CASE: H-1B Visa Petition
PETITIONER:  Engineering Company
BENEFICIARY: Radio Frequency / Electrical Engineer

Our client is an engineering company that specializes in RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Technology) solutions.  Our client’s office is located near Columbus, Ohio.  They contacted our office in mid-March to seek legal assistance from our office for their foreign employee.  The beneficiary obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering in Taiwan and completed his Master’s program in the United States. The proffered position for the Beneficiary is a radio frequency / electrical engineer which qualifies as a specialty occupation.  We argued that this position a “specialty occupation” because the minimum requirement for this position is a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering or its equivalent.  Moreover, the applicant for this position must have experience or specific training in RFID technology.

Once retained, our office promptly filed the H-1B visa petition with various supporting documents on April 7, 2011 via the regular processing service. There were no Requests for Evidence during the processing of the H-1B.  Eventually, our client’s H-1B application was approved on June 8, 2011.  On October 1, 2011, he can work for his employer for the next three years on his H-1B status.

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CASE: H-1B Visa Petition (Change of Employer)
PETITIONER:  Advertising Media Company
BENEFICIARY: Web / Graphic Designer

Our client is an advertising media company in California. They contacted our office in early March to seek legal assistance from our office for their foreign employee.  The beneficiary is from Kenya and obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Interactive Multimedia in the United States. The proffered position for the Beneficiary is a Web / Graphic Designer which qualifies as a specialty occupation.  This proffered position is clearly a “specialty occupation” because the minimum requirements for this position are a Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Design or its equivalent.  It almost has become a necessity and in order for companies to have these competent Graphic Designers, some with a Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Design or its equivalent is a must.  Our office has helped several foreign graphic designers’ H-1B petitions, so we clearly explained to the USCIS with numerous supporting documents that the proffered position is a specialty occupation.

The foreign beneficiary in this case already had his H-1B visa from his previous employer in a similar industry.  However, his H-1B visa was not expired yet, and he wanted to extend his H-1B status based on a change in employer.

Once retained, our office promptly filed the H-1B visa petition with various supporting documents on March 25, 2011 via regular processing service.  Since this petition was based on a change in employer, this petition was exempted from the annual H-1B cap.  Thus, we could file prior to April 1.  There were no Requests for Evidence during the processing of the H-1B.  Eventually, our client’s H-1B Petition was approved on May 10, 2011.  Now the Beneficiary can work for his Petitioner-Employer as an H-1B visa holder and he can work there for next three years.

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CASE: H-1B Visa Petition
PETITIONER:  E-Book Publishing Company
BENEFICIARY: E-Book / Web Designer

Our client is a large E-Book publishing company in the United States. They contacted our office in early March to seek legal assistance from our office for their foreign employee.  The beneficiary obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science in China and completed his Masters program in the United States. The proffered position for the Beneficiary is an E-Book / Web Designer which qualifies as a specialty occupation.  This proffered position is clearly a “specialty occupation” because the minimum requirements for this position are a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or its equivalent.  It has become a necessity and in order for companies to have these competent Web Designers, a Bachelor’s Degree is a must.  A Bachelor’s Degree in this field is affirmation that a candidate is well equipped with the skills needed to publish, design and maintain functional, attractive, practical, and useful E-Book Publication for E-Book publishing companies.

Once retained, our office promptly filed the H-1B visa petition with various supporting documents on April 1, 2011 via regular processing service. There were no Requests for Evidence during the processing of the H-1B.  Eventually, our client’s H-1B application was approved on May 3, 2011. The approval only took a month despite filing the Petition through regular processing.

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CASE: H-1B Visa Petition

PETITIONER:  Law Firm

BENEFICIARY: Lawyer

Our client is a boutique law firm. The beneficiary  obtained his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree in the United States and is admitted in a State Bar to practice law. The proffered position for the Beneficiary is an associate attorney which clearly qualifies as a specialty occupation. One could not work as an associate attorney without having a bar license, which one could not even apply for without a law degree (which equates to a “Master’s Degree or Higher” standard for H-1B petitions).

Once retained, our office promptly filed the H-1B visa petition with various supporting documents on December 14, 2010 via premium processing service. There were no Requests for Evidence during the processing of the H-1B.  Eventually, our client’s H-1B application was approved on December 27, 2010 which was within two weeks.  Now our client can work as an associate attorney for his employer as an H-1B visa holder and he can work there for next three years.

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CASE: H-1B Visa Petition

PETITIONER: IT Consulting Company

BENEFICIARY: Mexican

LOCATION: Ohio

ISSUE: Third-Party Placement / Consulting Company Issue

Our client is an IT consulting company in Ohio. The beneficiary is a Mexican who obtained a Bachelor of Engineering degree.  The proffered position for the Beneficiary was a computer systems analyst which qualifies as a specialty occupation.  Previously, the petitioner filed an H-1B visa petition on behalf of the beneficiary, but it was denied by the USCIS due to third-party placement issue.

Thereafter, our office promptly filed the H-1B visa petition with various supporting documents on November 10, 2010 via premium processing service. On November 24, 2010, the USCIS requested the petitioner to submit additional evidence to rebut the third-party placement issue.  This issue of “in-house” employment was the main reason why the beneficiary’s previous H-1B visa petition was denied. This issue has been prevalent since a memorandum was issued over a year ago targeting IT and Business Consulting companies, as they typically act as a bridge to eventually place their employees under the control of their clients – a third party.

Upon our receipt of the RFE from the USCIS, Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu prepared a detailed response with several exhibits as a response to the RFE.  The exhibits included information regarding the Petitioner-Employer, a detailed letter from Petitioner-Employer regarding the beneficiary’s In-House Employment, and various charts and spreadsheets detailing the particular in-house project of the position. In the cover letter to the USCIS, Attorney Yu explained the nature of the in-house employment setting between the Petitioner and the Beneficiary with a detailed explanation of specific projects that the beneficiary will work on at the Petitioner’s own site. Our firm also submitted various supporting documents to illustrate to the CIS the complexity of beneficiary’s project.

Our office filed the response to RFE with the USCIS California Service Center on December 21, 2010.  Our client’s H-1B application was approved on December 28, 2010.  It was approved within a week after the response to RFE was filed.  Now our client can work for his employer as an H-1B visa holder and he can work there. His wife’s I-539 H-4 application was also approved.

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CASE: H-1B Visa Petition – Response to Request for Evidence

PETITIONER: Advertising Media Company

BENEFICIARY: Albanian

LOCATION: California

ISSUE: Specialty Occupation

Our client is an advertising media company in California. The beneficiary is from Albania, obtained both a Bachelors and Masters degree in the United States and worked for her employer under the OPT program.  The Petitioner-Employer filed an H-1B application on behalf of our client on June 21, 2010 by themselves.  However, USCIS mailed a 5-page Request for Evidence to the Petitioner-Employer and requested Petitioner to submit additional evidence to establish that the proffered position to the beneficiary qualifies as a “Specialty Occupation.”

The USCIS was skeptical and argued that the proffered “Graphic Designer” position does not qualify as a “Specialty Occupation” under the federal immigration law.  Indeed, the law clearly states that an H-1B classification may be granted to an alien who will perform services in a specialty occupation which requires theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge and attainment of a baccalaureate or higher degree or its equivalent as a minimum requirement for entry into the occupation in the United States, and who is qualified to perform services in the specialty occupation because she has attained a baccalaureate or higher degree or its equivalent in the specialty occupation.

The main issue for the client’s H-1B application was whether the “graphic designer” position requires a bachelor’s degree in graphic design or an equivalent degree which makes this position a “specialty occupation.”  Once Petitioner-Employer received the Request for Evidence (RFE) the from USCIS, our client retained us to prepare for the response. We gathered supporting documents from both the Petitioner and Beneficiary and did research on the advertising media industry to demonstrate that a bachelor’s degree is commonly required for graphic designer positions industry-wide.

Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu prepared a detailed cover letter to the USCIS with 15 exhibits (supporting documents) as a response to the RFE.  The exhibits included information regarding the Petitioner-Employer, a detailed letter from Petitioner-Employer regarding the position and past employment practices, advertisements for “graphic designers” proving that a Bachelor’s degree in graphic design or the like is required, etc.

Our office filed the response to RFE with the USCIS California Service Center on November 2, 2010.  Our client’s H-1B application was approved on December 6, 2010.  Now our client can work for her employer as an H-1B visa holder and she can work there for next three years.

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CASE: H-1B

PETITIONER: Manufacturing Company

BENEFICIARY: Sales Manager / Kenyan

LOCATION: West Virginia

Our client is a large manufacturing company in West Virginia who wanted to petition a Kenyan for a sales manager position. We took the case and prepared the H-1B Petition and all the preceding steps prior to filing. On July 14, 2010, the H-1B Petition was filed. There were no Requests for Evidence during the processing of the H-1B. On October 18, 2010, the H-1B Petition was approved for 3 years.

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CASE: H-1B
PETITIONER: Hospital
BENEFICIARY: Physician / General Surgeon, Filipino
LOCATION: Pennsylvania

H-1B filed on behalf of a hospital in Pennsylvania for a Filipino physician / general surgeon on May 5, 2010. No Requests for Evidence with the filing and the Petitioner did not opt for premium processing. The case was approved on July 12, 2010. The H-1B is good from October 1, 2010 to September 30, 2013.

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CASE: H-1B Extension With Potential Specialty Occupation Issues
TYPE OF PETITIONER: Hotel
POSITION: Hotel General Manager
LOCATION: Ohio

Our client is a Pakistani national who has been on H-1B status for over 8 years. His H-1B had been extended for one year at a time for the past two years. Within the past year, an I-140 Petition was approved with him as the beneficiary. He consulted with our office regarding filing an extension. Our office reviewed his documents and with the approved I-140, informed him that the H-1B extension would be a 3-year extension. Another issue is his position – that of a hotel general manager. For this year, the position is deemed under ONET classifications as a Job Zone 3 position which does not require a bachelor’s degree. Unless we can persuade the USCIS that a hotel general manager for the Petitioner is a “specialty occupation” the H-1B may be denied. Upon discussing the case with the Petitioner regarding the specific description of the position, we prepared a detailed employment letter together with a more extensive cover letter to argue upfront that the hotel general manager in this instance is a specialty occupation, that the position is so complex that it requires someone possessing at least a Bachelors Degree. The I-140 approval was also attached and a portion of the cover letter cited the AC-21 regulation allowing for a 3-year extension. On April 15, 2010, the H-1B extension was filed. 3 weeks later, our client informed us that new ownership has taken over the petitioner. They were wondering if the filing fees submitted were useless as they assumed an amendment should now be filed. Our office assured them that no amendment is needed and sent a letter together with a citation of INA § 214(c)(10) which specifically addressed this issue. On June 16, 2010, with no Requests for Evidence by the CIS addressing the issue of whether the position was a specialty occupation, our client’s 3-year H-1B extension was approved.

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