H-1B Visa Sample Cases from our office

We assisted a client company, who develops its own software products and provides related consulting services in filing an H-1B petition to employ a software developer. An RFE was issued requesting additional information regarding the employer, and additional documentation to show that the beneficiary was engaged in a valid curricular practical training (CPT) and was maintaining a full course study in a master’s degree program at a U.S. university at the time of filing. The RFE noted that the evidence submitted showed that the beneficiary lived and was doing the CPT several hundred miles from the university. We first provided requested additional information regarding the employer. We then provided further evidence that the master’s degree program offered both online and hybrid courses and did not require students to live within commuting distance of the university, that the CPT was an integral part of the academic program, and that the beneficiary had been in valid F-1 status. We supported the response with ample corroborating evidence, including documentation from both the university and the petitioner regarding beneficiary’s status. The petition was approved shortly after the response was filed.

Status: The petition was approved shortly after the response was filed.

In this case we assisted a client whose employee, with a valid H-1 visa stamped in this passport, traveled outside the U.S. and was unable to return due to the COVID 19 travel restrictions. We prepared a comprehensive letter with details about the petitioning employer, the specific project that the employee would be assigned to, and the urgency of the employee’s presence in the U.S., to the consulate requesting consideration under the National Interest Exception (NIE) for business travel to the U.S. for vital support of the U.S. healthcare and public health sector, a critical infrastructure sector. We followed up with the consulate and the visa was approved.

Status: We followed up with the consulate and the visa was approved.

We were approached by an employer in the health and wellness industry to respond to an RFE (Request for Evidence) for an Operations Research Analyst. The RFE indicated that the job duties were vague, and did not allow Service to ascertain the minimum requirements for the position, or determine whether it constituted a specialty occupation. We responded with considerable detail, elaborating on the job duties and providing considerable context about the employer and the strict FDA (Food and Drug Administration) regulations that they are required to operate under.  We also included significant corroborating evidence expounding on the positional requirements and complexity of the job. The petition was approved.

Status: The petition was approved.

We filed an H-1B extension for a specialized medical practice on behalf of a physician who had completed a fellowship in this specialty. We subsequently received a Request for Evidence questioning whether his position satisfied the requirements for a specialty occupation and questioning his current immigration status. In our response we noted facts that were already on the record, included probative data from a occupational handbook often cited by the government, and argued that when the offered position requires highly specialized knowledge such as this and when it is established, through his credentials, that the beneficiary possesses such specialized knowledge, the statutory requirements have been established. We argued that the evidence already on the record proved by a preponderance of the evidence that the offered position comports with the government’s  description. Nevertheless, we did provide additional evidence in support of this. We also addressed the question as to beneficiary’s maintenance of his current immigration status by providing evidence and explanation about how he was paid by the employer. The petition was approved seven days after our filing of the RFE Response.  

Status: The petition was approved seven days after our filing of the RFE Response.
 

We assisted petitioner, a public accounting firm, in filing an H-1B petition for beneficiary for the position of staff accountant. We received an RFE requesting additional evidence that the position qualified as a specialty occupation by satisfying at least one of the four qualifying criteria for a specialty occupation.  In our lengthy response, we argued that the job duties, as detailed in the petition, and as compared with OOH’s job description for staff accountant not only comports with but goes beyond OOH guidance in its uniqueness and complexity.  We were able to show that although the employee's qualifying degree was not specifically in accounting, it was in an equivalent field with a shared body of specialized knowledge. The petition was approved shortly after filing the response.

Status: We were able to show that although the employee's qualifying degree was not specifically in accounting, it was in an equivalent field with a shared body of specialized knowledge. The petition was approved shortly after filing the response.