CASE: H-1B Visa Petition
PETITIONER: School District in Eagle Butte, SD
BENEFICIARY: Filipino Junior High Math Teacher
ISSUES: Cap-Exempt, Nonprofit Organization Affiliated with an Institution of Higher Education
Our client is a public school district affiliated with several institutions of higher education. They contacted our office in March 2020 to seek legal assistance from our office for their foreign employee. The beneficiary is a Junior High Math Teacher from the Philippines who has been working for this employer for the last 5 years under a J-1 status. Though he was subject to the INA 212(e), two-year foreign residency requirement, he already obtained a J-1 waiver from the USCIS.
The proffered position for the Beneficiary is a Junior High Math Teacher. We showed that this is a “specialty occupation” because the minimum requirement for this position is a Bachelor’s Degree in Education or its equivalent.
In the first week of April, the numerical cap of H-1B visas for fiscal year 2021 was already reached. However, our client is qualified for cap-exempt petitions since it is a non-profit organization affiliated with an Institution of Higher Education as defined in 8 C.F.R. 214.2(h)(19)(iii)(B).
Once retained, our office filed the H-1B visa petition with various supporting documents on August 7, 2020 via premium processing. Eventually, our client’s H-1B application was approved on August 19, 2020 without any RFE. He can now work for his employer for three years on an H-1B status.