Tag: RFE

Declaring “National Importance” with an Employer-Focused Proposed Endeavor

Posted by: Park Evaluations | in Business Immigration, expert opinion letter, National Interest Waiver, NIW, RFE

By: Hailey Sylvander We recently facilitated an interesting expert opinion letter for one of our clients’ National Interest Waiver (NIW) petitions. The beneficiary worked in mechanical engineering and robotics, specifically as it applies to biotechnology – a field with countless benefits to the United States, its economy, and its society. While demonstrating the national importance of this work would not normally be a challenge for our experts, the stated endeavor at the heart of this petition carried a strong focus on the beneficiary’s work for the petitioning company. And supporting a “proposed endeavor” that is employer-focused does require extra care, as USCIS often does, and most likely would ...

Continue Reading   

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

Posted by: Park Evaluations | in Business Administration, Case Studies, RFE, Specialized Knowledge, specialty occupation, USCIS

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   

How do I prevent or answer a USCIS “First-Hand Knowledge” RFE?

Posted by: Park Evaluations | in expert opinion letter, first-hand knowledge, RFE, specialty occupation

The changing tides of immigration laws have brought with them a host of new requirements for the H-1B Visa application process. What’s more, as is almost always the case with new requirements, they have provided immigration authorities with new opportunities for objections and denials. First-Hand Knowledge Issue The objection is this: USCIS has been challenging how the expert writing the opinion letter gained his or her knowledge about a given position, knowledge leading to the conclusion that the position does qualify as a Specialty Occupation. USCIS believes “the [expert] reached this conclusion by relying on [the organization’s] description of the position rather than any specific study of the position at [the] organization” and wants to see evidence that “the [expert] visited ...

Continue Reading