CASE: H-1B Visa Petition
PETITIONER: School District in New Town, ND
BENEFICIARY: Filipina Elementary School 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 November 2021 to seek legal assistance from our office for their foreign employee. The beneficiary is an Elementary School Teacher from the Philippines who has been working for this employer for several years under J-1 status. The beneficiary’s J-1 program is not subject to the 2 year foreign residency requirement.
The proffered position for the Beneficiary is an Elementary School 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 2022 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).
Upon retention, our office filed the H-1B visa petition with various supporting documents on December 23, 2021 via premium processing. On January 13, 2022, the USCIS issued a Request for Evidence for our client’s petition. Our office filed the Response to RFE on the same day. Eventually, our client’s H-1B application was approved on January 25, 2022. She can now work for her employer for three years on an H-1B status.