One question we often see: How could a three-year degree be equivalent to a U.S. Bachelor’s? It’s important to consider not only the number of years of study but also the structure, educational conventions, and historical contexts of the academic system behind the credential. In the United States, a Bachelor’s degree typically involved four years of post-secondary education. However, in many countries, especially those following British or Commonwealth systems, Bachelor’s degrees are often completed in three years. Whether these degrees are considered equivalent to a U.S. Bachelor’s degree depends largely on two factors: what is required to ...

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What is a Work Experience “Combo” Expert Opinion?

Posted by: Park Evaluations

By: Hannah Welbourn Last time, we covered necessary information for ensuring a strong petition support by one of Park’s Academic EDGE-enhanced evaluations. But what about cases where the beneficiary’s underlying academic credentials don’t make the Specialty Occupation cut? For cases where academic credentials alone don’t meet the necessary standards for immigration purposes, reach out to [email protected] for a Work Experience or “Combo” Expert Opinion Letter. These letters apply USCIS’ 3:1 rule, which allows three years of progressive, relevant work experience to be evaluated as equivalent to one year of college-level experience, up to four years. Our team of experts, who are college professors in a wide range of fields, are authorized to grant college-level experience through their university’s Prior Learning ...

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What is an Academic Evaluation?

Posted by: Park Evaluations

By: Hannah Welbourn Most H-1B nonimmigrant visa petitions require an academic evaluation at some point if the candidate did not attend a U.S. university. Academic Evaluations provide an equivalence for the foreign national’s original foreign credentials. They show that the foreign national represented in the petition has at least the equivalent of a U.S. Bachelor’s degree, a key point of evidence needed to satisfy the Specialty Occupation standard for awarding an H-1B visa. As H-1B CAP season revs up in one of the tensest political environments to date, your safe bet this year is to go with Park’s EDGE evaluations, which include reference to the AACRAO EDGE database recommended by USCIS. When you reach out to [email protected] to request an ...

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Successfully shifting from L-1B to L-1A: Navigating the Shift from Specialized Knowledge to Personnel Management

Posted by: Park Evaluations

Written by: Hannah Welbourn Last year, we successfully assisted a client securing an L-1A visa for a candidate whose position abroad was based on specialized knowledge of the organization’s propriety tools, processes, and methodologies, but whose U.S. role was classified as personnel manager. Given the change in classification, we developed a tailored strategy to align the expert opinion letter with USCIS requirements and effectively demonstrate the candidate’s managerial qualifications.   The beneficiary previously held the role of Vice President, Technology at a high-profile finance company’s India location and was applying for an intracompany transfer to Vice President, Technology in the US. While the job title remained the same, their role in the US required personnel management duties. We needed to demonstrate that the US position met the criteria for ...

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Navigating Print Sunday Ads for PERM Recruitment: Common Questions and Best Practices

Posted by: Park Evaluations | in , ,

By: Hali Francis For both professional and non-professional positions, print Sunday ads are a required part of the permanent labor certification (PERM) recruitment process. However, meeting this requirement often raises many questions. Below, we’ve compiled some of the most common inquiries, the applicable regulations, and how we at Park Advertising handle these situations. Do the two Sunday ads have to be consecutive? While we at Park Advertising typically run Sunday ads on consecutive weeks, this is not a specific regulatory requirement. The regulation states that an advertisement must be placed on two different Sundays in a newspaper of general circulation in the area of intended employment that is most appropriate for the occupation and is likely to attract qualified U.S. workers [20 CFR ...

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Navigating EB-1A Challenges: How You Can Leverage Comparable Evidence

Posted by: Park Evaluations | in ,

By: Hailey Sylvander and Hannah Welbourn Demonstrating extraordinary ability can be tricky — especially when a candidate’s work doesn’t check the exact boxes that USCIS looks for. This is where “comparable evidence” comes into play. USCIS states that comparable evidence is applicable when the criteria does not align with the candidate's occupation, while also noting that if their occupation is more industry focused, using comparable evidence in the criterion’s stead is more appropriate. This is especially important for emerging industries in which a more “traditional” category may not apply. For instance, an applicant may not have ever appeared in a major trade publication or won an internationally recognized award, but they can submit alternative documentation that is similar in nature. Essentially, even if ...

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Unlocking the NIW Path: How Artists in Unique Fields Can Qualify

Posted by: Park Evaluations | in ,

By: Shela Ward & Hannah Welbourn It may come as a surprise that the EB-2 NIW visa applies to more than professionals in technical roles; it can also apply to professionals in the arts. As long as their work benefits the U.S. national interest, and they have met the requirements for the three-prong test, artists of multiple mediums can make a compelling case for an NIW by providing solid evidence of their past contributions and outlining their future plans. Park is prepared for these unique cases in which an artist could qualify for an NIW by demonstrating how their work will benefit the U.S. on a broader level, particularly in the fields of cultural enrichment or educational advancement. For example, we recently ...

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